VAMPIRELLA YEAR ONE VOLUME 1 #1
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
STORY: Christopher Priest
ART: Ergün Gündüz with Giovanni Timpano
COLORS: Ergün Gündüz with Flavio Dispenza
LETTERS: Willie Schubert
EDITOR: Matt Idelson
COVER: Collette Turner
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2022)
Rated Teen+
“Sanctuary”
Vampirella is a vampire and female superhero created by the late author and science fiction and horror expert, Forrest J Ackerman, and designed by comic book artist, Trina Robbins. Vampirella first appeared in Vampirella #1 (Sept. 1969), the debut issue of a black and white horror comics magazine from Warren Publishing. Writer-editor Archie Goodwin changed the character from a hostess of horror comics to a leading character in her own stories.
In 2010, Dynamite Entertainment obtained the character and has been publishing new Vampirella material since then. In the wake of Vampirella Dracula Unholy comes a new series, Vampirella Year One Volume 1. This new series is written by Christopher Priest; drawn by Ergun Gunduz; colored by Gunduz; and lettered by Willie Schubert. Hunted seemingly by every natural and supernatural on Earth, Vampirella has taken refuge in an undisclosed location where she questions why she came to our world in the first place.
Vampirella Year One Volume 1 #1 (“Sanctuary”) opens in a cave in Mount Sage, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. There, Vampirella has found sanctuary with her friend/lover, LéGere. Early in her pregnancy(!), she is recording her history for her unborn child.
The story moves back approximately 60 years to her home planet of Drakulon, specifically the underground paradise, New Asema. It is a paradise built for the elites by Vampirella's mother, Lilith, the Black Queen. Blood drought, however, has long plagued the planet, and this shortage of blood has fomented rebellion. Young Vampirella's life will never be the same.
THE LOWDOWN: Since July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles. One of them is Vampirella Year One Volume 1 #1. It is one of many Vampirella comic books that have engaged my imagination this last year.
I have read writer Christopher Priest's previous Vampirella titles, such as Vampirella Dracula Unholy and Draculina. Priest offers some nice intrigue in this first issue of Vampirella Year One, but as of now, I am not interested in the character's past. Still, Priest, one of my favorite comic book writers, could change my mind.
I do like the art in this first issue, drawn by lead series artist, Ergün Gündüz, and by Giovanni Timpano, who drew the two-page prologue that leads this issue. There is enough good stuff in this first issue to bring regular bloodsuckers back...
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Vampirella comics will want to read Vampirella Year One Volume 1.
B
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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