VAMPIRELLA FAIRY TALES (ONE-SHOT), from Dynamite Comics on August 10th, 2022, enjoys a leisurely walk in the woods with Vampirella, her red hood, and a vicious monster that howls at the moon.
The Details
- Written by: Soo Lee
- Art by: Emiliana Pinna
- Colors by: Ellie Wright
- Letters by: Jeff Eckleberry
- Cover art by: Soo Lee (cover A)
- Cover price: $4.99
- Release date: August 10, 2022
Is It Good?
There’s an old saying that “less is more”. However, you can go too far with that saying. VAMPIRELLA FAIRY TALES (ONE-SHOT) is a creative take on the Red Riding Hood story with some positives, but the negatives come about when there’s too little dialog/narration/clarity to get what’s happening accompanied by some odd art.
The plot centers around Vampirella coming to a town that has a monstrous force terrifying the residents from the woods. Looking for a little diversion after her last mission, Vampirella seeks out one of the town’s elders to gather information and a little assistance tracking down the beast.
The concept is simple enough if you’re familiar with the fairytale, but there’s not much cleverness in this take other than Vampirella does what she does best – kick monster ass. In other words, the main conflict is predictable in setup, execution, and outcome. There are no surprises or twists, so the net result lacks imagination.
The second oddity of this issue is the lack of follow-through on the werewolf’s identity, the connection to the town elder, and the strange house Vampirella finds in the woods at the end of the issue. Hints are peppered throughout the story that there’s more going on, but Lee doesn’t pay those hints off, so you’re left with more questions than answers. There’s more story here, but Lee holds back, resulting in an unsatisfying conclusion.
The art is just okay. Most of the panels, lines, and colors look great, but Pinna struggles with Vampirella’s body proportions in this issue, particularly in the “upper torso.” Bluntly, you’ve never seen a woman with breasts that point in the weirdest angles as you do in this book. Sometimes they’re close together, sometimes they’re far apart, sometimes they look like they’re coming out of her armpits, and it’s just plain weird.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
This is going to be one of the shortest plot synopsis ever.
Vampirella ventures into a town to help the citizens besieged by a werewolf. She’s greeted by an old woman with insight and a few lures to use. Vampirella strolls through the woods to coax the beast out. As she wanders around, she notices little red lights everywhere, like crimson fireflies.
The werewolf attacks. Vampirella kills it and brings its head back to the old woman as proof.
The old woman starts to ask a question but doesn’t finish it. The red lights lead Vampirella to another house in the woods, but it’s not clear what they are or why they come from this house. Another old woman greets her at the door.
The end.
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Final Thoughts
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VAMPIRELLA FAIRY TALES (ONE-SHOT) is a serviceable take on Red Riding Hood starring Dynamite’s favorite vampire heroine. The setup works, and Lee’s writing gets the job done, but the end result lacks imagination, and the art team weirdly struggles with body proportions.
Related Information
Is Vampirella good or evil?
Vampirella is more good than evil. She’s not a true vampire in the traditional sense since she’s technically an alien with all the characteristics Earthlings would attribute to vampires. However, her race frequently interacts with the supernatural realm, and she’s known to act to stop evil entities and the Lords of Chaos from taking over our plane of existence.
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