The most unusual adventures of Drago and Vampirella.
Creative Staff:
Story: Nancy A. Collins
Art: Patrick Berkenkotter / Dennis Crisostomo
What They Say:
After escaping the Witches Hammer–the Vatican’s elite monster-killing squad, lead by Father Nicodemus–Vampirella’s new-found ally, the Nosferatu known as Drago, reveals that the only way to lift the curse placed on her by Ethan Shroud that is slowly making her a living vessel for Umbra, Our Lady of Shadows and Bride of the Apocalypse, is for her to drink the blood of certain rare species of vampire. The first stop on their monster world tour is Thailand, where Vampirella must hunt down and kill a horrific creature known as the Krasue–which appears only at night as the head of a beautiful woman–attached to nothing but a heart, a pair of lungs and a mass of entrails!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Vampirella took a more interesting turn in its second installment with what it did by having Vampirella realizing that things have gone bad for her with regards to the Vatican and that she is, for all intents and purposes, a free agent right now. It didn’t hurt that amid the attack by the Vatican agents that she got an assist from Drago, though there’s a natural wariness when it comes to dealing with him because of what he is and her own history with it all. But if you’re out on your own, why not hang out with someone with a bit of money and a plan that can help in dealing with the curse placed on her. You know she’s not really trusting him but is going along with things in order to figure it all out herself. But it’s useful and mutual need that achieves both ends, at least for the moment. And being an older vampire, Drago certainly has some useful knowledge.
That comes into play with the first thing that they need in order to deal with this curse by talking about a particular kind of breed of vampire known as the Krasue. This disturbing creature is operating out of southeast Thailand at the moment, based on the intel that Drago’s people have found, and it’s a curious creature in that it thrives and survives on the blood of newborns. But even in this region, which has undergone so many changes in the last few decades, fewer and fewer births are happening in the villages so it’s losing its source of sustenance as more mothers are going to the hospital. But we do see one couple who are having a baby there, having come back for it for various reasons, and the birth goes well but ends up going dark when the flying head, lungs and spine of the Krasue arrives and devours both mother and daughter.
Though the news is largely ignored by the world, it’s the kind of thing that Drago and his ilk pick up on so it makes for a decent bit of exploration as we see the pair head there by plane to try and capture it. Vampirella at this stage is certainly interesting as she’s free for the first time in a long time and it’s definitely having an impact on her, but we also see that there are things nudging in her mind that are trying to get her to be more primal in a way, which is certainly appealing after being controlled for so long. That instinct plays out well during the hunt for the Krasue as we see the pair make their way through the jungle, discover the admittedly obvious antagonist and resolve it all in just a few pages. That’s just an afterthought though as the main course here is really seeing the changes that Vampirella herself is going through. And she could come out of it all even more dangerous than before, which may not be a good thing.
In Summary:
Vampirella continues to find its way and seeing our lead character working with Drago is interesting, but I can’t quite put my finger on why he feels off. Partially it’s likely because he doesn’t fit in the classic mold, but there are so many variations that something like this doesn’t really bother me. There’s an ease in which Vampirella gets into all of this and it’s a little unsettling, but it fits with what she’s been through and experiencing, which is made all the more interesting by the sweet words that are filling her head. The Krasue storyline is a throwaway one for the most part, but it’s executed decently and serves the end goal of being a side quest towards the larger story, so it does what it needs to and gets out of the way. In the end, it just feels like I need to see more of Drago in order to really understand him and what’s going on to be comfortable with the storyline.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: August 6th, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
