Vampirella: The Red Room #2 Review


Vampirella takes on the Red Room, but is it a worthwhile fight?  Read on.

The official description from Dynamite:

Facing one super-charged fiend after another in a series of brutal death matches slowly takes it toll. A bruised, bloodied and broken Vampirella soon discovers a far more sinister fate awaiting her. After an evening of fighting to stay alive, the night has only pain and depravity in store at Rigger’s nearby compound.

What begins as a promising second issue quickly falls into some mini-series pitfalls that ultimately prevent the story from resonating.  It’s a mediocre romp, that offers a quirky narrative that could have easily been an engaging read for any Vampirella fan, but at the end of the day it just does not succeed.

The script is not terrible but it’s not good either, Dan Brereton gives fans a story that’s simple enough to follow but one that feels too wordy.  It’s overburdened with text, that ultimately slows the pace of the book in a way that yields an overall negative feeling by the final page.  There were quite a few moments where this little tale felt like it was going to take an interesting turn, but sadly that never happened.  From start to finish the overall concept behind this mini-series works, I just wish the script would have capitalized on that.

Beyond my problems with the story, Jean Diaz delivers some passable art.  Though I do wish there had been more attention paid to each individual panel.  Because even though the art is at times bland there are moments where the characters themselves look rather detailed, offering readers a glimpse of how good this comic could have looked.

At the end of the day there are plenty of Vampirella fans out there who will pick up this mini-series, but I can’t fathom recommending this title to any readers looking for a good place to start with this scarlet clad heroine.  Not recommended.

2.5/5

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