REVIEW: Vampirella Strikes #13

The ever sexy, blood queen in red and white makes her return for yet another excellent issue of Vampirella Strikes. I’ll be sincere here and tell you that for me this is no doubt a dream come true. I have been collecting Vampirella comics ever since I laid my hands and eyes on my very first Vampi way back in my comic collecting career. The mix of action, sexuality, and pure badassery makes me a very happy geek. Vampirella and all her wonderful variations remind me that comics are not just about buff men with capes; there are also comics about buff women with collars.

In this issue we are treated to a softer side of Vampirella, one we don’t often see, a side that shows here as a caring badass looking to help the monsters of The Menagerie. A section of the town of Sepulcher where monsters are going missing, only to be found in pools of blood and carnage. Their pleas for aid are of course being answered by none other than Vampirella herself, accompanied by an equally badass werewolf by the name of Dagwood. Whilst this particular arc of Vampirella is new to me, I am quite pleased to see the awesome work of artist Jonathan Lau, and coloring Omi Remalante, Jr. The character designs in this issue are quite wonderful and you can see that Jonathan is definitely a fan of the Vampiress because he is able to portray her in all of her usual sexy badassery as well as bring a unique and wonderfully contrasting look to Dagwood.

Dagwood and Vampirella are being attacked by a six-pack having, religious fanatic of a deity known as the goddess, and this guy is packing. He is strong, he is fit and he wears a skull mask that would put Ghost Rider’s head to shame. He looks awesome and I love it in all the ways. The actions scenes are dynamic, fast, and impactful, and even though we know that Vampirella will ultimately win (because let’s face it, this is a Vampirella comic, and other than “The Walking Dead” and “Game of Thrones”, chances are that our main hero will come out on top one way or another) we are able to see this religious zealot do some real damage to our favorite vampire lady. From the head-smacking slams to the blood-gushing slashes this issue is packed to the brim with action, and the lettering by Jeff Eckleberry is done in masterful ways. The art and the word balloons work perfectly, and the sound fxs or onomatopeias are exactly what you would expect to hear if you were right there witnessing this mayhem. If you’ve been reading my reviews lately, you might already know how much of a distance I have for perfect vector balloons that do not look good against heavily textured art. Yet this comic has none of it! They have managed to get around this problem in a very astute way. By making the character art clean and painterly and only having the background have the overlayed texture effects they are able to make the balloons feel as if they are in the same place as the characters whilst the background is behind everything else, and I think it works wonders to make everything feel like one consistent page instead of two things slapped together with spit and glue.

I also have to give huge props to writer Thomas Sniegoski who does a wonderful job of telling two stories at the same time, the one going on inside the psyche of our trouble Vampirella as well as the one unfolding between fists of fury and which revolves around the actual battle. They manage to make a comic that not only is filled with action but actually, has a deeper world-building aspect to it that allows us to connect deeper to Vampirella and to her inner struggles of being a monster. I also have to applaud them because I myself being a huge Vampirella fan, know for a fact how many times writers fall into the trap of laying out Vampirella’s origin story again and again in every issue (I understand they do this because even though she is quite popular, she is not hyper famous and there is a chance that someone that has never read a Vampirella might pick her up and not know how she came to be), and instead they build upon her lore and give us a badass vampire woman that is not afraid to snap the neck of a religious fanatic or two.

This issue of knee-high boot-wearing heroism is wonderful and I’m excited for the next one. I don’t think I found a single thing wrong with this comic, I enjoyed the backgrounds, the character art, the lettering, the writing the action sequences, and even the story-building panels. This issue is fantastic in all regards and if you’re a Vampirella fan or a Dracula fan, (and since the new Dracula film with Nick Cage and Ben Schwartz just came out, you might be looking for some more vampire-related entertainment) then I definitely suggest you pick this bad girl up. Really wonderful comic making right here.

Writing- 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 5 Stars

Writing by; Thomas Sniegoski
Art by; Jonathan Lau
Colors by; Omi Remalante, Jr.
Lettering by; Jeff Eckleberry
Cover art by; Lucio Parrillo
Published by; Dynamite

Reviewed by Antonio “Mabs”