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Vampirella Volume One: Our Lady of Shadows

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  •  
    Todd Jordan
    Smut is good.

  • Vampirella Volume One: Our Lady of Shadows



    Published by: Dynamite Entertainment
    Released on: Mar. 11, 2015
    Writer: Nancy A. Collins
    Artist: Patrick Berkenkotter
    Cover artist: Terry Dodson
    Purchase at Amazon

    Dynamite's re-launch of Vampirella, the second time for them, began with a six part story from fan-favorite comic writer Nancy A Collins. “Our Lady of Shadows” ran from issue one through issue six and is collected here in this trade paperback, plus “Prelude To Shadows: a one-shot that came out during the time following the main story that ties-in with the tale. What follows is a summation of the first three chapters.

    Chapter One. A young girl is kidnapped by her insane father, a member of a religious cult called the Cult of Chaos. Mild-mannered William Baxter recently changed his name to Ethan Shroud, a name all too familiar to Vampirella. When she is called to action by the monsignor, she knows she has to take the case. She gets the info she needs and its off to the hunt. But first, a steamy shower and some back story on Ethan Shroud, warlock and leader of the cult.

    Vampirella gets some more info from the missing girl's mother and learns some things about the woman's husband. Though a very old and rare book titled “The Crimson Chronicles”, Shroud was able to come back to the land of the living though Mr. Baxter, possessing his body. He plans to use Baxter's daughter in a blood ritual on the night of the girl's birthday, which happens to coincide with the cult's “Feast of Shadows”. The vampire from another world needs to save the girl before it's too late, but she probably should be more concerned with herself than the little kid. She should worry more about The Lady of Shadows for one thing, who is looking for a vessel here on this plane of existence.

    Chapter 2. After being weakened by her fusion with The Lady of Shadows, she sought the help of the wife of William Baxter (possessed by Vampi enemy Ethan Shroud) and mother of Emma, the daughter he took away. The help she gave the vampire alien was in the form of blood and her life and this haunts Vampirella. But she has to deal with being evicted and terminated from her job with the Vatican. And of course she needs to fight of some guys who want to kill her.

    Being hunted by the vampire-killer Father Nicodemus and his group The Witches Hammer, they meet in battle and Vampi learns she is not as immune as she once was to things known to mess up vampires, such as holy water. The thing inside her is the reason for that and the real mission of Nicodemus is to kill the Lady of Shadows. Killing Vampirella in the process is a means to an end, and a means he really doesn't seem all to upset about.

    At some point a nosferatu named Drago finds her and works on convincing her to accept his assistance in getting the entity out of her, as he believes it to be the very thing that will cause the apocalypse. It would seem the two bloodsuckers need to form an alliance neither wants, but one that is necessary to securing the death of The Lady of Shadows.

    Chapter 3. Vampi and her new partner Drago, the purple nosferatu, make their way via jet to the jungles of Asia to find one of the many types of vampires they will need to hunt down. Why? Drago needs the blood of various breeds in order to help the raven-haired honey get that Lady of Shadows out of her body. She's possessed; fused with the dark demon and if she doesn't separate soon all Hell will literally break loose. They are on their way to Thailand to hunt a krause, a nightmarish vampire that is nothing more than a floating head with entrails.

    They know right where to go to find what they are looking for and after a couple of failed attempts at capturing it, plus Vampirella getting it on with a masseuse, they get what they need. It is more than a matter of simply drawing blood from the creature, and Vampi is willing to do what it takes. Drago helps her and instructs her, but one has to wonder if he's got more on his agenda than helping her to destroy the Lady of Shadows and averting the apocalypse in the process. There's no way a vampire wants to help another one without gaining the upper hand in doing so, and why should he be any different? Time will tell…but we won't.

    Each chapter is preceded by the cover that housed the issue, which were all illustrated by Terry Dodson. The back end of the book displays all the covers for the six issues and there are a lot more than six, and with some heavy-hitters among the name of artists. There are some really nice paintings and even a couple of photo variant covers for issue one. Other bonus materials include a script-to-page comparison for the entire first chapter.

    Both Nancy Collins and Patrick Berkenkotter put out high-end product with this series, filling the pages with plenty of violence and monsters, and the scarlet one even treats us to a little nudity (hubba hubba). Ms. Collins' writing continually to propels the tale on its path at a really tight pace, and aside from all the beasts and bloodshed she throws a bit of sleaze thrown in there for good measure. She also shows she isn't afraid to experiment with the character and proves it by throwing a bit of lesbianism in there too. Her dialogue keeps the story at high level of interest, and it's all combined with an art team that delivers a look that fits Vampirella and her exploits perfectly. Patrick Berkenkotter makes Vampirella look as good as ever with clean and detailed work that makes the alien vampire both strong and sexy, and man can the guy draw monsters.

    The new launch of Vampirella is fantastic comic reading, and if you've let your Vampi reading slide over the years pick this book up. It's worth every penny.






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