Comic Review: Hack/Slash vs. Vampirella: The Heart Is a Lonely Killer

Published: June 6th, 2018
Written by: Shawn Aldridge
Art by: Rapha Lobosco

Dynamite Entertainment, 137 Pages

Review:

Two of my favorite indie comics creations are Vampirella and Hack/Slash. So seeing them come together for the first time is really cool.

Honestly, I’m surprised that this didn’t happen much sooner than it did, as both characters have had tons of crossovers with other franchises over the last dozen years or so.

Cassie Hack and her sidekick Vlad joining up with comic’s greatest vampire heroine seems like such a natural fit, though, that I feel like they should cross paths somewhat regularly.

That being said, I loved seeing these characters share the same space and the tone of the two franchises meshed together perfectly well and we were given a fairly decent story that worked and established the characters as pretty solid allies after their initial tension.

I also thought that the art was pretty good and overall, this was a fun, cool read.

Granted, I would’ve liked a little bit more than what we got.

However, if you do like either of these series or both, you should probably check this out.

Rating: 7/10
Pairs well with: other Hack/Slash and Vampirella crossovers, there are so many.

Comic Review: Vampirella and the Scarlet Legion

Published: February 29th, 2012
Written by: Joe Harris
Art by: Jose Malaga

Dynamite Entertainment, 135 Pages

Review:

It’s been a little while since I’ve read a Vampirella comic and this one has been in my Comixology queue for quite some time. In fact, it was the oldest title in my queue, so I figured I’d give it a read.

For the most part, this was kind of cool and I liked the whole mythos surrounding The Scarlet Legion and their ties to Vampirella. This also added in some Aztec mysticism, as Vampirella is essentially elevated as a god to the tribe she encounters in the story.

The plot itself is just okay. It’s got a few twists and surprises but a lot of this feels cookie cutter.

And while I mostly like the art, it lacks energy. The character designs and illustrations are pretty solid but nothing feels very dynamic. The colors are decent but a bit wonky at times, as well.

Overall, this is okay but there are better Vampirella stories out there.

Rating: 6/10
Pairs well with: other Vampirella comics from her Dynamite era.

Comic Review: Vampirella: NuBlood – One-Shot

Published: February 27th, 2013
Written by: Mark Rahner
Art by: Cezar Razek

Dynamite Entertainment, 37 Pages

Review:

This one-shot Vampirella comic basically takes the concept of the TV series True Blood: introducing the world of Vampi to synthetic blood that is commercially produced in an effort to get vampires to drink that instead of people.

Beyond that, this is a total True Blood parody, as within the first few moments, you see Vampirella working in a bar full of characters that closely resemble the bar and characters from the HBO show. And it all takes place in a rural Louisiana town that is overrun with supernatural weirdness.

So I guess this is an unofficial Vampirella and True Blood spinoff? Maybe the license for True Blood was too expensive but this comes so damn close to the source material I’m amazed that it didn’t run into some legal issues, parody or not.

There is a twist here though, as some of the characters you will recognize from that TV show end up being shitheads and not the versions of the characters you’re familiar with.

In any event, this could have been somewhat cool, as a longer story with more room to breathe but its all wedged into a single issue that then has to make room for an additional story that’s tacked on at the end. And that extra story was completely forgettable.

Overall, I felt like this was a waste of time and it just made me want to see what would actually happen if Dynamite actually were able to crossover Vampirella and True Blood. Maybe, eventually, that can and will happen, as she’s been crossed over with every other property under the sun.

Rating: 5.25/10
Pairs well with: other Vampirella comics from the Dynamite era.

Book Review: ‘The Art of Vampirella – The Dynamite Years’ by Various

Like all the other large format art books put out by Dynamite Entertainment, this one if full of spectacular pieces from my favorite artistic medium: comic books.

Plus, it also features one of my favorite indie comics characters of all-time: Vampirella.

While the Warren Years Vampirella art book blew my f’n mind, this one doesn’t quite hit the mark for me in the same way.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still a great book to own for fans of the character and comic art. However, I’m a much bigger fan of the ’60s and ’70s classical art style of the other book. That era was full of work by great fantasy painters from Spain and Italy and it had a totally different vibe.

This collection features modern comic book art. I do like most of it but it doesn’t blow my socks off like the old school stuff.

If these are the sort of books you like to collect, this one shouldn’t disappoint. The art styles have changed over the decades since the original Vampirella stories but there are still great pieces to enjoy here.

Rating: 8.5/10
Pairs well with: other art books put out by Dynamite Entertainment that features the history of the characters they publish.

Book Review: ‘The Art of Vampirella – The Warren Years’ by Various

I’ve been going through a lot of comic book art books lately and I’ve gotta say, this one has been my favorite out of the half dozen or so I’ve looked at this year. In fact, I read a friend’s copy and now I’ve got to buy my own.

