In VAMPIRELLA: THE DARK POWERS #4, available from Dynamite Comics on March 17th, 2021, Vampirella enters the next phase of probation with The Project with a little oversight from Black Terror. When her home Earth sees a spike in meta-villains, Vampirella quickly learns that being a hero is a full-time job.
The Details
- Written By: Dan Abnett
- Art By: Jonathan Lau, Alessandro Miracolo, Vincenzo Federici, Jordi Perez
- Colors By: Ellie Wright
- Letters By: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
- Cover Art By: Jae Lee
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: March 17, 2021
Was It Good?
It was different. In this issue, readers are seeing a different side of Vampirella than we’re used to. This is not the edgy, hyper-violent Vampirella. This isn’t the space-age, 60’s Mod Squad Vampirella. And it’s certainly not the aggressively confident and opinionated Vampirella from just the prior issue.
This is a Vampirella learning to be a hero in the traditional superhero sense, similar to what you might regularly find in a DC or Marvel comic. She’s not domesticated, but there’s something docile about her here. That’s not a bad thing, but it may take some getting used to.
The art is better here than prior issues but it is wildly inconsistent from page to page. As you can see from the Details above, four separate artists worked on this book, and it shows.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Vampirella returns to her home Earth (Earth-666) as The Project’s duly appointed hero. However, her probation isn’t over yet as Black Terror has been sent along with her to provide supervision. No killing allowed.
Almost immediately and despite Vampirella being the only meta in her world, meta-villains begin cropping up when she returns. Partnered with Black Terror, she systematically defeats a laundry list of stereotypical supervillains: an emotion vampire, a killer robotics genius, a singer with a supersonic voice that can create earthquakes. It’s very reminiscent of the Silver Age hero and villain interactions.
After one of the recent arrests, Vampirella and Black Terror are having a bite at a diner in civilian clothes, and Vampirella brings up the observation that there were no metas before her on this Earth. Since she’s been introduced to The Project, metas are popping up everywhere. Black Terror explains this is completely normal for an Earth that’s freshly-inducted into The Project’s oversight.
Two points immediately come to mind. First, Black Terror’s explanation makes sense and it doesn’t make sense. We’ve seen from the prior issue with The Flame (read our VAMPIRELLA: THE DARK POWERS #3 review to find out how that went) how The Project’s members tend to simply accept explanations without questioning them. Second, Vampirella is more shrewdly aware of these meta oddities than The Project veterans. You get the sense Abnett is planting seeds for some big revelation later in the arc.
Later, Vampirella is living the secret identity civilian life when she receives an alert about meta-villain activity. She notifies Black Terror but he doesn’t respond.
Without spoiling the last few pages, Vampirella hears a protest song, Black Terror returns after a brief absence, and something has gone terribly wrong.
Final Thoughts
VAMPIRELLA: THE DARK POWERS #4, available from Dynamite Comics on March 17th, 2021, shows a more responsible and civic Vampirella than we’ve seen before. The art is good on average but the switch from one artist to the next is very inconsistent from panel to panel. Despite the art flaws, this issue gets high marks for writing.
Score: 8/10
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