Milk Tray Guy
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Nice! Those early Warren issues are classics.
Vampirella appreciation/news/reviews thread
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Milk Tray Guy
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Vampirella's Next Big Release!
Coming to Kickstarter Soon With Mirka Andolfo, Tim Seeley, Steve Orlando, Jae Lee, Joseph Michael Linsner, Stjepan Šejić & More!
Coming to Kickstarter Soon With Mirka Andolfo, Tim Seeley, Steve Orlando, Jae Lee, Joseph Michael Linsner, Stjepan Šejić & More!
Milk Tray Guy
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Just finished the trade Vampirella/Dracula: Unholy, originally published in 2022 over six issues.
Pretty much a self-contained tale, although there are references/callbacks to previous adventures. Writing is by Christopher Priest, art is by Donny Hadiwidjaja.
Priest has done a lot of work with Vampirella. Generally his stories are pretty good, but he sometimes misses with the dialogue, and it's the same here. Some character interactions and conversations jar to the point where a few times I had to make sure I hadn't turned over two pages at once. There's also a problem when he tries to make characters (mainly cops) talk 'cool'; I don't know what his background is, but it's as though he's heard street-talk on Law & Order and tried to copy it; it's pretty cringe. The story itself is interesting. The idea that Dracula's resurrection is possible due to a combination of magic and what it basically a nano-virus is an intriguing one, although I could do without the sledgehammered Aids metaphor. It's nice to see Lilith - Vampi's mother - make a featured appearance (although she doesn't contribute a huge amount to how things play out), as well a character from the Scarlet Legion (a monster-hunting strike force under the command of the Vatican). And credit too for a twist I didn't see coming.
Donny Hadiwidjaja's art is a mixed bag. At times it's great (the full-page panel on page 1 is fantastically reminiscent of 1990s comics by people such as Jim Balent), but elsewhere the quality drops - increasingly, as the series goes on - to the point where I wondered if there'd been a change of artist. I'm going to guess this was down to deadline pressures (something Dynamite are unfortunately renowned for). It's a real shame. The covers however - all by the incredibly talented Lucio Parillo - are beautiful. There's also a very extensive variant cover gallery (by far too many artists to name here, plus some featuring cosplay models), many of which are breathtaking.
As for Vampi's costume (always a key point for fans), we get a couple of variations, but the classic 'swimsuit' does feature heavily.
Overall, it's a fun read, but the writing and (especially) the artwork issues are frustrating. 7/10
Pretty much a self-contained tale, although there are references/callbacks to previous adventures. Writing is by Christopher Priest, art is by Donny Hadiwidjaja.
Priest has done a lot of work with Vampirella. Generally his stories are pretty good, but he sometimes misses with the dialogue, and it's the same here. Some character interactions and conversations jar to the point where a few times I had to make sure I hadn't turned over two pages at once. There's also a problem when he tries to make characters (mainly cops) talk 'cool'; I don't know what his background is, but it's as though he's heard street-talk on Law & Order and tried to copy it; it's pretty cringe. The story itself is interesting. The idea that Dracula's resurrection is possible due to a combination of magic and what it basically a nano-virus is an intriguing one, although I could do without the sledgehammered Aids metaphor. It's nice to see Lilith - Vampi's mother - make a featured appearance (although she doesn't contribute a huge amount to how things play out), as well a character from the Scarlet Legion (a monster-hunting strike force under the command of the Vatican). And credit too for a twist I didn't see coming.
Donny Hadiwidjaja's art is a mixed bag. At times it's great (the full-page panel on page 1 is fantastically reminiscent of 1990s comics by people such as Jim Balent), but elsewhere the quality drops - increasingly, as the series goes on - to the point where I wondered if there'd been a change of artist. I'm going to guess this was down to deadline pressures (something Dynamite are unfortunately renowned for). It's a real shame. The covers however - all by the incredibly talented Lucio Parillo - are beautiful. There's also a very extensive variant cover gallery (by far too many artists to name here, plus some featuring cosplay models), many of which are breathtaking.
As for Vampi's costume (always a key point for fans), we get a couple of variations, but the classic 'swimsuit' does feature heavily.
Overall, it's a fun read, but the writing and (especially) the artwork issues are frustrating. 7/10
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Milk Tray Guy
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Just finished the trade Vampirella: The Dark Powers, originally published in 2020/2021 over five issues.
