Vampire Guardian Angels: The Complete Story

Vampire Guardian Angels: Full Story

A Los Angeles author and researcher, Ms Price, writes about ancient vampires. Night after night, however, she begins to get nightmares about “angels with black wings and fangs” who tell her of a prophecy: that a new, deadly breed of vampire will take over the world. The dreams tell her that if she looks in the Bible, she will find those ancient vampires in the form of “angels” hidden by symbolism such as blood-drinking, and that if she does not reveal their existence to the world, they will enslave and kill all humans. Ms Price becomes convinced that there were vampires in the ancient text, and makes it her mission to prove it.

However, her obsession unleashes a supernatural spell requiring the power of belief, which accidentally brings these vampires “to life”. These vampires are 4 Guardian Angels in biblical times, Jude, Anthony, Zeke and Gregory, who were bitten by an “earth vampire”, and they remained trapped on earth since they could not return to Heaven because they had turned evil. Because they were still in the form of holy angels, the Church sheltered them, and the Inquisition found a way to use them to get rid of “sinners” by feeding them to these vampires. These’ Vampire Guardian Angels, as they were called, were waiting for the right time, and for the right person, to reveal them, to fulfill an ancient prophesy that their leader, a vampire king born of royal blood, with a queen of royal blood and their “creator”, would lead them to take over the earth. This prophecy was hidden in biblical text, and was the real meaning behind “body and blood” and references to killer angels sent from the Heavens. Part of the prophecy requires a “creator” to bring the vampires to life from the pages of the ancient text , meaning that they were trapped by myth, and that by summoning them through the power of belief, they can finally come out of hiding. They live off humans, tracking down their prey through their prayers of despair. Vampire Guardian Angels can only feed off humans who pray to, or summon, guardian angels. Their prey must be believers.

The four angels soon escape, and wander the earth for centuries. One of them, Gregory, mates with a Hungarian countess and vampire queen, and produces a stillborn son, Janos. But according to the prophecy, Janos, “The heir and prophet”, will “resurrect” and reincarnate into modern times to become first Vampire Guardian Angel king. Janos later does resurrect in Brooklyn, New York, and Gregory, his father, seeks him out to convince him to find, lead and unite the Vampire Guardian Angels. The prophecy requires a leader of royal blood, since Vampire Guardian Angels will only follow a royal, or one who has married into royalty.

But they still need to penetrate Heaven and turn all the angels into vampires. Gregory later has a vision that another Guardian Angel has done so. His name is Gabriel, and he is an angel who has rebelled against his “job” of being a protector of humans and has turned into a serial killer back on earth, killing all those who pray to Guardian Angels. Another angel, Cameron, disguised as a detective on earth, has been sent from Heaven to stop Gabriel and bring him back to Heaven. Gabriel is later killed by Cameron and Joseph, who possesses a mysterious power of light that can kill evil angels. but once they go back to Heaven, they are resurrected.

Gabriel and Cameron return to Heaven through a portal of light created when angels die, but an earth vampire hitches a ride with them, and bites Gabriel, who turns into a vampire. He bites Cameron and all the other angels in Heaven, fulfilling the mission of the Vampire Guardian Angels who were trapped on earth.

Cameron, the good angel, escaped Heaven but accidentally kills Joseph’s mother Christina when he turns into a Vampire Guardian Angel. He confesses this to Joseph and seeks his forgiveness but instead earns Joseph’s lifelong hatred.  Joseph is now out for revenge against both Cameron and Gabriel. Gabriel soon returns to Earth to seek revenge on Joseph. But Cameron continues to protect his stepson from Gabriel, who is injured and retreats and disappears.

