The hunt takes a trip to dinner first.
Creative Staff:
Story: Kristina Deak-Linsner
Art: Joseph Michael Linsner
Colors: Ceci de la Cruz
Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
What They Say:
After avoiding a lethal clash with the Witch Evily, Vampirella continues to track down a serial sexual predator. Joining forces with Evily, they both decide that there is strength in numbers. Meanwhile, dark forces conspire to unleash an ancient demonic presence to destroy our united heroines.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Four months after the first issue got the series underway we get to move onto the second installment, which kind of reinforced my initial fears over this run. I really like Linsners artwork but I’ve had such bad luck with them in terms of timeliness that it leaves me struggling to really enjoy the book because of the gaps. Which is really a frustrating thing because this book continues to be a good step up over Linsner’s previous Vampirella book in terms of the artwork while the storytelling feels like it’s a bit more personal and accessible in a way that makes you like the characters as normal people with unusual abilities in the mix.
With the basics behind us with what both Evily and Vampi are doing in hunting the predator known as Blake, this issue has them catching up on each other a bit and what they’re capable of. Some of it is important in that we get Evily showing us how her time abilities work in that it’s only temporary, giving her a glance backward to see where things began. Otherwise, she would have wiped away what happened to Clare and returned some of her innocence. This helps to keep her from being overpowered to be sure but still very useful in regards to that skill – which we see at the diner as she checks her food to see what the waitress and cook might have been up to with it. The whole diner scene is fun since Evily deals with the rude waitress and we see touches of Vampi’s personality here with what she eats but it’s mostly just the easy dialogue between the two that clicks so well.
Since the pair are basically waiting until Blake makes his next move with a new rose, they end up back at Evily’s place to recuperate a bit more. While there’s a bit of dreamtime for Evily that gives her another look at what’s going on and for Clare to help her in a way, it does turn to action when one of the beasts that Blake can draw upon is used to attack them. It’s fun and all but once again I’ll admit I far more liked just the dynamic between the two characters as they prepared for bed. The light jokes, the sarcasm, and even just the time with the dog in how it plays out was really appealing. It’s a good getting to know you kind of book in this regard as we see them playing very well off each other. Which I’m hoping the next two issues has a decent but of as well because it’s the greater draw right now than the main storyline itself.
In Summary:
Honestly, I’d forgotten this series existed when the second issue came in and it took a minute to reconnect with it. As much of a Vampi fan as I am, I’m really enjoying Evily in this run and I hope that she makes out the best by the end of this with her own book or spinoff to work with. Everything about this book is clicking for me which makes the erratic publishing schedule all the worse. It’s fun, has the right level of dark and creepy, and capture the personalities of both women really well.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: October 24th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