What sets this apart is the art itself.

Overall, this follows the same format as other art books, especially those put out by Dynamite Entertainment. This is very similar to the other Vampirella ones, as well as the great Red Sonja books I’ve seen.

But again, the art here makes this stand out in front of the pack.

This is a must own simply because the covers from the Warren era of Vampirella are absolutely amazing!

I’ve been trying to collect a lot of the old Warren Vampirella issues, simply because of how great the covers are but with this book, you can own the lot and look through them in one volume whenever you feel like it.

Warren Publishing hired a slew of super talented artists to do these covers and honestly, this is some of the best fantasy, horror and sword and sorcery art pieces ever put to canvas.

It’s the art that got me into comic books to begin with. It’s also my favorite artistic medium. Since this features some of the best covers ever created for comic magazines, why wouldn’t I buy this and cherish it for years to come?

Rating: 10/10
Pairs well with: other art books put out by Dynamite Entertainment that features the history of the characters they publish.

Comic Review: Vampirella: 2018 Halloween Special

Published: October 24th, 2018
Written by: Scott Lobdell, Blake Northcott
Art by: Rapha Lobosco, Anthony Marques

Dynamite Entertainment, 27 Pages

Review:

I recently backed Blake Northcott and Scott Lobdell’s crowdfunded comic book Everglade Angels because I’ve followed Northcott for awhile on Twitter and I’ve been a fan of Lobdell’s work for years. Plus, I live and grew up in the Everglades, so I have some invested interest in the comic’s setting.

But I didn’t realize until this week that they had worked together previously on this Vampirella Halloween Special from last year. So being that it is Halloween week, I figured I’d give it a read.

And since I dig the hell out of the Vampirella character anyway, that was even more incentive to check this out.

So this was a single issue comic but it had two short stories in it. Both were pretty good and amusing and I enjoyed them as shorts.

The first tale has to do with Vampirella taking care of some major baddies on Halloween. She also receives help from some other characters but I don’t want to spoil any of the details.

The second story is more comedic and has Vampirella trying to get back at some trick or treaters that TPed her house. It’s a pretty fast read but it was still pretty entertaining.

Both stories had different artists with very different styles but I enjoyed the look of the book throughout.

Overall, this achieved what it set out to do, which was provided a couple of fun stories themed around Halloween.

Rating: 6.75/10
Pairs well with: other Vampirella titles from Dynamite, as well as the Harris Comics era.

Vids I Dig 128: Comic Tropes: What’s the Lasting Appeal of ‘Vampirella’?

 

From Comic Tropes’ YouTube description: Vampirella has been around for 50 years. That’s a long time for a comic book character that wasn’t made by Marvel or DC. This episode takes a look at her history and highlights across three publishers: Warren, Harris and Dynamite. Is she just an iconic costume or is there more to her?

Comic Review: Vampirella Master Series – Omnibus

Published: September 20th, 2017
Written by: Kurt Busiek, Mike Carey, Warren Ellis, Jeph Loeb, Mark Millar, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, James Robinson
Art by: Amanda Conner, Gary Frank, Joe Jusko, Louis LaChance, Mike Lilly, Mike Mayhew, Tim Sale, Mark Texeira

Dynamite Entertainment, Harris Comics, 545 Pages

Review:

I’ve kind of dug Vampirella my entire life, even if I hadn’t read many of her stories until more recently. She always looked like a cool, badass character and I’ve always enjoyed horror, especially vampire fiction.

Being that this is the 50th anniversary of the character and because I’m stoked for the new series that Christopher Priest is writing, I wanted to dive deep into Vampirella lore.

This gigantic omnibus was put out recently by Dynamite but it collects stories from the ’90s when Vampirella was being published by the now defunct Harris Comics.

What makes this collection special, is that it is a compilation of Vampirella stories from a ton of A-list creators in a time when comics were allowed to be harder, sexier, edgier and darker: all things that make Vampirella who she is.

Overall, most of this was entertaining. The only low point was the Kurt Busiek story because it was a bit slow when compared to the pacing of the others. I did like Busiek’s tale overall but it was also the largest and kind of took the wind out of the sails for me.

I wish that some of the other stories were larger or expanded on more, though. There were a lot of cool ideas tossed around and a lot of what was considered Vampirella canon was experimented on and retconned. Typically, I’m not big on retcons but with Vampirella having a rocky history, as far as being published regularly and with any sort of long lasting narrative, it doesn’t bother me. Plus, by the ’90s, a little reinvention wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

In the end, I was glad to have finally read these stories and they’re certainly better than what was the standard in the early to mid-’90s.