In the meantime, the three angels, Anthony, Jude and Zeke try to kidnap the author in Los Angeles in order to bring her to Heaven for their King, Janos. But Cameron and another Los Angeles detective,  Sebastian Costa, who has been dating Ms Price, stop them and save the author. Back in New York, Gregory is dealing with a reluctant Janos, who at first refuses to become King, so Gregory kidnaps and impregnates Janos’s girlfriend, Leah, to produce a “back-up” heir. Janos finally relents and kills Anthony, Jude and Zeke in order to create a portal to get Heaven, where he begins his reign and plans for the descent of the Vampire Guardian Angels to take over earth. However, before he can take Leah and her son with him, she kills herself and the child along with her. Janos takes the throne in Heaven but sinks into depression, and chooses another royal, Prince Jeromos, as his right-hand and heir to help rule in his place.

Back on earth, there is a mysterious plague that is killing humans, earth vampires, and Vampire Guardian Angels. The plague was secretly sent down by Janos, who thought that killing more angels on earth using the plague would create more portals in which to bring down his army. But it backfired and the plague went out of control.  During this time, Joseph, in his desire for revenge, meets Gregory, and finds out about the plans for the earth takeover. Gregory is killed by a plague-infected earth vampire, and becomes a portal of light, which Joseph uses to get into Heaven. He meets with Janos and earns Janos’s trust, who sends him back down with Jeromos to gather an army from the Church.The Vampire Guardian Angels can only target humans who believe in and pray to guardian angels. So in order to enslave all humans, they must turn every human into “believers” and they turn to the Church to strong-arm atheists and other religions into praying to guardian angels by using a secret army, descendants of the inquisitors, that the Church has formed for years for this purpose to assist the Vampire Guardian Angels. Jeromos is also sent down to find a cure for the plague and to create a “breeding program” consisting of humans and earth vampires in order to create a plague-free food source for the angels. But the victims can only be believers and that is why they need the Church’s assistance to convert them. While assisting Jeromos in creating the breeding areas, Joseph secretly wants to kill Jeromos so he can use his portal to get back into Heaven with the Church army  and kill Janos. But Cameron interferes when he arrives once again to save Joseph, and Jeromos escapes.

Jeromos goes into hiding in a fortified monastery. While working on a cure, Jeromos kidnaps the author because he has discovered that as the “creator”, the author has a secret history—she is the cure. She is the descendant of a Spanish royal family and of the inquisitors who sheltered the angels, which makes her a royal and potential queen. Jeromos plans to use her blood, which has healing and regenerative properties along with ancient holy relics, to heal the Vampire Guardian Angels. It is revealed that Jeromos is healing Gabriel as well, who he plans to use to overthrow Janos, since Gabriel is considered the most sadistic, ruthless, and most powerful Vampire Guardian Angel. Jeromos secretly wants to become King and take over Janos’s rule and the Vampire Guardian Angels and Janos’s followers are already changing their allegiance from Janos to Jeromos. Jeromos also adds to his army a new breed of Vampire Guardian Angel: the Angelorumrabidi: hideous, rabid, animal-like experiments used for his army and as his bodyguards.

Costa and Cameron find the monastery and attempt to rescue Ms Price but are stopped by Gabriel. Costa gets bitten by one of Jeromos’s vampire hybrid experiments, the Angelorumrabidi, and turns into a Vampire Guardian Angel. Joseph, who followed them, manages to trap Cameron and Gabriel with his power of light, and goes after Jeromos. Joseph plans to kill all of them so he can use their portals of light and kill Janos. But Joseph, still inexperienced in the use of his own powers, is defeated by Jeromos and has to retreat. Cameron, Costa, and Gabriel also escape from Jeromos’s monastery. Jeromos turns Ms Price into a vampire and plans to make her his queen, fulfilling all aspects of the prophecy, He knows this will lead to all the Vampire Guardian Angels following him unconditionally since he is a royal and has in his possession the symbol of full power: The creator herself, also a royal, as whoever drinks her blood will instantly heal from any injury.

