Events are coming together fairly quickly but a whole lot of mystery still exists.
Creative Staff:
Story: Thomas Sniegoski
Art: Michael Sta. Maria
Colors: Omi Remalante Jr.
Letterer: Troy Peteri
What They Say:
Vampirella Reborn! Savage! Feral! A literal demon thirsting for blood! As humanity raises their greatest hope from the dead, will Pendragon and the rest of our survivor’s be able to quell the beast that they have unleashed?!? Originally debuting in 1994, Vengeance of Vampirella portrayed a more savage and feral look at the Daughter of Drakulon. Now, for the 50th Anniversary of Vampirella, original series writer Tom Sniegoski (joined by the incredible art of Michael Sta. Maria) is back and issue #2 features a host of incredible cover artists.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening installment of this series definitely had some interesting moments that Thomas Sniegoski got to play with and it made it an easy book to come back for more of, especially if you’re a Vampirella fan. With so many competing works out there it is feeling a little complicated and contradictory at times so it’s best to just take each book on its own. I do lament that we continue to get reborn-style versions of her, however, after getting so many great stories with her fully aware and presented as a complex person. Michael Sta. Maria definitely delivered a great looking book the last time around and I love his use of Draculina to provide a really strong contrast not just to Vampirella but to the world that this story inhabits as it’s a very grim one.
Vampirella’s return is what dominates in the early pages as she’s been cast out to the city and begins to reform in her new reborn way. She’s in a fog of sorts when it comes to anything resembling memories but base instincts are there. When a pair of demon types come to where she is she knows she can just tear them apart and feed, which is high on her to-do list right now. But that’s also going to draw attention, something that Pendragon talks about when he catches up to where she was later and sees the bodies. For Vampirella, she’s starting to get a handle on the city itself in its ruins and prepares to get actively involved in protecting a few people from something mean and dangerous. This is just something that has defined her for so long that it’s like a muscle memory to protect others.
Amid this, we get a decent bit of time with Draculina as she’s called to where the evil from the other dimension communicates with her. Since she’s controlling the world as their proxy, they’re actually quite polite from what you’d think otherwise but there’s enough venom in it as well to make it clear that she best not disappoint. It’s an intriguing sequence as it’s spread out as you know it’s going to connect to Vampirella and the group of humans she’s come across and is drawn to helping, but you can’t be quite sure what the real deal is as everything here still feels like it’s for show, a fake to put Vampirella at ease. Draculina and Vampirella both stick to their sexy costumes, which I don’t mind as it goes in cycles with how they’re handled, sometimes book to book, but it fits in this particular timeline and how Draculina is running the show. I love how she’s presented and am eager to see where else Sniegoski is going to take the story.
In Summary:
At this point I’m still just trying to figure out this series place and point. There’s been a lot going on with Vampirella in the past year with highs and lows and several new projects to celebrate but I’m struggling to really connect with a lot of them. This series so far feels like a dark but colorful (and beautiful) 80’s anime series in a way. It has all the post-apocalyptic elements it needs, great costuming, oppressive atmosphere, and a sense of big things to come that would be camp if it just hewed a bit more in that direction. It’s beautiful curiosity and I like what we’re presented with so far, though that’s more for the artwork than the story as it hasn’t had time to really reveal what it is that it wants to say.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 6th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
