Character Profile: Janos

Janos Bathory is a reclusive, introverted, gloomy, brooding, moody, irritable, temperamental, and sulky character who later turned out to be a reincarnated Vampire Guardian Angel and a prince, son of a notorious vampire countess from the 15th century and of the ancient Vampire Guardian Angel Gregory. He is secretive, sensitive to criticism, a loner, and emotionally distant, even to his girlfriend, Leah. He believes he is mentally ill, because he hears voices, which turns out to be the prayers of the despairing. He panics when he realizes that, while in a trance, he has been responding to these prayers by feeding on humans and that he is a serial killer. He also believes he is delusional because he sees fanged angels, who turn out to be his followers who are waiting for him to “lead” them, which causes him to seek psychiatric help and he becomes further withdrawn as a result.  He needs convincing that he is more than human and destined for something else, so his father Gregory constantly appears to him, revealing who he is and attempting to convince him to become the leader of the Vampire Guardian Angels due to an ancient prophecy that only a Vampire Guardian Angel of royal blood can unite and lead them, and take over Earth and enslave all humans and “Earth Vampires”.

But due to his personality, Janos is seen by many of the Vampire Guardian Angels as a leader who is reluctant, pessimistic, and hesitant to make major decisions. Though he finally accepts his role, he does resent it and does his best to stall on things that require his attention, such as finding a way to invade Earth from Heaven. When his girlfriend Leah commits suicide, Janos becomes even more withdrawn and indecisive, completely traumatized and still grieving over her death, unable to get over it. He tends to keep things inside,  filled with self-pity, regret, and is too self-absorbed to concentrate on his role, stifling his feelings, and exploding into rare rages that last briefly. He dreads feeling any kind of emotion, and even when his father Gregory is killed later in the series, he shows no grief or emotion, other than the grief he has for Leah, as he thinks he cannot handle any more emotion of any kind.

But when he does “snap out of it” to try and lead, he is brutal, homicidal, and feels the need to make up for being seen as weak  by demonstrating savagery on enemies in gory ways. (For instance, by decapitating a victim as a way of sending or emphasizing a message and drinking from the still-bleeding neck). He can also be possessive and jealous and it’s all or nothing for him. He responds by rejecting those who reject him or who do not do what he wants or when things do not go his way., which he struggles to control since he knows he needs allies and he needs the cooperation of his followers, otherwise, he fears, they might rebel.

Character Profile: Ms. Price (“The Author”)

The Author (Ms. Price) is an intellectual, reclusive writer who “discovers” the existence of the Vampire Guardian Angels in biblical texts and is determined to prove their existence. However, in doing so and by acknowledging their existence, she inadvertently “frees” them and they come to life and begin to take over humans and Earth Vampires. So strong is her power to make these Angels real that she is considered the “Creator” and her blood contains healing powers that the Vampire Guardian Angels crave. Jeromos figures this out and kidnaps her, turns her into a vampire to give her immortality, and keeps her prisoner in his fortress/castle in Sweden, using her blood to heal his soldiers.

Ms. Price is socially awkward, preferring instead to live a reclusive life of research and writing, until she meets Detective Costa, who slowly brings her out of her shell and into the world, despite her being cold, suspicious and resentful of him and his skepticism of her work, which she is stubbornly devoted to. However, she is kidnapped and Costa is determined to find her. Despite her being surrounded by dangerous Vampire Guardian Angels, she manages to stay calm, does not panic, and keeps her wits together.

Character Profile: Cameron

Cameron is a guilt-ridden, morally-driven character and the only existing “good” Guardian Angel left. Disguised as a detective on Earth and tasked with finding and bringing Gabriel back to Heaven and determined to turn him back to good, Cameron finds he has his hands full when he realizes he is the only good angel left, and that even his own adopted stepson Joseph is growing torn between good and evil.

Cameron is also struggling with grief and self-torture for his accidental killing of his girlfriend  Christina, Joseph’s mother, and he constantly seeks the forgiveness of Joseph. He is also grieving over the death of his former human detective partner, Kirkland, at the hands of Gabriel. This clouds his judgement and blinds him to the fact that his own son may become evil. Cameron believes that there is still good in the Angels and that they will eventually come around and stop their takeover, and he is unable to realize that this makes him too trusting and vulnerable and willing to give them a chance. Because of this trust, Cameron ends up being betrayed by his own son Joseph, who tries to side with Janos. But Cameron continues his role of good cop and father, protecting Joseph, mankind and anyone who he sees as needing his help. He does kill Vampire Guardian Angels when he needs to, but not without fights that often leave him wounded and damaged. He is still determined to stop Gabriel and still believes he can turn him back to good, but finds that he also needs to find a way to stop not only Janos, but also Prince Jeromos, another Vampire Guardian Angel determined to take over leadership. Cameron, however, is protected by the fact that he can kill any Vampire Guardian Angel as long as he remains “good”. so no matter how many beatings he takes, he manages to recover. Cameron has no desire for power. He still wants to save mankind, his son, and bring the Angels back to good. He later teams up with a human Detective,  Sebastian Costa (who later becomes a Vampire), who he hopes will continue to stay on the “good” side.

Cameron’s personality is that of the good cop, constantly trying to do the “right” thing in a fair and just way, which is why he is so traumatized by his killing of Christina, which was not his fault and was the result of transforming into a Vampire, and he fed on her accidentally. So he is obsessed with trying to “make things right” again. Her death haunts him and makes him ever more driven to do the right thing. But Cameron should not be seen as weak. Don’t underestimate him. He is a badass.

