Review: Red Sonja and Vampirella meet Betty and Veronica # 3
“What is that? The gods calling?” – Red Sonja.
This issue opens with a huge mystery. The Riverdale gang is looking through an old ‘70’s scrapbook and there are pictures of Betty and Veronica with Vampirella and Red Sonja, even though they just met a few days ago.
The Creative Team:
Amy Chu is having fun telling this tale of fish out of water and we see profound culture shock as Red is having trouble processing the 2010’s. It’s fun to watch her try to figure out where the voice of the gods is coming from as she hears her name called out on an intercom. Things turn serious however, when a perpetrator we can’t see breaks in and stabs one of our Riverdale gang and (s)he winds up in a coma at the hospital. The beauty of this title is that it shouldn’t work on any level and should feel contrived, but with Amy Chu, the story and characters feel right. This is a much better read than I thought it would be. Great stuff includes one of the Riverdale gang putting the clues together and Riverdale detectives deducing said clues.
Maria Laura Sanapo has a good feel for the Riverdale gang and the art reminds you more of an Archie comic than a Vampirella or Red Sonja comic, which it should since it’s set in Riverdale. But the art for Red and Vampi does remind you of the iconic characters as well. In an homage to the original way Archie was drawn, there’s a scene where our protagonists are flipping through a couple of scrapbooks and the Riverdale gang looks the way they did before the modern incarnation. Highlights include the splash with the perp escaping through a window and the final splash of Vampirella.
In Conclusion:
This title is one of the best of the recent mashups I’ve read. So many are fun but predictable, this is a refreshing noir-style mystery set at Riverdale High. The climax of this issue sees Vampirella…to be continued. **** (9.1 rating)
Red Sonja and Vampirella meet Betty and Veronica # 3
Writer – Amy Chu
Art – Maria Laura Sanapo
Colors – Vinicius Sanapo
Letters – Taylor Esposito
Publisher – Dynamite/Archie
About the Author
Kevin Given Kevin Given has studied with "Longridge Writers Group" and "Writer's Boot Camp" a speech/communications major from the University of Maine Presque-Isle/Orono sites. He has created the "Karl Vincent Vampire Hunter" franchise which includes 2 novels and 8 comic books. They can be found on amazon, Indyplanet and Kindle. For a limited time you can get digital copies of "Karl Vincent: Vampire hunter" #1 and "Files of Karl Vincent" #1 for free on Indyplanet. Kevin is producing the third novel in the series "Dracula Rising" (working title) and developing "Foul Blood" into comic book form.
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