The Vampire Guardian Angels are getting ready for a full-scale apocalypse. Unfortunately, the once-good Cameron has turned evil due to Joseph’s constant rejection of him and has become tired of saving mankind, and now wants power to make up for all that he has suffered through. This leaves no more good angels on earth. Janos has been imprisoned by Jeromos. Costa and all of the other angels, Jeromos, Gabriel, Cameron and Joseph, have now formed their own separate armies to either fight for power, defend themselves, or in Costa’s case, to defend humans and earth vampires who have formed an alliance, and to rescue the author, who is caught in between the fight for power and is in danger from humans and earth vampires who hold her responsible for creating the Vampire Guardian Angels, and from the other angels who want her as their queen.

Personality Traits of the Comic Book Character: (King) Janos

Janos, even before he became King, is a sullen, moody, indecisive, brooding, and emotionally complicated individual. This was also due to his lack of sleep and mental torture when he first heard human prayers and when he was unaware that he was a vampire who had not awakened yet. And when he did become a vampire, he was struggling with the guilt of killing humans for food. He was further psychologically traumatized when he discovered that his girlfriend Leah was pregnant with his own father’s child, and that his father Gregory had taken her when Janos had refused to become king, in order to create another heir. Although he finally accepted to raise the child as his heir and to become king, it came at a price: Leah killed herself and her son and Janos slipped into guilt-driven grief and despair, unable to properly concentrate on ruling and instead handing his decision-making off to his right-hand man and new heir, Prince Jeromos, which proved to be a very bad outcome for Janos.

At first, Janos was enthusiastic about his new role and now enjoyed killing humans for food and sport,  knowing he should show no mercy. But soon, Janos's inner despairs returned and he was becoming too emotional to be a leader. He preferred to hide away in a dark library surrounded by his books and memories. He is seen as a very weak leader, but he is still respected and tolerated only because he is royalty (he is the son of a countess and mythical Vampire Queen) and Vampire Guardian Angels are trained to follow royalty unconditionally, even if they are bad rulers. He is respected more than Joseph only because Janos was mentioned in an ancient prophesy about being the first to rule and truly unite all the angels.And Vampire Guardian Angels are committed to fulfilling that prophecy.

But during one of those rare but few moments when he is not depressed, Janos proves to be an absolute brutal and merciless ruler, executing anyone he wants to on the spot, and feeding off of them. Humans are often captured for this purpose and brought up to Heaven to be toyed with and then killed by Janos, who say he finds relief in killing from his own personal pain. He takes his pain out on others, and their suffering makes him "feel better". But he highly respects Jeromos, and does not take his inner emotional torture out on royals or who he sees as equals. He admires bravery, which is why he immediately trusted Joseph when Joseph confronted him in Heaven.

Janos is universally seen as an emotionally compromised ruler by his followers, who are putting their trust more and more into Prince Jeromos. Janos is unable to get over his grieving, which clouds his judgment completely. He is temperamental and his mood swings are unpredictable and often overwhelming, ranging from complete despair to deep rage, with him literally destroying rooms and their contents with his sword when his despair becomes unbearable. His despair can overwhelm those around him. He is prone to dark periods of depression where he talks to no one but Jeromos. Janos finds it extremely difficult to let go of the past and control his over-emotional nature. Prince Jeromos once said of him “He has once been in therapy, but he killed his own therapist.” And Janos has done that, he killed his therapist, Dr. Lieberman, when Janos was still a student. And it was his own emotional instability that lead him to later on be imprisoned by Jeromos.

Janos has also developed an obsession with the author Ms Price, for no other reason than she had the same red hair as his deceased girlfriend. He just wanted to look at her to be reminded of his his girlfriend, but due to Jeromos’s jealousy and possessiveness, Ms Price is kept far away from Janos.

