Review: Vampirella Strikes #8

Being the well rounded type of comic book fan that I am, I have quietly been catching up on this little run. When it comes to Vampi, Dynamite are more than happy to mine her in various forms. Have I mentioned that she has more books out per month than Batman? Still, if you are on a budget and only have room for one Vampi book, then you would be hard pressed to beat the ongoing adventures of Vampi in the Sniegoski-verse!

Vampirella has been captured and chained by the worshippers of Nyx. You see Vampi thought that the seven had plans to resurrect Nyx, but they plan is far greater and far deadlier; reviving the Blood Red Queen of Hearts. But with all great plan of mice, men and devil worshipers, the devil is in the details as the Blood Red Queen looks to sacrifice enough people to bring her lost love, the Mad God of Chaos back to rule Earth!

The hook for this series is that legendary Vampi writer, Thomas Sniegoski, is back on board and continuing from once he left off. This does mean that at times there is a need for a couple of “previously on….” pages. Once those are dealt with we get back to the main event. After an issue of setup, this issue looks to move things long. There is a sense of drama to Vampi predicament and subsequent forays. The dialogue works well, with a monologue that sets the tone well. There is a touch of exposition towards the final third of the book, but with so much going on, I don’t mind, especially as it serves to introduce Blood Red Queen to possibly new readers.

The art is provided by Jonathan Lau who get to have fun with “Vampi in distress”. Whilst this is but a small part of the story, Lau works his magic from the get go, covering the origin of Blood Red Queen, the fight scene and a climax which will lead into the next issue. Lau’s pencils lines is quite heavy in places which works for the most part, though may be not as well when combined with the dark backgrounds. Lau’s version of Blood Red Queen is a kind of mash up of the Alien cranium on a Borg Queen body. Its not a bad look, just different. Action wise, things get a little chaotic at times, with the transitions between a couple of panels confusing, requiring a second look. Amid the chaos are the colors from Omi Remalante Jr, who does well in the various environs, be it past or present, dark demons or eternal damnation effects. Jeff Eckleberry does a fantastic job with the sheer amount of words that appear per panel /page. Eckleberry’s font is a pleasant to read, which contracts well with the aforementioned chaos.

Vampirella Strikes is a kind of old school book, with a strong female lead in her classic costume, written by a writer who clearly loves the character.

Writing – 5 Stars

Art – 4 Stars

Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 4.5 Stars

Written by; Thomas Sniegoski
Art by; Jonathan Lau
Colors by; Omi Remalante Jr.
Letters by; Jeff Eckleberry
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