This is the Dynamite Vampirella/Project Superpowers crossover that I mentioned a while back. It runs concurrently with a Red Sonja/PS crossover, before the two converge into an ongoing arc involving all three properties. (I'll review the Red Sonja/PS series in the Project Superpowers thread Dynamite's Project Superpowers).
Vampirella doesn't exactly seem a natural fit for Project Superpowers; she's not from the Golden Age (she was created in 1969), she's not a superhero, and she's not really a 'Go team!' kinda person. Writer Dan Abnett leans right into that. Vampi is a reluctant recruit, used to doing things her way, and feels out of place from the start. Her brutal, bloody methods put her at odds with the team's Golden Age 'we mustn't stoop to the bad guys' level' sense of morality, leading to dissent and a growing call for her to be dismissed. When her reckless actions make an already bad situation much worse she decides she'll quit the team - but not before she's put things right.
The Project Superpowers concept seems to have been reimagined (again). Whereas before they all originated from the Golden Age of the same Earth (to all intents and purposes, ours), here they're from different parallel (or 'plural' as they call it) Earths, assembled as a team to combat deadly threats across dimensions. The process is that when an Earth develops its first Metahuman hero, 'the Project' recruits that hero to be that Earth's representative. On Vampirella's Earth she was the first to appear, so they signed her up.
Dan Abnett's writing is variable. At times he has some really nice turns of phrase and dialogue, whilst at others it feels and sounds very cliched (and not in an intentional, self-referential way). His characterisations are all right, although not exactly deep. By far the most detailed (apart from Vampi) is the Black Terror. I've said before in the Project Superpowers thread that he's been portrayed as an angry, irrational nut-job; well, here he switches between that and very amiable almost at the drop of a hat (seeming like he really needs some time on a psychiatrist's couch - although you could say that about a lot of superheroes). The overall plot is okay as far as it goes (definitely not short on action) - although we'll have to see how it shakes out over the course of the tie-ins.
The art by Paul Davidson (and some others) is not the most appealing. I can't say it's poor, but stylistically I find some of it ugly - never a good thing when depicting Vampirella. The variant cover gallery on the other hand is as usual impressive - and at times gorgeous.
As for Vampi's costume, the original 'swimsuit' does appear. She also spends time in a 'Project-issue' suit, which whilst not as revealing still isn't exactly modest.
Vampirella: The Dark Powers is far from perfect, but I do love these tales of Golden Agers in a modern setting, and this is good enough that I'll be reading the Red Sonja/PS series. 7/10
This is the Dynamite Vampirella/Project Superpowers crossover that I mentioned a while back. It runs concurrently with a Red Sonja/PS crossover, before the two converge into an ongoing arc involving all three properties. (I'll review the Red Sonja/PS series in the Project Superpowers thread Dynamite's Project Superpowers).
Vampirella doesn't exactly seem a natural fit for Project Superpowers; she's not from the Golden Age (she was created in 1969), she's not a superhero, and she's not really a 'Go team!' kinda person. Writer Dan Abnett leans right into that. Vampi is a reluctant recruit, used to doing things her way, and feels out of place from the start. Her brutal, bloody methods put her at odds with the team's Golden Age 'we mustn't stoop to the bad guys' level' sense of morality, leading to dissent and a growing call for her to be dismissed. When her reckless actions make an already bad situation much worse she decides she'll quit the team - but not before she's put things right.
The Project Superpowers concept seems to have been reimagined (again). Whereas before they all originated from the Golden Age of the same Earth (to all intents and purposes, ours), here they're from different parallel (or 'plural' as they call it) Earths, assembled as a team to combat deadly threats across dimensions. The process is that when an Earth develops its first Metahuman hero, 'the Project' recruits that hero to be that Earth's representative. On Vampirella's Earth she was the first to appear, so they signed her up.
Dan Abnett's writing is variable. At times he has some really nice turns of phrase and dialogue, whilst at others it feels and sounds very cliched (and not in an intentional, self-referential way). His characterisations are all right, although not exactly deep. By far the most detailed (apart from Vampi) is the Black Terror. I've said before in the Project Superpowers thread that he's been portrayed as an angry, irrational nut-job; well, here he switches between that and very amiable almost at the drop of a hat (seeming like he really needs some time on a psychiatrist's couch - although you could say that about a lot of superheroes). The overall plot is okay as far as it goes (definitely not short on action) - although we'll have to see how it shakes out over the course of the tie-ins.
