Birthdays can be hard, even if you are an undead creature of sorts such as Lilith. All she wants is to spend quality time with her daughter, Vampi and of course receive that “killer” birthday present. When that fails, it fails to Undine to provide a gift that has the power to make up for Vampi’s indiscretion. Undine has found the 36. This group, unknown to themselves and each other, are totally incorruptible; think the Untouchables but on spiritual level. However, should one of them sway and step from the straight and narrow, then Armageddon will be unleashed. Thats all well and good, but what does Purgatori have to do with it? Is she friend or foe?
Ray Fawkes has history with the darkness of demons and magics thanks to his time on Justice League Dark and Constantine. Here he takes two popular characters and gives them a kind. of focus to bring them together, at least for a little while. The dialogue comes in waves, alternating between madcap monologuing from Lilith, weird visions from Undine and the almost casual acceptance of the situation from Vampi and the flirty “I know more than you” attitude from Purgatori. Plot wise, the quest of the 36 is going to bubble along as we see the two leads clash, crash as the best of frenemies. Fawkes does well capturing the essence of Vampi and it will be interesting how Fawkes balances the leads and twin aspects of the story.
The art is provided by Álavro Sarraseca is a tad inconsistent. When is come to the leads everything is fine. For the most part, Lilith is fine, though there are times when the camera angles mean that characters can look a little wooden in places. This carries over in to some of the faces which does spoil the flow a little. Still, Sarraseca manages the humorous elements well and the kicker at the the end of the third act is extremely well delivered. The colors by Salvatore Aiala, after a rocky start, gel and gives the book a suitably atmospheric feeling. Tom Napolitano delivers a font that suits the mood of the book, which to be honest, comes as no surprise to anyone who who has seen Napolitano’s works on a number of books from a variety of publishers. Finally, it’s a Dynamite book, so there are covers a plenty to choose from; all of them have their own plus points.
While it could be said that Dynamite hang their success on their Vampi books the same way DC goes as Batman goes; the publisher utilises strong talent in order to give each Vampi book it’s own flavour, it’s own feel. This book is no different in that regard.
Writing – 4.5 Stars
Art – 3.5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars
Overall – 4 Stars
Written by; Ray Fawkes
Art by; Álavro Sarraseca
Colors by; Salvatore Aiala
Letters by; Tom Napolitano
Published by; Dynamite Entertainment
Author Profile
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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
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