Vampirella # 8

Sigh. I like Eric. I will be respectful and nice.

The issue starts out well. The bird clawed trio with the masks were scary as hell. Their appearance and behavior was not just scary, but disturbing. I liked them. I like reading things that unnerve me.

But then..."V" and Sofia enter. And it all went down hill. Sofia was a whiny, typical, smart ass side kick. Which Vampi has never needed before. And does not need now. And I can't stand her calling Vampirella "V". The whole thing is just grating.

The existence of some mysterious Benefactor for Vampirella is at least an interesting plot point. DEPENDING on where it goes. But overall, this could have been any two bad ass chicks, Xena and Gabriella perhaps. It never felt like Vampirella made an appearance.

And honestly, this was near the level of Harris worst efforts.

I'm trying to give this a chance. But...it isn't working.

[Comic2read]

The three villains and writing were well done and Vampirella's face looked heroic but the "no costume just street clothes" still seems a bad decision. I want to read Vampirella not Modesty Blaise.

[comixfan1980]

I love the street clothes and office attire, it's very modern day and I think it fits.....could be a little sexier, but it fits. I can see why classic Vampi fans would be a little upset by it though, but almost every superhero/villain/character has had some kind of costume change throughout the years, Vampirella is no exception I suppose.

[Mandrake]

Yes, many characters have gone thru costume changes in comics history. And most of them failed miserably, and returned to the costume they were known for. Because fans see the visual art of comic storytelling in a certain way.

Superman's costume seems oddly dated. But everytime it's been changed, including the up-coming alterations for the reboot, fans have walked away until the costume was made familiar again.

Wonder Woman's costume has changed many times over the years. And it has never been a success! The only change to stick is the WW replacing the Eagle on her chest. And many artists are now incorporating both ideas. I've already discussed on this forum how poorly the new costume for Wonder Woman went over for the attempted prime time reboot.

For several years, the X-men were portrayed in costumes that were inspired by the costumes used in the hit films. "It worked in the movies, right? It'll work in the comics." Wrong. You could hear fanboys (like myself) sighing with relief when Joss Whedon put them back into costumes in Astonishing X-Men.

There are characters who are strong enough to sustain a drastic costume change. But there are STRONGER characters, iconic characters, who do not need their costumes messed with.

And the writing is just not strong enough here to say to everyone "This is Vampi, just in another outfit." Dump Sofia and put her in the car with Pendragon. Or put her in the car with Pantha. Give us something to pick up on that makes her VAMPIRELLA, no matter the clothes.

And while we are on the clothes, put down the Ann Taylor catalog. If you want to put her in street clothes...how about a sleeveless red button down, with a white collar. Black pants with a gold bat belt buckle? Give us adjustment to more and more street looks.

As the previous poster stated, you are giving us Modesty Blaise, or Somerset Holmes.

And STOP using false advertising? Stop putting Vampirella on the covers and someone else between the pages. Why are you selling a set of trading cards that are of her in costume...but insisting that her costume is not necessary to the character?

You just aren't listening to us.

[comixfan1980]

I don't mind using the classic Vampi look on the covers while using the modern Vampirella inside the books, many cover artists want to depict her in the classic style for the covers and I think that's cool. Besides, we will get to see why she isn't in her classic outfit by the time the Scarlet Legion mini is finished, so who knows, it may be kind of cool as to why she's not in her classic threads.

I would eventually like to see Vampirella go back to her classic outfit someday, but for now I'm liking her modern look, I never cared for Vampirella until now anyhow so her current look and classic look are both kinda neat to me, a new fan.

[MandyOToole]

This is the first issue of Vampirella I have not bought off the shelf in many many years. Im just not enjoying the story, nor the art. Having said that I enjoy both the artist and writer on other series, I just dont feel that they fit for Vampirella. The Vampi in costume is a mute point, this isnt a costume, its a shirt n pant. I had read somewhere we were getting a new costume, Id embrace that. Anything to make me feel as if there was something special, different, sexy, then ur run of the mill heroine....

[Guest]

I liked the issue. The BIG COSTUME QUESTION (caps that!) won't cease
to amuse me. I fear Eric is fighting windmills of cosmic dimensions -
just read this random quote from Wiki (after I watched the "Avatar" DVD):

According to Cameron, the appearance of the Na'vi character Neytiri had some specific inspirations and requirements: she was inspired by Raquel Welch's character in Fantastic Voyage and by Vampirella, noting in the latter's case, "the fact Vampirella didn’t exist didn’t bother me because we have these quintessential female images in our mind, and in the case of the male mind, they’re grossly distorted. When you see something that reflects your id, it works for you.... Right from the beginning I said, 'She’s got to have tits,' even though that makes no sense because her race, the Na’vi, aren’t placental mammals. I designed her costumes based on a taparrabo, a loincloth worn by Mayan Indians."