I also loved most of the art.

Rating: 7.75/10
Pairs well with: other Vampirella stories, as well as comics featuring Red Sonja and Dejah Thoris.

Film Review: Vampirella (1996)

Release Date: September 28th, 1996
Directed by: Jim Wynorski
Written by: Gary Gerani
Based on: Vampirella by Forrest J. Ackerman
Music by: Joel Goldsmith
Cast: Talisa Soto, Roger Daltrey, Richard Joseph Paul, Brian Bloom, Angus Scrimm

Cinetel Films, Concorde-New Horizons, Showtime Networks, 82 Minutes, 86 Minutes (DVD cut)

Review:

“You are much stronger than I am.” – Vampirella, “At the risk of sounding egotistical, I am stronger than anyone.” – Vlad

I don’t think I even knew about this movie at the time of its release and I worked in a video store then. I was also a fan of comics, horror and movies that were made with the involvement of Roger Corman, the King of B-Movies.

Well, I didn’t expect much from this film but it was still pretty entertaining seeing Roger Daltrey of The Who get to ham it up pretty hard. He looked like he was having a good time, committing to this character and this film, regardless of the production value.

On the flip side of that, I have no issues with Talisa Soto, but I don’t think that she was the best choice to play Vampirella. But the script was bad, the dialogue was terrible, her hair was wrong and her outfit looked like dime store cosplay and didn’t really work. But I also realize that the traditional Vampirella costume is even racier and way more revealing. But it’s not the skin that’s the issue, as much as it is the poor, kind of unflattering design of the suit.

Also, Vampirella should be more curvy. Soto has a great body but it’s more athletic than curvy. Tia Carrere would have been a better fit but she was also probably more expensive in 1995, when this was made. But she looks more the part and if she had the same hair style that she did the first moment you saw her in Wayne’s World, it’s even a better fit.

But nothing would’ve really saved this picture from itself.

The plot was nonsensical and the pacing and editing were pretty bad. I just watched this movie and I don’t even remember what it was about other than an evil alien vampire (Daltrey) escapes from execution, heads to Earth, Vampirella follows and they fight. But hey, Angus Scrimm, Phantasm‘s the Tall Man, plays an elder vampire on their home planet.

Calling Vampirella a disappointment is an understatement. It’s a movie that really shouldn’t have been made. You think Corman would’ve learned after his experiment with Fantastic Four a few years earlier.

Unless you are an absolute die hard Vampirella fan, you should ignore this film. If you insist on checking it out, do so at your own risk. But it is free on YouTube, at the moment.

Rating: 3.25/10
Pairs well with: Roger Corman’s unreleased adaptation of Fantastic Four, as well as the 1990 Captain America film.

Comic Review: Aliens/Vampirella

Published: July 6th, 2016
Written by: Corinna Sara Bechko
Art by: Javier Garcia-Miranda
Based on: Aliens by Dan O’Bannon & Ronald Shusett, Vampirella by Forrest J. Ackerman

Dynamite Entertainment, Dark Horse, 184 Pages

Review:

This crossover came out a few years back but I guess I didn’t notice it. 2016 was a weird year for me and I was working more than a normal human being should.

I was stoked to check this out now, though, as I’m a big fan of both the Alien franchise and Vampirella.

Overall, this was a pretty good, action packed, violent and intense comic. It even brought in some Nosferatu-looking vampires to mix it up with the alien xenomorphs. There’s this great sequence where a vampire bites a xenomorph in the neck and then has his face melted off from the acid blood.

I only have two complaints about Aliens/Vampirella.

The first and most important is that this is a Vampirella comic. Therefore, why the hell is she wearing a jumpsuit throughout the entire story? You only see her in her regular outfit in one panel where she first wakes up from deep sleep due to space travel. After that panel, she’s dressed like a Ghostbuster for all six issues.

For those bitching about how her outfit objectifies women, you’ve probably never read Vampirella. Also, comic books are a visual artistic medium that presents its heroes in ideal forms. It’s not real, it’s escapism and entertainment. It’s fantasy and when there are hot girls in my fantasy, they aren’t wearing jumpsuits. She should be in her traditional outfit or a variation of it. I mean, you don’t dress up Batman like an accountant, do you?

The second complaint is that once you get to the end, it ends really abruptly. It’s like, “Ha! We escaped!” Then, “Boom! The End!” It doesn’t wreck the comic but it felt like it could have been paced a bit better to pad out the conclusion a wee bit more.

Other than that, I liked the story for the most part and the art was mostly solid. Some panels, but very few, felt like they were rushed.

In the end, this was a fun read for fans of either or both franchises.

Rating: 7/10
Pairs well with: other Vampirella and Alien crossovers, as both franchises have had many.