Review: Vampirella Dead Flowers #1 (of 4)

When you have a classic character, like Vampirella for example, it;s hard to keep everything fresh whilst still holding on to that which made the character fun in the first place. Take the new Power Girl book from DC; Paige instead of Karen, astral punch powers, pant suit instead of her uni-tard; at least she still has her boob window. I wonder then the logic for a book that features the classic Vampi look, hardly ever uses it?

With an age-old enemy passing away, Vampi is invited back to the scariest mansion this side of the original Scooby-Doo Where Are You?, where she encounters the staff, the past and new threats abound aimed towards her and her newest assistant. Of course things are never quite what they seem.

The book is written by Sara Frazetta and Bob Freeman, the former being the granddaughter of classic Vampi artist Frank Frazetta. The pair incorporate a somewhat cheesy meta message to bring Vampi into the story; in fact that is probably one of the best ways to describe the book, “somewhat cheesy”. The story is quite tame, with dialogue that feels forced, a perhaps a little too explanatory. This may be in part to this being a first issue and having a need to set the scene. Or it could be symptomatic of a writer trying to script over key story sequences. Time will tell I guess.

The art is provided by Alberto Locatelli who mixes caricatures of small evil gnome like characters with the more familiar leggy extension of Vampi. With this cartoony element in play, the fright elements, which to be fair is not overly part and parcel of any Vampi book, come across more lile Scooby-Doo, again! The most surprising aspect fo the book are the colors from The Brewing Factory who gives the books a kind of pastel, of color tint with contrasts of focal colors such as purples.and deep reds. Tom Napolitano delivers a couple of fonts used to accentuate the various characters and the respective monologue.

The book is an odd affair. Is it trying to be funny book? Is it serious? Is it serving to re-introduce a new range of characters? The truth will out, I’m sure, though I wonder how many readers will stick around to find out.

Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 2.5 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 3 Stars

Written by; Sara Frazetta & Bob Freeman
Art by; Alberto Locatelli
Colors by; The Brewing Compamy
Letters by; Tom Napolitano
Published by; Dynamite Entertainment

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network