Review: Red Sonja and Vampirella meet Betty and Veronica #1

“And the winner for the book with the longest title goes to…..”

Having leading ladies crossover can be more trouble than its worth.Â Wait, scratch that; having any two distinct properties crossover can be problematic.Â Throw into the mix that there are actually three crossovers here, each at polar opposites and you can start to see the trouble that Dynamite and Archie have set themselves up for.

Over in Rvierdale there is something creepy going on.Â A suspicious murder brings Red Sonja into town, that and the promise of adventure and pay from her “sister” Vampirella.Â The two, out to look into the murder, when they get entwined with Betty and Veronica who are also investigating the murder for their school paper.Â What follows is fish out of water stuff, as the Dynamite pair try to assimilate into high school life, with its cliques and tribes, whilst trying to look out for more skulduggery.

Amy Chu’s run on Red Sonja was one of my favourite versions of the character, especially as that book also started as a fish out of water, Chu should have no difficulty meandering that particular trope.Â Thing is, and this is a problem for most of Dynamite’s characters, this seems to be a slightly different version of Sonja.Â Now I can understand differences caused by a multitude of writers, but Chu has written Sonja before? Still that minor quibble aside, Chu’s eye for humor is present as the pair end up on the cheerleader squad and playing football in an effort to fit in.Â This first issue does seem weighted in favour of the Dynamite girls, I hope that the balance is redressed at some point.Â The only other thing that kind of struck a nerve is that Betty and Veronica are OK with “vampire hunters from another dimension”, giving nary a thought.Â This sought of blind acceptance makes me question why this is a teen + book, is the label only there to stop young Archie fans picking up the wrong book?

Maria Sanapo provides the art for the book, which has fun elements in it.Â For starters, everyone looks like who they should, for the most part.Â Sanapo’s clean lines remind of Kevin Maguire (check out Supergirl #30 for a quick comparison), with maybe a less polished final product.Â Choices of body posture is also a little off as it seems that Sonja has two main poses, hand on hilt of sword or arms folded! Drawing sports is always hard, though Sanapo does well with the chaos that can be football.Â Sanapo’s close up work is really strong, though panels later in the book, with a zoom out angle does mean that characters can seem to be less proportioned.Â Colors are provided by Vinicius Andrade whose digital work delivers some strong textures, especially in the scenes at night. Finally, lettering maestro Taylor Esposito brings his “A” games as always, with a font that has a classic look and feel to it.

So, with this book there is a little bit of a baby elephant in the room.Â I understand that people don’t want characters to be overly sexualised, so we have a Vampi that is in a halter like sports top and skirt and thigh high boots, rather than her traditional look.Â This is despite the fact that Sonja is on her metal bikini and that a statue of Vampi in classic costume and pose is on Kickstarter via Dynamite!Â This isn’t that much or deal to some, in fact I don’t even mind the new attire, I just don’t understand the decision.Â That minor point aside, the book has fun quality to it that might upset “serious minded” Sonja and Vampi fans, perhaps that is the Betty and Veronica effect with the pair driving the tone of the book rather than engaging in any real action elements.Â Still, I have complete faith in Amy Chu, so It will be interesting to see how this series progresses.

Writing – 4.5 Stars
Art – 3.5
Colors – 4 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Written by; Amy Chu
Art by; Maria Sanapo
Colors by; Vinicius Andrake
Letters by; Tyler Esposito
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