QED. There you go. Vampirella is tits. Grossly distorted tits. At least in the iconic image haunting the public. (We true fanboys know it better, but tell
that to the public.) You can't fight a meme. Merely play with it, poke fun
at it (remember the cover with Vampirella chained to a jail cell and the whole
Harris crew in the back? Priceless.) - Amanda Conner set the standards.

Hurr. Back to the issue. The villains were great (probably because they looked
like Anonymous - "V"/Guy Fawkes - step brothers). Vampirellas tactical intelligence - hrmpf. Good idea to watch the tape, bad idea to attack the
dudes without knowing their abilities. I always liked Vampirella portrayed as
a cunning fox. (Crossover. Buffy goes to BonTemps. Buffy meets MaryAnn.
Buffy fires stake launcher. MaryAnn catches stake mid-air. Buffy: "Please stay
put here while I return with a thermonuclear weapon!" Son of Crossover.
Vampirella goes to BonTemps. Vampirella researched how to frag a maenad
beforehand. Vampirella mops the floor with MaryAnn.) The Harris scene where
she hired a priest to turn rain into holy water...that was the true Vampirella.

I'm dying in anticipation how Eric gets her out of that cul-de-sac again
(No deus-ex-machina allowed, that would be cheating! )

[Comic2read]

I'm tired of the street clothes Vampirella so I'm going to take this comic off my pull list. I'll just leaf through future issues and if it's the Vampirella I want to read then I'll buy it.

I'm still buying their other Vampirella series Scarlet Legion.

[Mandrake]

The Co-ord for the forums said that by the end of the Scarlet Legion mini series, we would see why she stopped being Vampirella. (Ok, he phrased it 'will see why she stopped wearing the costume')

So, the arch of the mini series is supposed to make us accept the new character. I;m afraid if you drop one but keep buying Scarlet Legion, you wil just be let down in the future.

I've decided to join the growing ranks of those refusing to purchase this. I am not going to buy any other Dynamite Comics, either, voting with my wallet for them to sell Vampirella or change direction.

[rlvaugh]

Voting with your wallet

Voting with your wallet is a dangerous thing at this point. I doubt anyone else would touch Vampirella if the Dynamite effort fails out of the gate. I will keep buying and rely on the premise "No part of a wheel can stay on the bottom forever, unless the wagon stops moving." We don't want this wagon to stop.

However, buying Scarlet Legion over the flagship title might be a smart move.

[electron]

[...] the street clothes and office attire, it's very modern day [...].....

yeah.,.. and who exactly need that?
man.. just because something is "modern" it isn't necessary good. there is a frigin history to that. you don't change the stars-and-stripes to the colors of the season either!

BUT....
obviously there is a catch to all of this. the hints with the connection between the scarlett legion (which I really enjoyed!) and the mysterious guy(s) in the background.

i like that angle a lot and that was a strong point of issue #8, opening a gate in such a direction. Maybe here costume is packed away in some crate at warehouse 13 and she will get it back someday? or in some other poison cabinett? Maybe there can be a story behind this?

anyway... I was calling for Vampirella on a motorcycle last time - and I got a Vampi an a bike cover!!! I had no idea when i asked about it, so a pleasant surprise. actually, what i was thinking was smore like a raceing bike but hey... Vampirella, wearing her costume (here we are again...) but also a helmet (It's important for safety!) ... would look disturbingly funny to me.

actually, I also have a littel trouble with the "V" thing of Sofia.... Vampirella is Vampi, she never ever was V. But then, that's Sofia, who actually is not like Gabriella at all. Not as naive and not as oposing to violence. But other than that, I somewhat enjoy the lighthearted tone here speech brings to all of it. Okay in my book.

But do something about both of their cloths!!!
it is just *uninteresting*... if it can't be the costume (only) then puleeeeze
make it a bitztibit more *interesting* at leat so that the waiting for a costume appearance it no so annoyingly hard.

and who the hell is Modesty Blaise? sounds like a she would make a modst villain.

[GrayPumpkin]

Well I read issue eight, and while I liked it better than anything from the first arc, I still feel that this just isn't the Vampirella for me.
For one the story just feels very nineties to me, I know there been talk about this being a new direction, but honestly, as has already been mentioned, this just seems like more of the same of the Harris era stuff.
The Villains were visually cool and creepy which was a plus but story-wise, it just feels like there is not much to sink ones teeth into here, the characters seem flat, the whole prattling sidekick there to help humanize the oh so dark and angsty protagonist just seems to fall short of the mark here, as does reveal about a mysterious benefactor providing all those wonderful toys.
Maybe it's just my thinking that honing closer to the original would have been a much more enjoyable and successful formula, but for now at least, I'm just going to stick with Scarlet Legion and the Archives.

[shadowkat]

The three villains and writing were well done and Vampirella's face looked heroic but the "no costume just street clothes" still seems a bad decision. I want to read Vampirella not Modesty Blaise.

Atleast if there going to have vampirella wear civilian wear let it atleast be something different in each issue and at least SEXY.makes no sense for vampirella to be covered up like some kind of vampire nun.