Comic Review: Vampirella #6
Writer: Nancy A. Collins
Penciller: Patrick Berkenkotter
Growing up in the 90s, I remember seeing our titular (hehe giggity), scantily-clad heroine presented in the pages of Wizard. I never knew who/what she was but I had seen enough late-night Cinemax to have an idea. It’s easy to make assumptions about Vampi. Until I got my hands on a collection of old Warren issues I thought she was something creeptastic, and I don’t mean that in a good way. But she’s more fun and sexy than lewd, so thank you, Dynamite, for Vampirella Archives Volume 10 – ALSO NOW ON SALE! (not a paid endorsement)
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” (get your eye roll out of the way) closes the “Our Lady of Shadows” storyline, but if you haven’t been following never fear. The ends are being tied up in an explosive fashion, with not one, but FOUR fights in this issue. The story races towards a graveyard finale, with limb removal, eyeball destruction, and bad girl vs bad girl action along the way. Rated teen, eh? What’s a comic got to do for a mature rating around here?
Vampi is in good hands with Nancy A. Collins. She quips, calls out foes for excessive monologuing, and pulls no punches, especially when she’s driving her fist through someone’s chest. We get a bit of the cheesecake posing but for the most part we are seeing Vampirella – the bad-ass. Additionally, and without trying to spoil, if some of the changes that take place in this issue hold over, our female vampire vixen is going to be quite different in the upcoming issues.
Last but not least, shout out to Berkenkotter’s versatile art, which takes us all over the place. With the frantic pace of this issue, it could be easy for things to get cluttered. But the action is presented cleanly and dynamically, which made it such a pleasure to flip through.
Review 5 (out of 7) – With so much butt to kick, there’s action on nearly every page. That alone is worth the price of admission. But the fact that Vampirella looks so good doing it makes it extra special.
