VAMPIRELLA: VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL 2021, available from Dynamite Comics on February 3rd, 2021, takes a glimpse into an alternate reality where the eternal battle between Vampirella and Dracula doesn’t have a happy ending. When the king of the vampires enslaves the entire world, a new figure emerges to take up the fight Vampirella lost years ago.
The Details
- Written By: Tom Sniegoski, Jeannine Acheson
- Art By: Marcos Ramos
- Colors By: Dinei Ribeiro
- Letters By: Taylor Esposito
- Cover Art By: Joseph Michael Linsner
- Cover Price: $4.99
- Release Date: February 3, 2021
Was It Good?
Yes. There are many reasons to like this special, but what I like most is this is a straight-up horror comic. Despite what the title implies, this is no sappy love story or cheeky romantic comedy. This is a desperate fight against the extinction of the human race, cut from the same cloth as Castlevania.
One note about the art. It’s rough in spots and felt closer to an indie horror comic, but it’s because the art is rough and gritty that the tone of the comic works as well as it does. In other words, the rough art made the book better, so kudos to the art team.
Short Story Long
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
We start with a hooded figure sitting on a throne in the ruins of an ancient castle. The figure reads from a magical book that contains all the alternate versions of history from across the multiverse.
Side note: Dynamite is leaning into the multiverse concept across all its titles lately, and with this caliber of storytelling, Dynamite has figured out how to do a multiverse right.
The magical book describes how most histories tell of an epic, final battle between Vampirella and Dracula, ending with Vampirella as the victor. However, the book tells of one history with a different outcome.
In this reality, Vampirella is beaten and battle and surrenders in exchange for humanity’s salvation. The only condition is every family must surrender their firstborn at the age of 10 to become part of a blood farm.
15 years later, Vampirella is a broken queen, and Dracula is the supreme ruler of the planet. Meanwhile, pockets of human rebellion begin blooming in opposition to Dracula’s rule. Whispers begin of a legendary vampire goddess, named Bloodwing, that vows to destroy all vampire-kind who defy her. The human rebels have begun to rally under the supposed emergence of Bloodwing and her defiance of Dracula.
We learn Bloodwing is real and leading human raiding parties against convoys carrying firstborn sacrifices. In the latest raid, a vampire beast, one of Dracula’s latest science experiments, emerges from one of the trucks to kill Bloodwing and the rebels. Bloodwing defeats the beast but not without a heavy loss of human life.
Dracula becomes enraged at the increasing acts of defiance, and he sets out with his army to begin killing humans en masse to set an example. Bloodwing tries to stop him but is mortally wounded. Feeling victorious and now free from his bargain to spare humans, Dracula begins converting the entire planet into a giant blood farm.
Secretly, the nearly dead Bloodwing is rescued by Adam Van Helsing, Pendragon, and Coulter to be nursed back to health. After weeks of planning and Dracula’s bloodletting, Bloodwing recovers enough to meet Dracula on the battlefield.
How does it end? Not happily and not at all how you might expect. I must say I was a little surprised with the ending and pleased that the story has a part 2 coming later this year. This story is a hefty 40 pages, but not a single panel is wasted with fluff. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Final Thoughts
VAMPIRELLA: VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL 2021, available from Dynamite Comics on February 3rd, 2021, has only one thing in common with the romantic holiday – the color red. Lots and lots of red. The dark, dystopian art fills the entire issue with hopeless despair, and the story keeps up a brisk pace to give us a pitch-perfect Dracula story.
Score: 9/10
If you’re interested in this comic or any other, remember to let your Local Comic Shop know to set it aside for you. They would appreciate the call, and so would we.
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