Vengeance of Vampirella #23

Vengeance of Vampirella #23

Dynamite Entertainment 2019

Written by Thomas Sniegoski

Illustrated by Michael Sta. Maria

Coloured by Omi Remalante Jr.

Lettered by Troy Peteri

A world ravaged by Chaos on the brink of change . . . but is it for the better?

Vampirella and Jeannine have settled into their new lives believing that they’ve found a certain kind of peace, but there is a storm brewing on the horizon, and with the storm comes . . . The Danse.

I’m sure you all know by now that this is one of my favourite series on stands right now. Vampirella is a complex and interesting woman to begin with and that she’s been brought back from the dead and hasn’t been right since. It doesn’t help that she’s faced one trial after another and it’s taken its toll on her both physically and mentally. So this makes what Tom is doing with the writing even more impressive to me. I like how we see the segues from story to story here. It is like it’s one big story that’s told in chapters which not coincidentally makes it feel like real life and it’s this that I really find appealing. While we don’t really see Jeannine this issue, that's okay because what we do see continues to open this world and those that inhabit it at this point in time.

I am in love with the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter continues to highlight these ever evolving personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story the more I wanted to see, it’s like an addiction.

I’m extremely impressed with the way that this is being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. How the layers open up new avenues to be explored, and there are a few I’d like to see explored, and how these add such great depth, dimension and complexity to the story is exceptionally well done. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

The interiors here are absolutely bloody brilliant to see. The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level and quality of detail work we see throughout the issue is truly extraordinary. This goes hand-in-hand with the creativity and imagination as well because some of these creatures shouldn't exist but look amazingly real. The way that we see backgrounds being utilised throughout to enhance and enhance the moments as well as how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show such a stellar eye for how colour works and how to maximise their effects.

I really am very much enjoying how we see this transition from story to story, issue to issue. This is how I believe that comics should all be told, as if each day and each adventure pretty much comes one after the other without any real sense of downtime. I mean it’s a post-apocalyptic world and Vampirella is in need of massive healing mentally and physically so yeah there shouldn’t be any downtime. This series is brilliantly done from it’s strong, interesting writing, it’s superior characterisation and these mindbogglingly brilliant interiors.