Personality Traits of the Comic Book Character: Detective Costa

 

Costa is an extremely strong-willed and focused detective. He will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, whether it’s tracking down the bad guys or saving loved ones from vampires. He does have a magnetic, almost intimidating charm that is hard to ignore, and comes in handy when interrogating people. Once he has put his mind to something, it is almost impossible to get him off the hunt.
Like Jeromos, he is brave and meets challenges head-on, but he can also be reckless. But he is hardly careless, and goes by instinct and intuition. He seems to be able to anticipate and read people’s minds. He feels he has to, as a cop. He is hardened and often jaded and sarcastic and sometimes appears unmoved,  but he does have a soft spot for protecting those who need it. He is trustworthy and faithful, and will follow anyone he respects to the ends of the Earth, even Cameron, who he gets along with. He will stand by allies, even if they turn evil, and will try to get them to change.

However, he is extremely possessive and jealous, especially with the author Ms Price. The possessiveness comes from his wanting to protect her from the Vampire Guardian Angels and his frustration at her stubbornness to remain independent. He is very sensitive too and they often argue, which leads to clashes and the silent treatment from her. Ms Price feels he is too domineering and worried, and that he wants things done his way which clashes with her independent nature. But he is well-meaning and does his best to watch over her, although he knows he has met his match in Ms Price, who is equally strong-willed.

Note: In issue 3 and 5, Costa smokes cigarettes (kind of a film-noir look). But in Issue 6, he's kicked the habit. He's also cut his hair to an army look in Issue 6.

Personality Traits of the Comic Book Character: Joseph

After losing his mother who he was close to (and who spoiled and over-protected him ever since Gabriel went after him as a child), Joseph is  driven by the desire to be loved, and even admired. He wanted to be the center of attention, and often acted out against Cameron, a cop, by trying to become a juvenile delinquent. It was his cry for attention, and it led to depression and hate after he found out that Cameron was responsible for his mother Christina’s death.

Joseph was once a happy, helpful, big-hearted child who was for a brief time, close to Cameron. They almost had a genuine father-son relationship as Cameron was dedicated to protecting Joseph from Gabriel. Even though Cameron disappeared from Joseph’s life for a period of time while bringing Gabriel back to Heaven, Joseph still loved his stepfather and looked forward to him. That all changed after Christina’s death.

Although often wallowing in self-pity and anger at what he felt was Cameron’s betrayal,  Joseph is hardly disheartened by disappointments and setbacks. It only makes him more determined and headstrong.  But he also becomes overconfident, his ego gets the better of him when he reminds himself and others that he once killed Gabriel, although it was also by chance and now, Joseph can hardly even defend himself or wield a sword. He is still too untrained with his own powers.

Unfortunately, Christina’s death also caused some deep emotional and psychological damage to Joseph. He is unable to have a relationship with the opposite sex as he sees too much of his own mother in them. As a teenager, he could never look at a girl his age, or even have a physical relationship, without seeing the likeness of his own mother. So he is often alone and unable to develop feelings for anyone. He almost had an interest in a female vampire, Catharina, but she was killed by Jeromos. Even her saving his life did not cause Joseph to develop any feelings other than hate and desire for revenge. He remains often cold and unemotional.

Joseph also has a huge and fragile ego, and he gets hurt over the most trivial of things. But he wants so desperately to destroy Cameron that it blinds him with rage, and he often loses control of his own situation. His impatience leads to uncertainty and anxiety and he becomes unsure of himself. He is also extremely envious of Jeromos and he desperately wants power and to be better than who he sees as his enemies.But being the youngest of the Vampire Guardian Angels he hardly has any experience in weaponry, self-defense or leadership. He desires above all to have a father figure but can never get close enough to anyone to do so. And to the Vampire Guardian Angels, Joseph is just an annoying young adult, barely intimidating. However, they know Joseph is also widely feared because of his growing power of using light to destroy Angels, and he still is in danger of being destroyed by Gabriel and by the angels. And  he is still not at the point where he is respected.

