Writer – Christopher Priest
Artist &Colorist – Ergun Gunduz
Letterer- Willie Schubert
I should probably state that I actually don’t ever remember reading a VAMPIRELLA comic before. I have however been a fan of Alex Ross’s art for a very long time, so the cover(B) initially sold me on taking a read of the book. It’s probably my favourite of all 5.I’m glad I took a chance on it as, overall, it was much better then I thought it would be. I’ve read far too many “vampish” books that tend to be heavy on the sexuality, but light on the story, so this in that regard was a pleasant surprise.
I’ve been a fan of Christopher Priest’s work since the 3rd volume of Black Panther. Overall I enjoyed his writing on this issue. One thing that did stick out to me which would be more dialect then actual storyline ,was Priest’s literal sounding out of words of one of his characters “Dr. Chary” which I found a bit distracting figuring out what the character was saying. Sometimes it broke up the flow of the story for me. I really enjoyed the dialogue between Dr. Chary and VAMPIRELLA though. Great back and forth that was one of my favourite parts of the story.
Mentioning earlier I had never read VAMPIRELLA, I found you really didn’t need to have a strong history of the character to enjoy the book and be interested where they were going from here. There were some references to what I assume is past volumes(if so a note in the panel would have been great) of the series, but this played into the current storyline nicely . The story grew on me as it went along and I enjoyed the situations and vulnerabilities, both physical and situational that PRIEST exposed the character to. In this aspect it felt very original to me.
Another small gripe I had was the misleading size of the story.it ran about 20 pages, but the book itself is a pretty thick (34 pages in total).Minor spoiler, it’s a variety of variant covers. Would have much preferred a further more fleshed out storyline for what is one of the more cerebral vampire book beginnings I have seen in a while. I chuckled a bit upon finding out that VAMPIRELLA was indeed Canadian .Had no idea .In that aspect I suppose she is lucky being the undead, because no way does her attire get her through a Canadian winter.
The art and colouring by ERGUN GUNDUZ was hit and miss for me. There was a few splash pages that I would say were really well done. One air shot in particular could be framed and would fit nicely on any geek wall. A few of the panels with VAMPIRELLAS face looked a bit off, almost ghoulish ,for what is a beautiful character for being dead and all. I found the splash pages beautifully colored also.The art serviced the story but never really stood out for me.
This story was not what I expected, so it’s originality will probably appeal to newer fans and keep the character completionists happy also.Worth a read if your looking to try something new. Not putting the book in my file, but will probably grab the second issue off the shelf if I see it.
Til next time
Scott
Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for brutally killing two black men who tried to break into/steal his truck. Through his brother’s, Danny Vineyard, narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.
