Everything goes wonderfully wonky.
Creative Staff:
Story: Amy Chu
Art: Maria Sanapo
Colors: Mohan
Letterer: Taylor Esposito, Rieanna Bates
What They Say:
Ever wonder how Red Sonja and Vampirella could make it to Riverdale to hang out with Betty and Veronica? Now you’re about to find out! But to do so, you’ll have to travel deep into interstellar space, for the answer lies not on Earth, but on Drakulon! And the revelation is TWICE as bananas as you could imagine!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This combo crossover series has been a lot of fun but it hasn’t quite hit its true potential I think. I enjoyed the first arc with what it presented as Amy Chu had the fun of bringing this group together and dealing with some high school antics. The second arc is going a lot bigger and hasn’t quite found its footing just yet. But it does have more Maria Sanapo artwork and it’s an utter delight to have that, especially with Draculina now more formally in the book. The look and feel of the character designs definitely do their best to feel cohesive between some very different works and it largely works really well. There’s good fun in the action as it unfolds but also in the basic character material.
Vampirella and Red Sonja continue to make their way further down into the facility and it’s certainly interesting when they reach the portal. It’s clear that Drakulon lay beyond and Red Sonja’s talk of magic isn’t overdone, even with Vampirella simply going on with the familiar line about science looking like magic. What I like about what we get here is that Vampirella’s really unsure about going back since it’s been a long time and she’s not sure what’s changed there. It’s been significant to be sure and the way time can change a place and its people, especially depending on how desperate they might become, it’s not an easy choice to make. But you feel for the struggle of it even as Sonja kind of gives her a little bit of grief about it and not just facing her duties. Of course, the choice is taken out of her hands by the end of this installment.
A lot of time is spent with Betty and Veronica as they interview Pulaski and he talks about what he’s accomplished with his disease, and the intent to find immortality. What’s surprising to the young women is when Dr. Arcudi from school shows up and reveals herself to be Draculina, connecting her to Vampirella. That she’s providing the blood to Pulaski to keep him alive isn’t too much of a surprise but he’s so dependent on her that we see him come close to death here. She’s used him to stay safe and alive for a long time but we also see how he’s built his corporation on the technology and information that she brought back from the Clark. With her knowing what’s going on with the girls and their friends, she’s ready to move forward with her own plans and watching as she abandons Pulaski and plots her way back to Drakulon with the teens makes for a solid setup for what’s to come next as there’ll be some real distance between our core foursome.
In Summary:
This series is a special kind of oddness just by virtue of the three-way crossover that we’re getting with our core characters. It still surprises me that it works but I’m enjoying it as we see the high school kids kidnapped to Drakulon while Sonja and Vampirella have to figure out how to give chase to it now. Draculina brings something more serious to this arc and I’m curious to see what Amy Chu has in store for her as she’s opened well with her as a character so far. Maria Sanapo continues to be an artist that I delight in watching and she really has some fun in working through situations here in order to keep it fast-moving, exciting, and enjoyable. I like her take on all of the characters and how well she manages to blend them all together into this setting believably.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: January 29th, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
