I have to admit that this is a pretty interesting idea for the comics. “Prime Cuts” doesn’t really go along with the other comics, but instead they play into the Video Games. Some of these stories work really well, some of them seem a little off for one reason or another. Even with the slight off points, the adventures are quite fun and that’s really the whole point of these comics!
“Prime Cuts” one features two short stories written by two different people and drawn by two different people. The stories have nothing to do with each other, but are simply small adventures that predate the BloodRayne 2 video game. The first one is prequel to the storyline involving Slezz (that weird creature where you had to throw the exploding guys at her stomach to beat her). Anyway, the story is pretty fun and interesting, but my one problem with this one was that in the game Rayne had to ask Severin what Slezz was. If Rayne had already met Slezz she wouldn’t have asked. I think I would’ve gone with a different story concept if it were up to me, because this prequel didn’t really make sense. If the prequel had excluded Rayne altogether it would’ve been a lot better. I thought the second story was a lot better. This one takes place before Rayne is supposed to appear at the party, which opens BloodRayne 2. It’s about how she’s picking something up at the store and it gets held up by what appears to be one of the Germans she fought from the G.G.G. in the first game. Anyway it’s a short fun story and I don’t want to give too much more away. It’s actually got a degree of humor in it. As for the art the second story had better art, in my opinion, because I think Bilbao is a little bit of a better artist than Hardin. However, they both did a good job overall.
The second installment features three short stories and I thought these were all very well written and had no real logical holes when compared against the game. The first one I didn’t really get because it was about these special nunchuks that Rayne had to retrieve. I don’t remember ever needing those in relation to the game… but maybe that was a small detail I missed. Anyway, it’s a fast paced martial arts adventure. The second story, I think, is supposed to take place after the Video Game and it’s a tale of Rayne versus Ephemera. It’s an interesting short story with a good twist. The third was the strangest. It actually takes place during the video game and is entirely told from the perspective of one of the suicide bombers. It’s interesting because the event where the bomber has to face Rayne, he’s the bomber that is used to overcome an obstacle! It’s a pretty inventive tale and kind of funny when you think about. Albeit it in a morbid fashion… good thing that’s one of the places my sense of humor resides. The art is on part with the first issue and captures the action quite well. I think in some cases it actually captures Rayne’s martial arts prowess a little better than some of the ongoing comic books!
Ultimately if you’re expecting some sort of great revelation to the game’s story lines then you might be a little disappointed. Instead these are just quick and fun adventures that go along with the games. I think it would be really cool if there were some deeper background stories to go with some of the characters we meet in the games, but that might not happen anytime soon. So for now, we get some quick prequel styled adventures for what you’ll find during game play!
Overall Rating: 2.7/5.0