VAMPIRELLA: YEAR ONE #3, from Dynamite Comics on September 28th, 2022, takes Vampirella one step closer to becoming the fanged vixen of world renown as she learns to survive and fight on Drakulon while enemies close in on all sides.
The Details
- Written by: Christopher Priest
- Art by: Ergün Gündüz, Giovanni Timpano
- Colors by: Ergün Gündüz, Flavio Dispenza
- Letters by: Willie Schubert
- Cover art by: Collette Turner
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: September 28, 2022
Is It Good?
VAMPIRELLA: YEAR ONE #3 is quickly trending towards becoming one of those series whose title has nothing to do with what’s going on in the comics. How can you have a “Year One” story that spans over a decade after only three issues? Why does a Vampirella comic spend just as much time focusing on Lilith and Draculina as it does the titular character? Why does this overly complicated, confusing, Game of Thrones-lite comic exist? Let’s see if we can straighten this out.
At the end of the last issue, Lilith found Vampirella living as a street urchin on the surface of Drakulon. Now, Lilith takes Vampirella on her journey to find Draculina lost in time and space, cruelly using Vampirella as payment or a bargaining chip for mystics that can help find Drcualina across the Multiverse. When Lilith succeeds but ultimately fails, Vampirella is discarded like trash to be raised by those to whom she’s enthralled, and later, by one of Lilith’s former lieutenants.
That all sounds well and good. However, the questions remain. How is this a “Year One” story? Why does this story lean so heavily on the convoluted, frustrating, super complicated bending of reality that made Priest’s original Vampirella run such a difficult story to understand, much less enjoy?
Are the fleshed-out pieces of Vampirella’s history interesting? Yes, but not enough to warrant a dedicated series. These tidbits would serve much better as pointed flashbacks that provide insight into a present conflict. Does the intricate web of names, faces, and places grip you like the best season of Game of Thrones? Not even close. It feels like Priest is going for a GoT story, but falling way short of the mark. Why? Because the origin of Drakulon, Draculina’s predicament, and everything surrounding the Drakulonian socio-political power struggle is too complicated and, in parts, boring.
There’s blood, violence, and gore, but those aspects barely provide any shock value due to Gündüz’s persistently flat digital illustration style. In fairness, Gündüz has improved over the last year, but the series is at a point where the art needs to compensate for the writing’s shortcomings, and it’s just not there yet.
Dynamite is one of our favorite publishers to review, and Vampirella is one of our favorite characters, but this series is lacking in execution and inspiration.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Check out our VAMPIRELLA: YEAR ONE #2 review to find out how Vampirella and Lilith were reunited.
We begin with an adult Vampirella assassinating the mother of one of Lilith’s political enemies. Why? Who knows. Next, we return to the time just after Lilith found Vampirella living on the streets above ground. She takes Vampirella with her to see a mystic who can read a book that can see across the multiverse in the hopes of finding her lost daughter, Draculina. Vampirella is offered as payment for the service.
Lilith and Draculain meet in a pocket moment in space-time… or something… where Draculina scolds Lilith for her part in destroying her happy upbringing in a human family, an event that hasn’t happened yet. It’s complicated. When the two acrimoniously part ways, Lilith leaves the mystic’s hovel dejected while Vampireall stays behind as payment in indentured servitude.
Years later, Vampirella is saved from a group of Vampiri Security forces by a lieutenant who serves only Lilith, now gone from Drakulon, or whoever takes her place as the rightful heir. We conclude the issue with flying lessons, fighting lessons, and lessons in love.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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VAMPIRELLA: YEAR ONE #3 gives readers a deeper level of detail about Vampirella’s formative years on Drakulon. This art is serviceable, and the details are imaginative, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts. The relationship conflicts between Vampirella, Lilith, and Draculina are well-worn territory, and the Game of Thrones-esque political maneuverings are not interesting.
Related Information
Who published Vampirella?
Vampirella was first published in her own self-titled B&W magazine by Warren Publishing in 1969. Since then, licensing rights to publish the character’s stories have passed through multiple hands. At present, Dynamite Comics is the publisher of Vampirella comics.
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