Vampirella has been a series has been a bit of a mixed bag so far should be evident to any readers that have made it this far into the series.  After dealing with the vampire hunt which formed the first arc in this series, Vampirella is now after her second major target, Dr. Faustus or at least she thinks that she is.  One of the problems with the first arc was the rapidity in which it wrapped up.   After touring the globe garnering the power of other ancient vampires, the main threat was beaten relatively easily.  On the reading of this issue the same problem seems to be here, as after only his second appearance Dr. Faustus would seem already to be vanquished.  That is not the end of the story however, and what remains still seems worthy of some praise, though it is not particularly noteworthy either.

The best place to see this mixed bag is probably in the characters.  What this series does deserve praise thus far for is its presentation of the titular heroine.  She is a character who is likely most famous for her name and her costume which is a just a monokini.  So far in this series though and especially in the past two she is treated more like how it is argued that female characters should be displayed.  Strong and maybe even sexual but not a sex object.  While this is a worthy change for the character, equally the supporting characters have a long way to go to being more than two-dimensional.  The strongest one here is Tristan Caillet, the werewolf assigned to assist Vampirella in this case.  While it is a fine idea for a character, it is also too forced in a sense, with the exposition from her questions making it seem almost like he is being interviewed by a five-year old.

The failures and successes of this series so far almost balance each other out and make this series a little more than average in most ways.  There is certainly potential here for the series and the character to be more, especially with the more realistic approach to Vampirella, but it is still marred by writing that leaves something to be desired when it comes to anything except the main character.  It is nice to see a modern version of the series which puts Vampirella in a position other than cult status sex symbol,  but it depends on the story and the characters to make this version successful enough to stick, which is what the creative team seems to be missing.

Story: Nancy A. Collins Art: Patrick Berkenkotter
Story: 7.2 Art: 7.2 Overall: 7.2 Recommendation: Pass

Dynamite provided Graphic Policy with a free copy for review.