Vampirella 11

This is truly some of the most exceptional writing on Vampirella since the great Archie Goodwin. Nancy Collins has taken on a story as old as that of Cain and found all kinds of twists & marvelous extrapolations. For example:

-taking the Mark of Cain and turning it into a curse that explains Draculina's behavior toward Vampi
-using the Mark to explain the plague victims' violent behavior; this really added a finishing touch that most writers would have ignored
-explaining the old problem that Adam & Eve don't represent a viable breeding population by using the gift of the soul to differentiate them
-making Cain a sympathetic character - this is SO different than how Harris Publications would have handled this - and so refreshing
-the implied reference that Vampi is about 26 years old. This was revealed in a Warren issue and they took flack for it in the letters column (you should never reveal the age of a comics character for the obvious reason that it ultimately works against suspension of disbelief). On the other hand, this kind of messes with Vampi's continuity, but that train sailed long ago so I won't complain.

Another mild criticism - and maybe this is an art issue - is that Vampi should heal faster from simple wounds like the face scratches. Speaking of the art, the child versions of Vampirella and Draculina were incredibly cute. Few artists can master expressions as well as what we've been seeing in this run of Vampirella.

Finally - I really want to see Nancy Collins write a rematch of Vampi with Creepy and Eerie. If Dynamite could pull off a Red Sonja-Conan cross-over, they should be able to pull this off. PLEASE!

PS: I will keep bringing this up!

[Guest]

Yeah, this really is a landmark issue, where Vampirella is finally given a father, beyond whom she was given in Warren issue #66. I truly like the bold direction Nancy took with this. And even though Harris did use Cain as well as Adam and Eve in the Vengeance of Vampirella run, I think Nancy gives him more depth and makes him more of a tragic and sympathetic figure. It will be interesting to see what she does with him in future issues. And I'm with you about Vampi's mid-20s age. I'm not sure how feel about that, especially when 20 something Vampi makes pop-cultural references that I don't think current Millennials would be aware of, but that really a trifle. I think Nancy did a phenomenal job wrapping this up and building the new world for Vampi to inhabit. In many ways, I think she crafted a more internally consistent world, so far, than what was done during the Harris years. Granted, during the Harris years we did see some great writers working on Vampi stories, for example, Warren Ellis, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, etc.

[rlvaugh]

Vampi went back to Draculon and met Pantha in #66, but I don't remember the details. I assume her parents were just Dick and Jane Draculonians?

[Guest]

In issue 66, before she encountered Pantha walked through her childhood home and was remembering moments of her life on Drackulon, so we saw her parents in flashback scenes. The author didn't give them names, but she did have a baby sister named, Vampyra. And we also learned of the significance of the three armlets that she wears, where each one marks a rite of passage in a Drackulonnian woman's life.