Character Profile: Gabriel

Gabriel is the first character in the comic book series. He is a disillusioned Guardian Angel who “snapped” and rebelled against his “job” of answering prayers and helping humans. He becomes a serial killer, responding to the desperate and suicidal humans. He appears to them with promises to “end their pain” and is charming, soothing, and pretends to be helpful. Then he kills them in gruesome ways, taking out his anger and resentment on humans. His main goal is to “shut humans up” so he does not have to listen and respond to prayers, and he no longer wants to help humans.

Gabriel is resentful of humans because, as a young boy, he was sent to his death during the crusades. When he called out to his Guardian Angel to save him from an approaching medieval army, he was not saved. So he feels that is he was not helped, why should he help humans?

He has the power to control weak human minds. At first, he is not able to touch humans or kill them with his hands, because he is still a Guardian Angel and is forbidden to physically harm people.  So, he finds a "loophole": he targets the suicidal, the depressed, and hypnotizes them, making them kill themselves. His murders are not suspected because they are ruled out as suicides.

Gabriel later becomes a Vampire when he is killed by Joseph and as he ascends to Heaven, a vampire hitches a ride and bites him, and Gabriel in turn bites all the angels in Heaven. Gabriel actually relishes this new role, because now he can kill with his own hands and not rely on mind control. He feels like a God, but is more of a criminally insane monster. His rage fuels his serial killing.

Gabriel is a sociopath, with a single goal: to get rid of humans who caused him so much pain and anger and who he hates because he thinks he was forced to cater to them and become their therapists. He feels superior to humans and finds it demeaning to have to help them. He lacks complete empathy, and has a cold, calculating, homicidal nature. He is delusional in that he thinks that he will only be free if he destroys all humans and that this is the only way he can be free of the torment of their prayers. He is manipulative and uses his charms to “comfort” humans and take them trust him before he kills them (and, as a vampire, feeds on them). He is one of the most dangerous of the Vampire Guardian Angels, and also the most impulsive, vindictive, and unstable. He mindlessly destroys anything in his path. His personality is more like that of a ten-year-old throwing an endless tantrums. Deep inside, he is insecure, in emotional pain, and suffering from severe trauma.

The only time he has ever shown regret was when he met Joseph, the stepson of his rival Cameron. Joseph was able to make Gabriel see what he did was wrong and convinced him to go back to Heaven, and killed him in the process. However, after Gabriel resurrects in Heaven and after being bitten by the Vampire,  Gabriel becomes even more angry and more vindictive, seeking vengeance against Joseph and Cameron. Although still retaining his charm and manipulative personality, he becomes more of a mindless killing machine in later issues.

Unlike the other Vampire Guardian Angels in the series, Gabriel does not want to be a leader or rule over Vampires and humans. He prefers to just get rid of the whole humankind and anyone who gets in his way.

Comic Book 5 Final Pages Text and Color to be added

Here are some sneak peeks of the final pages of Comic Book Issue 5, with cleanup of pencil marks still to be done, and text/dialogue and color (blood) to be added.

Limited Appearances

For now I attend one comic book convention per year, mainly Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo, here in Los Angeles. Eventually I plan to attend conventions in other cities. So for now,  my booksignings and appearances are local to the Los Angeles/Southern California area.  If you want to meet me in person and get signed copies of my comic books, come to Comikaze!

I love meeting my fans in person, but if you can’t catch me at a convention, you may connect with me online.
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My signed comic books are also available at liascottprice.bigcartel.com.

The Appeal of the Underground

I love being underground. It appeals to my rather non-conforming, independent underground attitude (in terms of publishing). My comic book is not mainstream, and it is not my goal to appeal and please the pop culture mainstream readers. If it remains "underground" (other than amazon and indie publishers), that’s fine with me. I’m not out to change my writing to appeal to the pop culture masses. This comic book is borderline sacrilegious, (and it’s a vampire comic book. It’s supposed to be disturbing) and atheist. (Which is also why I love underground music such as black metal music—the dark, atmospheric music is quite perfect for my dark, creepy writing and imagery. I find bliss and peace in the darkness. Extreme music for extreme comic book writing.)

I’m not trying to be offensive or culturally transgressive, but I won’t apologize for writing what I write about. What appeals to me, including in music, is that it is totally and uniquely my own and not always influenced by pop culture opinion. I could do a cookie-cutter comic book that conforms to what society thinks should sell, but I don’t want to sacrifice my artistic integrity and vision, which is what makes my comic book so unique. And I don’t want to apologize to anyone who might be offended by my comic book series. If you like it, fine. if you don’t, then don’t read it. There’s nothing subtle about the series. It’s brutal, different, and yes, it’s a horror genre that some people are too afraid of reading. It questions some aspects of religion as well. I’m not anti-religion. I’m writing the way I feel and creating a world all my own from my own traumatic personal experiences, which sometimes pushes the envelope in terms of belief. But everything in life, including what society thinks you should believe in (Guardian Angels or higher powers for instance) is meant to be questioned, explored, even pushed to a certain limit. Writing is creating, and sometimes it does affect and scare people and their deeply entrenched beliefs on what should be acceptable in society.

So welcome to my world. Stay a while. If it freaks you out, then go back into the light. But remember, the light burns as well.