Dynamite Entertainment 2019
Written by Thomas Sniegoski
Illustrated by Roberto Castro
Coloured by Omi Remalante Jr.
lettered by Troy Peteri
Still recovering from her recent resurrection, and near fatal injuries sustained from her battle with Hemorrhage, Vampirella remembers a mission which threatened her humanity, and aroused the blood-thirsty creature that she could be if she did not remain in control. Why has a primordial jungle begun to grow, and spread around the small town of Belaine, Virginia? And what world threatening horrors does it contain? The Danse Macabre wants to know and has sent Vampirella to find out.
God I love this series! I may be a late comer to the world of Vampirella but as the saying goes better late than never, right. Where Tom is taking this is something that I am thoroughly lost in, and as we see so many elements of a future where the world is as it is I am over the moon with excitement. This really does appeal to such a wide array of audiences that it's impossible not to find some aspect of what we are seeing here that is right up your alley. Plus it really is exciting and fun to read.
I am a fan of the way that this is being told. The way we see the situations and circumstances arise through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented beautifully. The way that this is structured and the way that the story glides through the pages is fantastic. The character development here is phenomenal as well and what we see Vampirella, in particular, go through changes them immensely and it is this kind of gripping and quite frankly hardcore characterisation that makes Thomas the kind of writer we always want to read. The pacing that we see is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way keeps us engaged and invested in the story. The way all this works together to create the books ebb & flow is flawlessly accomplished.
There are occasions when a character is shall we say popular where they end up in multiple titles. Sometimes this is overkill or pure marketing for more money from readers. Companies think we're not all that intelligent but we are, we see when it happens and know what's being done. Vampirella for me is different she has so many different facets to her and can be in so many different genre's despite her vampiristic lineage perhaps because of it. What Thomas is bringing to the table here utilises her to her fullest and it couldn't be any better.
The interiors here go beyond stellar into the whole mindbogglingly great stratosphere. The linework is incredible and how the varying weights are utilised to bring out this level of attention to detail blows me away. The sheer amount of creativity and imagination that we see on display here is astounding. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and panels show such an amazing eye for storytelling. The way that we see backgrounds being utilised and how they bring us this depth perceptions, sense of scale and that overall feeling of size and scope to the book is stupendous. The colour work we see as well is really extraordinary. The way we see the myriad of hues and tones within the colours utilised to create this quality of shading, highlights and shadow work is exquisitely rendered. The imagery that we see here and how it creates the environment for the story as well as helps the reader become immersed through feelings and emotions the work creates.
Dynamite has some incredibly talented people working on their books and this one checks all the boxes for me when it comes to top of the reading pile.