VAMPIRELLA (VOL. 6) #670, by Dynamite Comics on 7/24/24, brings the Beyond arc to a close when Shane the First Man shows up to rain on Draculina’s parade, forcing Lilith to take extreme measures.
Credits:
- Writer: Christopher Priest
- Artist: Ergün Gündüz
- Colorist: Ergün Gündüz
- Letterer: Willie Schubert
- Cover Artist: Lucio Parrillo (cover A)
- Publisher: Dynamite Comics
- Release Date: July 24, 2024
- Comic Rating: Teen
- Cover Price: $4.99
- Page Count: 34
- Format: Single Issue
Covers:
Analysis of VAMPIRELLA (VOL. 6) #670:
First Impressions:
It’s over! It’s finally over! Christopher Priest brings the Interstellar follow-up to an end, and readers can finally be done with Shane the Last Man (we hope), reality loops, and the whole convoluted mess. To Priest’s credit, the issue ends with a new status quo for Vampirella, but at least the confusing, time-wasting loops are done.
Plot Analysis:
When last we left Vampirella in a reality-bending, dream-warping arc of unfathomable confusion in Vampirella (Vol. 6) #669, she received a mega-dump of information about why she’s stuck in a reality loop, how she got there, and why Draculina wants her dead. In effect, Vampirella’s sister wants to keep her happy life, and she can’t do that if Vampirella wakes up, so off we go.
In Vampirella (Vol. 6) #670, Vampirella quietly hides out in Matt Ecsed’s apartment, hoping that staying alive will bring the answers she needs to end the looping nightmare. However, everything is not as it seems. Matt doesn’t realize Vampirella is Draculina in disguise to keep up appearances and prevent Matt from chasing after the real Draculina.
In a series filled with red herrings and bait-and-switches, you have to expect Christopher Priest would start the issue with yet another switcheroo. At least this one makes sense. Draculina’s desire to keep the world exactly as it is by preventing Vampirella from snapping out of the loop appears to be working.
Lilith, Draculina, and Vampirella’s baby enjoy a quiet lounge on a couch. Draculina’s face drops slightly when she considers all the horrible things their real lives endured, and she’s anxious to not let it all slip away. Lilith agrees, and they seal the deal on their new “family” by giving Vampirella’s baby a name – Cicero.
Here, Priest takes a long overdue step by establishing personal stakes and motivations for the characters, primarily Draculina. Giving Cicero adds a nice personal moment that adds emotional weight to the scene, which makes what comes next more meaningful.
Suddenly, there’s a knock at the door. Stan, acting as Lilith and Draculina’s servant, answers the door and is shocked to see Shane the First Man with a handful of balloons and a shotgun. Shane blasts a hole through Stan, and in the ensuing fight, Cicero is killed. Draculina leaps on Shane and bites his neck, not realizing that Arcadian blood is poisonous to Vampiri. Lilith, in her grief and rage, cuts Shane’s head off, but the damage to Cicero is done.
All dreams must come to an end. Priest uses Shane as the catalyst to force an ending to the loops, which is a blessed relief, but Shane’s attack comes out of nowhere, so you could interpret this scene as a lazy shortcut to force what comes next.
Lilith knows the only way to save Cicero is to kill Vampirella and restart the loop. We learn Lilith has been keeping Vampirella trapped in a comatose state in a secret location to keep the world intact while keeping Vampirella out of the way. Lilith frees Vampirella and gives her the knowledge of how to end the loop, Shane, the boy, and all of it if it means bringing Cicero back to life. Vampirella agrees to die so that the loop can start over one last time.
We conclude the issue with a visit to prehistoric Drakulon, erasing the last several years of Vampirella comics, and a happy reunion.
Overall, Christopher Priest ends the arc as well as anybody could end it, given the horrendous confusion and convolution of the plot. On the one hand, everyone is almost back where they belong but with a slightly new status quo for exploration. On the other hand, Priest ends the arc by erasing everything in this arc and the two before it, which means Vampirella fans endured years of chaos and confusion for nothing.
Artwork and Presentation:
Ergün Gündüz’s illustrative art has improved throughout the last few arcs. The snarky expression and shocking violence carry the story, even if the digital artifacts are a constant hindrance, and the lack of integration into the backgrounds gives everything an overly plastic look. In other words, Ergün Gündüz did a decent job with this issue, but we’ll be glad to move on.
Art Samples:
Final Thoughts:
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VAMPIRELLA (VOL. 6) #670 brings the Beyond arc to a close with heartfelt moments, convenient contrivances to shortcut the path to the climax, and an undoing of most of the last few years of Vampirella stories. This isn’t the best Vampirella comic by a long shot, but at least it’s over, and we can move on to (hopefully) better stories.
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