❉ The raven-haired heroine is brought back to life and flipped into a modern sci-fi world in this reader-friendly, well designed and appealing comic.
After a sleep of over a thousand years, Vampirella finds herself back among the land of the living, but in a world far different than the one she remembers…
The raven-haired heroine is literally brought back to life and flipped into a modern sci-fi world in this reader-friendly, well designed and appealing comic..
Vampirella’s first appearance was in Warren Publishing’s black-and-white horror-comics magazine of the same name Vampirella in September 1969. Vampirella has been sleeping for a thousand years, and a team of devotee adventurers believe in the prophecies and set off to find her. Determined to bring her back once again from her slumber, and knowing somehow when they finally reach their destination, our raven-haired heroine will live once more, they continue on their expedition.
This classic Gothic character is literally brought back to life and flipped into a modern sci-fi world by author Paul Cornell and artist Jimmy Broxton. Why is she found deep underground, what are the prophecies and more importantly, why are they written about her? This first issue asks so many questions, and sets off at a point where we follow our intrepid group of explorers along the pages of a wonderfully illustrated comic strip, whilst simultaneously at the bottom of the same page, our heroine’s thoughts are also heard as Vampirella sleeps. As she dreams, our heroine goes through many different emotions and thoughts, confused, wondering what she is feeling, and more importantly how she even arrived there? She doesn’t appear to want to be the subject of a prophecy, yet she doesn’t have much choice in the matter.
The appealing layout of this new comic strip introduction to the brand new modern day Vampirella keeps your attention, and although I have never come across this character before, it pulled me into the story and made me want to know more about the character. Paul Cornell’s well written prologue cleverly introduces a new full comic strip. It does a cracking job of setting the scene, and makes you question absolutely everything about the title character. Exactly what is our heroine’s story, how did she get to her resting place and why would a group of people think so much of her to go and find her and to give her life? Most intriguing, is the idea that she actually doesn’t know what happened to her, or why she’s now back, and in a whole new universe!
It’s an interesting concept to present a classic character from a comic strip and bring her full force into a modern world where she doesn’t quite fit. Vampirella is a defender of the world and a defender of all evil and mystical things, but she also now needs to find herself once again….. but why? The comic strip is a cracking introduction to this likeable yet completely mysterious gothic character.
It’s a reader-friendly, well designed and appealing comic. The prologue grabbed my attention and made me want to know more. I now need to read on, and hope that the Character becomes something special and creates a new heroine for a modern world. She’s tasted blood, only it doesn’t quite taste the same as she remembers. Perhaps this is a sign that she needs to change and become something she hasn’t quite discovered yet. A whole new world waits for her, and also for the reader to discover a new Gothic heroine. I look forward to many more adventures with the raven-haired Vampire.
❉ ‘Vampirella’ #0 (Writer: Paul Cornell, Artist: Jimmy Broxton) was released on 8 February 2017 from Dynamite Comics and is available for free as a digital edition on ComiXology and Amazon.