VAMPIRELLA #1

By: Arnold T. Blumberg
Date: Wednesday, August 08, 2001

Thank God our long national nightmare is over. After suffering through Harris Comics' attempt to revamp (forgive me) the classic Vampirella character for a new generation and manga-izing her out of all recognition in the abysmal series VAMPI, the good folks at Harris have wisely relaunched the one true Vampirella in a stunning new series that lets her strut her stuff in style (granted, there are many who enjoy Kevin Lau's "reimagined" VAMPI, and if they do then so be it. But give me the original any day...or night).

Michigan Pike is a vampire with an attitude problem, and he leaves behind a scene of grotesque destruction before being taken into custody by local authorities. Vampirella (first seen enjoying lunch at a nearby diner not the typical sort of customer found at this greasy spoon, I would imagine) gets wind of this and heads off to find Pike and do her vampire-executioner thing. Vampi may not know it, but other forces are at work, and they have an eye on the comely lass in the red bikini. A secret government agency is tracking Vampirella even as she uncovers information about an underground vampire cult and a little town called Nowheresville. That's the set-up for this story arc, but by the time the two farm girl vampires arrive at the hoosegow to break Pike out of jail and bring him home, you won't be thinking much about plot. Nor should you.

This is Vampirella at her best back on the prowl with a mystery to solve and assets to flaunt. She looks to be well matched against a town entirely populated by vampires, and an epic showdown akin to an old western may be in the offing. There's even some good old reliable blood and guts to liven things up (warning: not a book for the impressionable youths).

The real revelation of this new series is undoubtedly Mike Mayhew, certainly one of the most gifted artists in the industry and worthy of being canonized alongside José Gonzales and Rudy Nebres as one of the most breath-taking Vampi illustrators ever to set pen to paper. His Vampirella is simply the finest, most perfect version of the character I've seen in years, and his storytelling and composition resembles the sort of photo-realistic masterwork that made Alex Ross a god among men.

There is, however, one grating flaw in this otherwise flawless relaunch, and I prevail upon Harris to set it right in a future reprinting or collection. Not to denigrate the superb coloring provided by Drew and Haberlin Studios, but having seen Mayhew's fully rendered pencils in ashcan previews and now buried under tons of computerized colors, I can safely say that this was a major mistake. Mayhew's pencils were perfection, capturing the shifting shadows of Vampirella's world with no need for inking or other embellishment. Now awash in lurid hues that mask the artwork rather than cooperate with it, Mayhew's pencils have been robbed of their power, and the comic suffers as a result. It's a real shame to see such incredible artwork sapped of its strength, and I desperately hope that Harris will re-present this story in a black and white collection as it should be seen. After all, black and white was good enough for the original Vampi way back in the Warren days, so why not now? I promise I'll pay again.

VAMPIRELLA

Grade: A-

Issue: No. 1

Author(s): Mark Millar, Mike Mayhew

Publisher: Harris Comics

Price: $2.95