The art by Paul Davidson (and some others) is not the most appealing. I can't say it's poor, but stylistically I find some of it ugly - never a good thing when depicting Vampirella. The variant cover gallery on the other hand is as usual impressive - and at times gorgeous.
As for Vampi's costume, the original 'swimsuit' does appear. She also spends time in a 'Project-issue' suit, which whilst not as revealing still isn't exactly modest.
Vampirella: The Dark Powers is far from perfect, but I do love these tales of Golden Agers in a modern setting, and this is good enough that I'll be reading the Red Sonja/PS series. 7/10
Last edited:
Milk Tray Guy
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Just finished the trade Vampirella versus Red Sonja, originally published in 2022/2023 over five issues.
This is the third part of Dynamite's Vampirella/Red Sonja/Project Superpowers crossover, and follows on directly from the final issue of Red Sonja: The Superpowers.
'The Project' have taken on two new recruits - Vampirella and Red Sonja, each of them snatched from their own Earths to join the Superpowers team in combating cross-dimensional threats. However, they couldn't have picked two more 'challenging' candidates, with each proving an uneasy fit as far as integration goes - given that they both have their own very distinct, very direct, very effective, and very deadly ways of doing things; ways that aren't exactly in accordance with the Project's principles (you'd think the Project would have considered this before admitting them, but they don't seem to have done).
Unfortunately, whilst the Project already have their hands full with Vampi and Sonja, they also just happen to encounter the greatest threat the Dynamite universe has ever known. Members' opinions are still divided over Vampi's vampiric nature and whether or not she can be trusted, leading to arguments and infighting - at a time when the team needs to be at its strongest and most united to stand any chance of success.
Dan Abnett continues with writing duties. He doesn't hit the heights he did with Red Sonja: The Superpowers, but it's an improvement over his uneven work on Vampirella: The Dark Powers. The interplay between Vampi and Sonja is nicely handled, whilst Sonja's non-nonsense approach and impatience with anything other than 'killing Daemons' continues to allow entertaining interactions with her teammates. The dialogue of the Golden Age heroes is stilted at times (whether that's intentional or not I don't know) but the plot moves along well, and again there's plenty of action.
Art for this instalment is by Alessandro Ranaldi. It's good (certainly better than that in Vampirella: The Dark Powers), although nowhere near as glorious as Jonathan Lau's on Red Sonja: The Superpowers. The variant covers are again mostly terrific.
Vampi is still largely in her 'Project-issue' suit - still pretty revealing - but does change back to her classic swimsuit look for the ending - which leads into the fourth instalment, Vampirella versus the Superpowers.
Entertaining. 7.5/10
This is the third part of Dynamite's Vampirella/Red Sonja/Project Superpowers crossover, and follows on directly from the final issue of Red Sonja: The Superpowers.
'The Project' have taken on two new recruits - Vampirella and Red Sonja, each of them snatched from their own Earths to join the Superpowers team in combating cross-dimensional threats. However, they couldn't have picked two more 'challenging' candidates, with each proving an uneasy fit as far as integration goes - given that they both have their own very distinct, very direct, very effective, and very deadly ways of doing things; ways that aren't exactly in accordance with the Project's principles (you'd think the Project would have considered this before admitting them, but they don't seem to have done).
Unfortunately, whilst the Project already have their hands full with Vampi and Sonja, they also just happen to encounter the greatest threat the Dynamite universe has ever known. Members' opinions are still divided over Vampi's vampiric nature and whether or not she can be trusted, leading to arguments and infighting - at a time when the team needs to be at its strongest and most united to stand any chance of success.
Dan Abnett continues with writing duties. He doesn't hit the heights he did with Red Sonja: The Superpowers, but it's an improvement over his uneven work on Vampirella: The Dark Powers. The interplay between Vampi and Sonja is nicely handled, whilst Sonja's non-nonsense approach and impatience with anything other than 'killing Daemons' continues to allow entertaining interactions with her teammates. The dialogue of the Golden Age heroes is stilted at times (whether that's intentional or not I don't know) but the plot moves along well, and again there's plenty of action.
Art for this instalment is by Alessandro Ranaldi. It's good (certainly better than that in Vampirella: The Dark Powers), although nowhere near as glorious as Jonathan Lau's on Red Sonja: The Superpowers. The variant covers are again mostly terrific.
Vampi is still largely in her 'Project-issue' suit - still pretty revealing - but does change back to her classic swimsuit look for the ending - which leads into the fourth instalment, Vampirella versus the Superpowers.
Entertaining. 7.5/10
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