Purgatori represents an attempt by Dynamite Comics to revive an almost forgotten character from the bad girl days of mid-90s.  In the first issue the character was roughly introduced, offering enough of a jumping off point for either old fans or new fans to know what was going on.  In this issue Purgatori continues in her mission to free herself from the control of her bloodlust while also trying to figure out what has happened to her.

The issue kind of plays out in two distinctive parts.  The first half is more focused on mostly gratuitous blood and gore, as Purgatori is revealed to have sucked the blood dry out of numerous animals as well as the lecherous truck driver from the previous issue.  While this part of the story is maybe necessary to establish her as a character, it is equally difficult to read as it seems mostly superfluous, especially as some parts of it seem particularly unrealistic, especially as a random family looks at her writhing in pain and only comments something to degree that she is sick.  The second half of the issue finally advances the story, but it is once again with the somewhat unnecessary addition of blood and gore.  After she is rescued, her group is soon ambushed and killed, but the artist would have maybe been wiser to go with the “less is more” approach as the images of exploding heads is not really necessary from a storytelling standpoint.  It is only at the end where the story finally moves forward, but it is too late to save what the issue was after.

The end result of the issue is one that feels mostly unnecessary.  While the story is moved forward, it feels mostly as an afterthought to the gratuitous violence.  For fans eager to see the return of the character, perhaps some of this violence is what they after, but for a new reader, it feels as though this issue missed the mark.  Indeed, an issue two synopsis at the beginning of issue #3 would reveal little more than what transpired in the last three or so pages.  This promise of a story sounds intriguing enough, but the question becomes how long will it take to tell this story with all the other disturbances.

Story:  Aaron Gillespie Art: Javier Garcia-Miranda
Story: 6.5 Art: 6.0  Overall: 6.5  Recommendation: Pass

Dynamite provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review