SACRED SIX #11 – Review

In this penultimate issue of SACRED SIX #11, available from Dynamite Comics on July 28th, 2021, Vampirella returns from her year-long trip through time and space to join Lilith’s team before Leviticus exacts holy wrath on Ashthorne.

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The Details

• Written By: Christopher Priest
• Art By: Stephane Roux, Marcos Ramos
• Colors By: Mohan
• Letters By: Willie Schubert
• Cover Art By: Lucio Parrillo
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: July 28, 2021

Was It Good?

This issue is a marked improvement over the previous several issues. Not perfect, but better.

The challenge we’ve had with this series up to this point, to be blunt, is Priest’s wonky and erratic narrative style. It’s nearly impossible to keep track of what’s going on when panels and pages are jumping here, there, and everywhere with no sense of continuity in the story. When you add in the elements of different timelines and (in Vampirella’s case) alternate timelines, it becomes a confusing mess.

Here, the narrative has settled down a bit with some helpful editor’s notes and more focus on keeping the story moving roughly in a straight line. Therefore, the book is off to a good start.

As far as the story goes, it’s nearly all setup. The individual team members interact and get to know each other on their way to their respective destinations. However, all roads lead back to Ashthorne, and whatever squabbles or misunderstandings are in play, they all go on hold when Leviticus follows through on his ultimatum and attacks Ashthorne.

The narrative is clearer, the muddles storylines and constantly swapping identities are not swapping as much, and everybody gets together at the end to play out the final battle. You could make the argument that getting to the showdown could have happened in six issues instead of twelve, but we here, so we’ll enjoy it.

This issue also marks the full transition of art duties from Julius Ohta to Marcos Ramos, and it shows. The two artists have completely different styles. Ohta uses refined, polished lines. Ramos is grittier, more dramatic sketch work. While a jarring transition from one to the other, I don’t mind Ramos’s style for this story. It fits the horror genre well, and it suits the story we’re reading here nicely.

In short, the story is clearer and easier to follow, and the new art style fits the story.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

Before you get too far, read our SACRED SIX #10 review to get caught up.

Chastity, Drakulina (still disguised as Vampirella, Victory, and Samira/Pantha are driving between Ashthorne to Sacred with a very loose plan to kill Leviticus. Suddenly, Sully the zombie stops them long enough to tell them Leviticus is already on his way to Ashthorne, and they need to get back there post haste.

When Drakulina/Vampirella flies off to get victory some blood to shortcut their trip with her demon ring, she inadvertently transforms back into Katie and runs into Adam the Gardener. They head back to the other heroes, and Victory uses Katie’s blood to open a portal with her demon ring.

Meanwhile, Leviticus arrives in Ashthorne and starts blowing things up. Nyx arrives to stop him but his magic rod absorbs all of Nyx’s power. But before he can kill her mortal form, the real Vampirella arrives from an alternate timeline to lend a hand. Unfortunately, Leviticus’ magic hammer is too much and he has both heroes on the ropes.

Before Nyx and Vampirella receive a holy demise, we conclude the issue with the timely arrival of backup.

Final Thoughts

SACRED SIX #11 ties up some loose thread to bring all the heroes together for the final showdown with Leviticus. The switch in art style is a pleasant change, and the story has improved focus over the previous issue.

Score: 7.5/10