VAMPIRELLA: THE DARK POWERS #2, available from Dynamite Comics on January 27th, 2021, deals with the fallout of Vampirella’s failure on her first mission and gives hefty insight into how The Project is run. After a brutal battle with the Anticlan monster, Vampirella’s future with the Project is in doubt, and it takes a lot of debating and soul searching to figure out where to go from here.
The Particulars
- Writer: Dan Abnett
- Art: Paul Davidson
- Colors: Andrew Dalhouse
- Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
- Cover Price: $3.99
Was It Good?
It was okay. This is almost entirely world-building issue, which may or may not work for you. The art is generally good, although Davidson shifts the look of Vampirella’s face from one panel to the next, so it’s a little jarring.
There’s a bloody battle in the beginning, but the rest of the story shifts to talking and exposition. Despite the lack of action, I never felt bored or that the story was bogged down. That’s a testament to Abnett’s excellent writing.
Short Story Long
We begin with Vampirella (Ella for short) charging into solo battle against the Anticlan monster that emerged at the end of issue #1. The battle lasts several minutes as every bit of hack/slash damage is healed and evolved by the Anticlan’s AI.
The Project team arrives on the scene as the monster falls. Vampirella emerges from the belly of the beast covered in blood and guts, and The Woman In Red informs her that the excessive damage caused the Anticlan AI to go into overdrive, revealing its location. The Project destroyed the AI causing the monster to fully die.
The entire scene brings a sort of redemption for Ella since her rashness was responsible for the monster’s formation in the first place. Unfortunately, not all the Project team members share her sense of vindication, and the group meets to discuss whether bringing Ella on to the team was a mistake or not.
Through this section, the issue gets very talky. Again, it’s not boring. Abnett layers in a great interplay between characters to flesh out the dynamics of the Project. It gets a little tricky because a lot of heroes are introduced crossing over from Alex Ross’ Project: Superpowers books. If you’re familiar with Project: Superpowers, the new characters are familiar faces. If you’ve never read Ross’ book, it’s a lot to take in all at once.
What makes it doubly tricky is the very similar powerset of each new hero described in the caption boxes. Almost all the heroes have some variant of ‘hypergifts,’ so although their costumes are very different, their powersets aren’t.
Ella laments the fact that she’s an anomaly to the Project as a supernatural hero, where every current member is science-based. That distinction sets up an odd tension within the team, making Ella being a marginalized person and treated as an ‘other.’ Ella has already made up her mind to quit while the majority of the team openly comments that bringing her on was a mistake because she doesn’t fit in.
I get the point Abnett is making by drawing parallels to the real world with a form of light bigotry, but it seems out of place here. Individuals firmly rooted in science tend to be overly curious, and a superhero team based entirely on science somehow rejecting Ella because she’s different doesn’t ring true. If anything, her difference would make scientifically-minded people more curious; not less. We’ll see how this plays out in the next issue.
In a neat reveal, we finally get a good look at the Project HQ as a floating space station that resides outside the multiverse. A lot of the Project is spelled out in these pages, and we get a better sense of how the teams live and operate.
Shortly before departing, Ella is summoned to the bridge by Black Venus and asked to stay on. While Ella was getting cleaned up from the bloody battle, Green Lama advocated for her to stay with the explanation that a supernatural hero was called for some greater purpose to join the team.
Ella agrees to stay on under probation as a shadow to The Flame and his sidekick, Flame Girl. They travel to The Flame’s earth, and Ella begins her time under a new mentor, much to her displeasure. If it wasn’t clear by now, she’s not thrilled with being a team player.
Final Thoughts
VAMPIRELLA: THE DARK POWERS #2, available from Dynamite Comics on January 27th, 2021, replaces the non-stop action from issue #1 with tons of character development and exposition. Despite the amount of talking, the issue never felt plodding or boring. The art was good overall, and it has me curious to find out what happens next.