Review: Vengeance of Vampirella #1
Sniegoski is back and he brings the boom!!
Back in the 90s I discovered Vampirella and it was in the midst of the “Death Of Vampirella” and the discovery of Amanda Conner/Jimmy Palmiotti on “Vampirella Lives” that made me the comic-fan (and even would-be publisher) I am today. This was the first time, that my love for art went into overdrive and sparked something else. Something deeper…
Before I liked Spider-Man and various European books (Yoko Tsuno, Storm…) and I collected those mostly for the cool characters. But when I discovered books like Gen13, Witchblade, Spawn, Darkchylde I only wanted more… and I wanted different. And this was the era of Image Comics so I got my fill.
When I discovered Vampirella though, it sparked indeed something deeper. That was the moment I wanted to know about Garth Ennis en Mark Millar. And I wanted to know more about Tom Sniegoski and Christopher Golden. I wanted to really know what made a team, a real team! I really wanted to see how magic was created, I guess.
So when Vampirella died in those pages, so many years ago, my newly developed love for the character only deepened due to the way she was made alive again. It led to many more discoveries (like Louis Small Jr. , Joe Linsner and Mark Texeira to name a few) and in that Harris-era I even remember email-exchanges with editorial, to understand more about the struggle of the company even though they kept coming up with idea after idea and reboot after reboot, to even combining all era’s in one miniseries in order to make sense of it all.
Current writer of the 2019 Vampirella series Christopher Priest might even have mentioned he did not even remember writing those stories, but he did. And I loved it, even though the Harris-era was dying. I was a fan in love, that would always be the case.
Dynamite took over and thus came the Dynamite-era. Somehow they transformed Vampirella into a new icon for the new era and 2019 being the hit-year for Rella as it is, it might even be the Zeitgeist knocking at their door. No matter the reasons, I am just grateful for them taking my favorite gal and giving her a new home.
Surely Dynamite made some odd decisions here and there, and I remember the “Strikes” miniseries (also from writer Tom Sniegoski) as a good story, yet the coloring was wrong on too many levels. And I remember not-so-fondly the art, the story (by Paul Cornell ) and the odd miniskirt/nohair-Vampirella. But in the end of the day DE has done Vampirella right. And kudos to that!
I must admit that I was a tad confused when I found out about this new “Vengeance” series to continue the storyline from 25 years ago. Because how to explain all those other books that came out since then? Well, we will just call it “elseworld” or “what if” and that made me more at ease.
What set my mind really at ease though, was the book itself. Again it was a new discovery at how a good writer can approach a story.
It is like a camera zooming in and out, showing details yet showing the overall context at the same time. Various characters pop up on the screen yet all have a distinct voice, they have ‘mass’ and thier actions have effect, their moods have impact and even their boredome feeds the imagination of the reader. It is not done by an over-use of dialogue nor dragged-out exposition, or like the rambling of a fanboy (yeah, I know that is what I am doing here in this very review… but I am that fanboy I guess) that just goes on and on.. no, Sniegoski teams up with a great artistic team to show details and expressions, moods and context.
And suddenly all the years that passed, fall away in mere moments, and I am back in that era of wonder and I cannot wait for the new issue to come in so I can see where Sniegoski and team are taking my favorite lady.
Perhaps I should discuss the book itself a tad?
Well, Vampirella is dead, Nyx rules the world and wants to exterminate all humans and have “hell on earth” so it seems. But that becomes boring, so Nyx admits. And yes, Vampirella is still dead. And there are humans in search of a savior.
This intro-tale reads perfect as starting point yet also is perfect fit to the story from 25 years ago, so how odd is that? That is what a good writer can accomplish.
The art is stunning in details, in overviews and in dynamics as well as drama.
Get it.
Now.
Vengeance of Vampirella #1
writer: Tom Sniegoski
artist: Michael Sta. Maria
covers: Joshua Middleton (A), Frank Cho (B), Ben Oliver (C)
Lucio Parrillo (D), Cosplay Variant (E), Buzz (RI)
Ben Oliver (RI-B/W), Cosplay (RI-Virgin)
Buzz “Blood Moon” Cover (RI-Virgin), Frank Cho (RI-B/W)
Jae Lee Icon Edition (RI), Joe Quesada Icon Edition (RI)
Frank Cho CGC-Graded Edition
FC | 32 pages | Horror | $3.99 | Teen+
About the Author
Richard Boom Richard is the driving force behind Comics for Sinners. His love and admiration for female comic book characters is virtually unparalleled, which immediately explains his biggest 'sin': his Hot Mummy fetish. This sketchbook theme is philogynistic in nature and even the source of his WIP comic book series "The Sisterhood".
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