Vampirella Strikes #6 Review

By Harrison Rawdin on Wednesday, June 19th, 2013

The end of the mini-series has arrived, but does it send things off on a rather disappointing note? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dynamite:

Vampirella, Janus, and the demon hound Cleo travel to the South China Sea for a final battle! Will the imprisoned angel Evanuel finally be freed from the clutches of the demon Balthazar? Will the fallen Janus at last find absolution, and be allowed to return to Heaven? And what horrific act will bring Vampirella that much closer to God?

When it comes to this scarlet clad heroine it’s very easy for creators to spin an exploitative yarn that fails to grapple with any serious issues. To be quite frank her design and history create that atmosphere, but on occasion a dynamic team comes along that wants to push things a bit further and somehow they find a way to make you rethink something you thought you knew.

That doesn’t necessarily happen here but the script by Tom Sneigoski taps into some intense themes and expansive concepts in order to sell his outlandish yarn full of demons, angels and drugs. The core mechanics of the narrative are strong and despite aspects of it falling prey to some predictable tendencies, I found myself enthralled by enough of it that I can say that my interest was peaked. The highlight of the series, to me, has been the inner dialogue of our protagonist. And once again the scribe allows her introspection into her monstrous side to light the way toward a solid conclusion and a deep question therein.

Johnny Desjardins does a marvelous job bringing this dynamic literary adventure to full birth. His pencil strokes offer a consistent level of details that make the most inhuman and otherworldly creatures find some semblance of a soul. It’s through these reactions and emotions that we find the heart of this dark franchise. There were however a couple instances where static motions did very little to sell an otherwise kinetic affair.