Review: Savage Tales - Vampirella One-Shot

Ah just when you think Dynamite have gone all serious with their re-interpretation of Vampi, they pull the old switcheroo and we are back in redÂ bikini-esque swimsuits and drinking blood.Â At last!

This one-shot is something of a throwback as well a celebration in part.Â With Vampi’s oft complicated history, it is sometimes hard to get a grasp on the character.Â Therefore, Dynamite have just gone straight for the jugular with their first tale that could have taken place anywhere along her convoluted past.Â Awaking on a planet with a headache and a swarm of cavemen types Vampi is up to her armpits in blood before heading of to meet the head honcho.

Erik Burnham has delivered a tale that, whilst lacking any real gravitas,Â is chock full of campiness and pulpiness that harkens back to the characters far-flung past.Â The lack of characteristics aside, you get a romp that has a certain charm, a bit of a breather from all the hard-core eventing that seems to surround comic stores at the moment.

The art is provided by a number of artists, including Anthony Marques, J. Bone, Fernando Ruiz and Daniel Hor.Â Between them, you get a feel for the character, even if things like costumer variants occur and a lack of editorial means that Vampi is depicted with and without boots on the same page.Â This is a minor problem, but it does unfortunately distract the eye, which with the lack of serious storytelling to further distract, becomes more than obvious.

The second part of the book is a reprint of Savage Tales Vol 1 issues 19 and 20 entitled Valaka.Â Here the story by Doug Murray has a stronger horror vibe as two characters team up to stop a sacrifice, But who is sacrificing whom? Like the first part, this story wears its heart on its bleeding sleeve.Â There are a number of tropes in play from countless Hammer Horror movies, which to be honest, I am a big fan of.

The art for this story is by Lui Antoino whose, horror vibes are somewhat curtailed by the manner in which the art covers anatomy parts that may have caused censors to have kittens.Â Still, given that there is a need for that element, the tongue in cheek way that it is done can be forgiven, especiallyÂ as the rest of the art flows well, delivering a decent pace to the events.Â Heavy lines are used with judicious ease to accentuate the characters through the panels.Â The colors by Inlight Stuido are less glare full then the preceding story colors by Mohan.Â I am not saying one is better than the other; each suits their respective story extremely well.

This book, when compared to the most recent run of Vampi, feels like a return to greatness.Â Maybe for classic characters there doesn’t need to be such a departure from who they are.Â The more mature themes in the last book, whilst created with good intentions, delivered a censored version that watered down the production, demeaning the meanings somewhat.Â With this issue, it’s back to basics and its done very well.

Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4.5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Written by; Erik Burnham & Doug Murray
Art by; Anthony Marques, J. Bone, Fernando Ruiz, Daniel HorÂ & Lui Antonio
Colors by; Mohan & Inlight Studio
Cover by; Robert Hack
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