A Freaky Three Way (of reviews) with Vampirella

Last week was a very good week to be a Vampirella fan. Dynamite had three books out featuring Vampi, and all three were real good!

Warning! These reviews contain quite a few spoilers!

Vampirella #12

Written by: Nancy Collins
Penciled by: Patrick Berkenketter
Cover by: Mike Meyhew
Colored by: Dievei Ribeira
Lettered by: Rob Steen

Published by: Dynamite
Cover Price: $3.99

Vampirella is having a tough time in her new role as Queen of the Nosferatu. She wants to protect innocents, but finds that is becoming a difficult balance. For example, the Nosferatu maintain “blood farms” of kidnapped humans, but if she stops that, that would force the Nosferatu to have to hunt the countryside for victims, risking discovery. On top of that, Vampirella doesn’t seem to have a lot of concern about following old traditions which is making her a lot of enemies.

Vampirella ends up meeting her nephew Iago. Iago tells the story of his conception. Drago (Vampirella’s half brother who manipulated her into killing him to take the throne) was hunting for blood when he spotted a beautiful woman in town. Her generosity intrigued him, so be became her shadowy protector. She ends up married to an abusive man, so Drago rescues her. They fall in love and are married. She becomes pregnant, but dies during childbirth. Iago promises his fidelity to Vampirella, but she doesn’t quite trust him. The issue ends with what seems to be Drago returning from the dead to confront Vampirella.

Nancy Collins tells a terrific Vampirella story. What was particularly interesting about this comic to me was how accessible it was. It is the 6th part of an arc, and the 12th issue of the series, and it seemed like anyone could just pick it up and jump right in. I actually tested this on my wife. I handed it to her and suggested she read it without any knowledge of Vampirella or having read any other issues, and she understood it completely and enjoyed it. More comics should strive for that kind of accessibility, other than just sporadic “jumping on points.”

One thing Nancy Collins does a lot that I enjoy is provide narrated back stories for the characters. So much of this issue was a flashback telling us Iago’s story, but it never felt like filler. We get a great sense of who Drago was, and why he would have chosen Vampirella as his successor. I never expected Drago’s story to be a romantic love story, but it worked so well. This is a terrific way to help show us more of Vampirella’s world.

Patrick Berkenketter draws some haunting imagery. The blood farm early in this issue was extremely disturbing to look at and really set the tone for Vampirella’s work with the Nosferatu. My only real gripe is that the Nosferatu all look alike. The issue seems to end with Drago’s return, but I will admit, I wasn’t 100% sure if that was Drago or not since all the Nosferatu look so much alike.

Legenderry Vampirella #4

Written by: David Avallone
Illustrated by: David T. Cabrera
Cover by: Sergio Davila and Ivan Nunes
Colored by: Robbery Bevard
Lettered by: Dave Lanphear

Published by: Dynamite
Cover Price: $3.99

Legenderry is Dynamite’s steam punk reality where a variety of characters joined together last year to fight a powerful group of bad guys. To follow up, Dynamite put out a series of Legenderry mini-series focused on Red Sonja, Green Hornet, and Vampirella. Legenderry Vampirella runs a bar called the Scarlet Club.

In this issue, she decides to take the fight right to the so-called “Council of Villains.” One of the Council is looking to become mayor. After Vampirella gets through the Council’s henchmen, they over to let her keep control over the Scarlet Club as long as she allows them to take over the rest of the city. She knows their ambition is far bigger than the city, so she refuses. They sic a powerful vampire creature on her, and Vampirella is in rough shape as the issue ends

Of the three books I reviewed here, this was probably the weakest of the bunch. It was still entertaining, but Nancy Collins seems to just have a real knack for writing strong Vampirella stories. I also think that a lot of the fun of the Legenderry universe has been seeing characters you don't normally see together teaming up in a very unusual setting. In a lot of ways, this book doesn't quite feel like Vampirella in more than name alone. I don't quite know what I expect from Steampunk Vampirella, but this just didn't quite feel right to me.

BUT, looking at this comic outside the context of Legenderry or the Vampirella name, I still found it to be a very good read. And, like all the Dynamite books I've had the opportunity to read, this comic had terrific art and design. The scenes with Citizen Kurtz running for mayor were really well done. You couldn't help but think of them in a very cinematic light. In some ways, I reminded of old footage you sometimes see of Hitler before World War 2. A charismatic man that people rally behind, but who has his own evil agenda.

Sword of Sorrow: Vampirella and Jennifer Blood #1

Written by: Nancy Collins
Illustrated by: Dave Acosto
Cover by: Billy Tan
Colored by: Valentina Pinto
Lettered by: Erica Schultz

Published by: Dynamite
Cover Price: $3.99

The Kabal have Vampirella investigating a series of gruesome murders. She quickly finds out that its the work of a cannibalistic shaman named Tahquitz. A portal opens up and he tries to escape through it, so Vampirella follows him through it.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Blood is tracking a serial killer of her own in Anaheim, which is where the portal takes Vampirella. Vampirella breaks into a thrift shop to get a disguise...let's face it, Vampirella does tend to stand out. The Traveller's Courier arrives to give her a sword. Vampirella realizes that she's in a parallel world, and the rifts have been allowing Tahquitz to travel between worlds and kill people.

Jennifer Blood finds Tahquitz and stabs him in the face, but it doesn't seem to slow him down all that much. Vampirella arrives and bits Tahquitz to defeat him. The police arrive, so the two heroes go their separate ways. But they are being watched by one of The Prince's lieutenants.

As I mentioned in the review of Vampirella #12, Nancy Collins (who also wrote this issue) spends a lot of time giving the character's history. A lot of this issue focuses on Jennifer Blood's background, which was a good thing as I really don't know the character all that well. As I said before, Collins manages to tell backstory in a way that feels important and not stuffed with dull exposition.

I also thought the combination of Vampirella and Jennifer Blood was a great mix. Vampirella was born a monster, but because of her experiences, she does everything possible to be a hero. Jennifer Blood started out as a happy, normal woman, but her life experiences turned her into someone who has no problem snuffing out a life if she has to. She's still basically a hero at her core, but there is definitely a lot more darkness in Jennifer Blood than there is in Vampirella.

I enjoyed this comic a lot, though Vampirella #12 did edge it out a little bit. Collins and Berkenketter are creating a classic comic run on those book, and I will admit part of the reason I did these reviews was to help bring more attention to that book. There is something FAR wrong with the comic industry when Vampirella is a niche book while the far inferior Secret Wars grabs headlines.