VAMPIRELLA/DRACULA: RAGE #2, from Dynamite Comics on 9/27/23, turns a mother’s rage into a tragedy when Vampirella tracks down the cult who kidnapped her newborn son.
The Details
- Written by: Christopher Priest
- Art by: Christian Rosado
- Colors by: Christian Rosado
- Letters by: Taylor Esposito
- Cover art by: Lucio Parrillo (cover A)
- Comic Rating: Teen+
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: September 27, 2023
Is VAMPIRELLA/DRACULA: RAGE #2 Good?
VAMPIRELLA/DRACULA: RAGE #2 is surprising on two fronts. First, Christopher Preist’s time on the assortment of Vampirella titles has been hit or miss (mostly miss for us), but this series has a decidedly un-Priest-like quality of storytelling that works. Second, the cliffhanger ending hits you with a gut punch that guarantees the next issue will live up to the title.
When last we left Victory and “Dracula,” the king of the vampires, now residing in a famed cellist’s body, walked Victory through the sequence of events in Vampirella’s difficult pregnancy, her supposed miscarriage, and the realization that a Dracula cult stole her baby. Now, Vampirella tracks down the scent of every cult member until she finds out where the cult took her baby.
Oddly, “Dracula” acts as a dispassionate narrator for Victory, explaining what happened, where Vampirella’s been, and what happens when she finds the cult. Except for Victory providing teleportation services as a form of supernatural public transportation, it’s unclear what Victory and “Dracula’s” part is in all this.
What’s great about VAMPIRELLA/DRACULA: RAGE #2? Priest nails the frantic, unrelenting desperation of Vampirella as a mother in search of her missing child. If you’re a parent, you can relate to what Vampirella is feeling when each cult member brings the titular character closer to a child that seems so very far away. Plus, the last-page reveal is a show-stopper.
What’s not so great about VAMPIRELLA/DRACULA: RAGE #2? The ambiguous presence of “Dracula” and Victory is a headscratcher that, at times, becomes a distraction rather than additive to the story. Victory, much like the reader, continually, frustratingly asks why “Dracula” summoned her. “Dracula” continually, frustratingly denies being Dracula. Some of Priest’s bad habits involving overcomplication simply won’t go away.
How’s the art? Christian Rosado’s atmospheric, moody art is a great choice for this type of story. Rosado has an oil pain style that looks superficially rough but positively accentuates the mood in each panel, especially in the facial acting.
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What’s VAMPIRELLA/DRACULA: RAGE #2 About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Check out our VAMPIRELLA/DRACULA: RAGE #1 review to find out how Dynamite’s most unorthodox birth went terribly wrong.
We begin with Vampirella paying a late-night visit to one of the Dracula cult’s higher priests in his home. With a combination of torture, blood-drinking, and hypnosis, Vampirella explains she knows what the cult did, and she won’t stop until she learns where they took her baby.
Elsewhere and elsewhen, “Dracula” recounts the horrific series of events to Victory as their timeline will eventually catch up to Vampirella. Meanwhile, Vampirella extracts the location of her baby from the cult member, and she flies to a secluded spot in Florida where a branch of the cult meets to worship.
We conclude the issue with a bad location choice, payback, and feeding time.
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Final Thoughts
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VAMPIRELLA/DRACULA: RAGE #2 continues Vampirella’s hunt to find her baby after it was stolen by a Dracula cult. Priest constructs a palpable atmosphere of anger and desperation any parent can relate to, and Rosado’s moody art fits the story to a tee.
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