Personality Traits of the Comic Book Character: Prince Jeromos

 

An energetic, adventurous and enthusiastic martial artist and expert swordsman, Prince Jeromos is a born leader who prefers to initiate and make things happen rather than sitting on the sidelines, which is why he became Janos’s right-hand man and heir and why he is now in charge of scientific experiments and is sort of the go-to “doctor” for the Vampire Guardian Angels. A natural commander and military leader,  he is extremely action-oriented, but also cool, calm and collected in the face of challenges. He is fearless and confident and often pushes his luck just for an adrenalin rush, as he is addicted to excitement as well, and the thought of war thrills him. No matter how difficult or challenging a situation may be, he will meet it head on, and he will defend what he has to the death. But he is also stubborn, arrogant and confrontational,  impulsive and impatient, and sometimes will not think a decision through thoroughly, or miss little details, but he is disciplined and rarely makes tactical mistakes.

Little is known of his personal past. All that is known about him is that he was once a self-sacrificing and martyred saint. When he resurrected, he had no intention of playing martyr for anyone, and developed a bloodlust and thirst for power. He can be ruthless and merciless, but is surprisingly considered to be a respected, fair and a good leader by his army, many of whom often defect from other angel armies (including King Janos's) to follow him, and they have become surprisingly loyal and dedicated. He has the type of personality where he gains everyone’s loyalty, even Gabriel’s. Towards the author, however, he is possessive, lustful, and controlling, but fortunately, not abusive.

In Issue 5 where he was introduced, Jeromos wore his hair long, but cut it in Issue 6.

Personality Traits of the Comic Book Character: Cameron

 

Former Detective Cameron was once intent on making the world a better place for all of mankind and once dedicated himself to helping humans, as what he believed the role of a Guardian Angel should be. That was why he chose the disguise of detective on Earth. He is creative when it comes to solving problems. He is an independent, intelligent thinker, often acting on his own and stubborn enough to override his former partner, Detective Kirkland, who was killed by Gabriel. Cameron felt that in order to save humans, he answered to no one, although at times he does agree to be a “team player” within his police force, which is also why he gets along with Detective Costa. He was eccentric, and more of a leader than a follower when doing his job as a supernatural cop. He believed that in order to find the bad guys, he should not have to conform to human rules. He was often a spur-of-the-moment thinker, fire first and ask questions later. He sometimes blindly goes into situations just to save people in danger—by putting himself in danger.

But he had a hard time forming personal feelings as he had to keep his hidden if he wanted to keep playing “hero”. He had a great fear of losing those he loved, especially to Gabriel, who became his lifelong enemy as Cameron was sent to stop, or even destroy, the rogue angel. He was terrified of commitment and is not afraid to disappear from those he loves, in order to protect them.

Cameron can be charming and outgoing, as he was with Joseph’s mother Christina when he first met her. However, he became emotionally withdrawn and hardened after he accidentally killed her while transforming into a Vampire Guardian Angel after he was bitten, and he would forever carry that pain and regret, constantly trying to seek forgiveness from her son Joseph, who he helped raise and became a stepfather to. But once he was continually rejected and almost killed by Joseph, he shed his hero persona and, like Gabriel, turned to hate to shield pain. He now feels it is useless and pointless to continue protecting those he loves when they turn against him, including humans. In a sense, he rebelled, just like Gabriel did. So he now chooses to please himself, just like all the other angels who  had to unconditionally slave away to protect humankind with no rewards. And now, it is all or nothing for him. He feels that he deserves the author because he has suffered so much and has endured so much physical damage, and only she can heal physically him, and that being evil is better than suffering.

Introducing Inker/Artist Andrew Huerta

Andrew Huerta

Andrew Huerta is the drawing instructor and inker for Lia Scott Price's Vampire Guardian Angels Issue 6 (Lia will be drawing the comic book series starting with Issue 6 and future issues onward). He will be assisting with the cover and line art, and he will be inking the pages for Vampire Guardian Angels^TM  Comic Book Issue 6.

Andrew Huerta is a freelance/comic book artist who has worked on many titles with publishers like IDW Publishing, Dynamite Entertainment and BOOM! Studios.

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