With the horror genre of comics definitely making a resurgence in recent years, it is no surprise to see Vampirella be brought back in to fashion. I can tell you it’s probably been almost 20 years since the last time I picked up one of her books and this certainly did not disappoint.
This is the last installment in the five part series, where Vampirella finds herself inside the storybook, like Alice through the looking glass, and must find a way out. What she discovers inside though, in these last few chapeters, neither her, nor the reader, would have suspected.
The comic reads like something out of Tale From the Crypt with the narrator interacting directly with Vampirella and making groan-inducingly painful, but at the same time terribly delicious, puns. Even much the art work is reminiscent of the old Creepshow and Tales From the Vault comics from the ’60’s and 70’s. It is a dose of nostalgia in the modern age, and successfully pays homage to it’s predecessors.
There are noticeable shifts when each of the artists takes the reins for their respective stories, but not so much as to be a distraction or to interrupt the flow.
The writing is what you would expect, a combination between Poe and the alliterative nature of comics from a bygone age, harking back even to old radio dramas where the story, by necessity, needed to be fleshed out in such a verbal cornucopia as to engage and enthrall the listeners.
The comic never loses site of itself, knowing full well it is simply campy, pulpy fun at it’s best.
Writer: Nancy A. Collins, Steve Niles Artist: Jack Jadson, Eman Casallos
Story 7.0 Art 8.5 Overall 8.0 Recommendation: Read
Dynamite provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
