In VAMPIRELLA VERSUS PURGATORI #5, available from Dynamite Comics on July 14th, 2021, Lilith takes the fight into Purgatori’s mind for control over Hel, the Realm of the Dead, and the future of Earth.
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The Details
- Written By: Ray Fawkes
- Art By: Álvaro Sarraseca
- Colors By: Salvatore Aiala
- Letters By: Tom Napolitano
- Cover Art By: Carlo Pagulayan (cover A)
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: July 14, 2021
Was It Good?
It was pretty good for a final issue in an arc that has more than its fair share of esoteric moments.
When the puppetmaster reveal involves time travel and future versions of characters interacting with their current-day versions, the narrative has a tendency to get convoluted. While there’s some confusion in this issue keeping track of who’s doing what, the story largely stays on track and wraps up in a way that brings the current conflict to a conclusion without leaving any gaping plotholes.
Also, there are few things worse than reading about an end-of-the-world scenario without some shakeup in the status quo. Thankfully, there is a status quo change by the end that could have implications down the line but nothing so radical that the characters are no longer recognizable. Without spoiling anything (that’s what the next section is for), we’ll be seeing Hel and Purgatori again.
This last issue in the arc wrapped up the main story well enough, although there were a few wonky points getting there. “How about the art?” you say.
The art is consistent with the rest of the arc. Sarraseca’s character art is fairly good but the background and scenery work looks like digital insert/photoshop quality. That’s not necessarily wrong as it creates a unique style, but it does sometimes look like the characters are copy/pasted onto a digital background.
If you like that visual style, this book will work for you. Personally, it’s not our favorite across the plethora of artists we’ve reviewed.
Overall, it’s a good but not a perfect ending. The art is decent but only just.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Before you proceed, read our VAMPIRELLA VERSUS PURGATORI #4 review to get caught up.
Lilith forces Undine to infiltrate Purgatori’s mind where they discover the person feeding Purgatori information about Lilith’s plans is God-Purgatori from the future. And God-Purgatori is being forced to feed her past-self information about how to take Hel’s blood to become a god from future Lilith. All this is happening in Hel’s place outside the realm of the living and viewed by present-Lilith tapped into Undine’s mind.
You don’t need to take notes, but it helps.
Vampirella barges in to break Lilith’s connection and reveal she gave one of Lilith’s lieutenants false information to deliver to Hel previously so she would know how to escape from Purgatori’s grip.
Hel gets away but is banished from ruling the Realm of the Dead by God for her part in trying to bring about Armageddon. Purgatori is disconnected from her future self because the timeline is now changed. And Lilith’s birthday ends on a down note.
Final Thoughts
VAMPIRELLA VERSUS PURGATORI #5 saves the world with a small status quo change to set up future stories. The time travel aspect added some confusing complexity but it all worked out in the end.
Score: 7.5/10
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