Publisher: Dynamite
Writer: Nancy A. Collins
Artist: Francesco Manna
Release Date: 4th March, 2015

---

As part of their new ‘Altered States’ series of Elseworld-style one-shots, Dynamite are flipping the script for some of their most iconic characters, relocating the likes of Red Sonja, The Shadow and Doc Savage into new and unfamiliar environments. In this instalment, we see Vampirella – sorry, Astronaut Lieutenant Ella Normandy – and her crew crash landing on a planet populated entirely by Vampires.

For the first half of the issue, this reads like your typical formulaic sci-fi adventure. The characterisation is fairly light, the dialogue is a little on the nose, and there’s no real spark to make turning to the next page anything more than an obligation. However, about halfway through, writer Nancy A. Collins reveals the full extent of her plan in a brilliantly executed twist that gives the book a much-needed jolt of life. Unfortunately however, she completely fails to capitalise on it in any meaningful way, and the story ends in predictable fashion with somewhat of a whimper.

I’m actually a massive fan of Collins’ work – particularly her run on Swamp Thing back in the early 90’s – so imagine my disappointment when this book ended up as flat as it did. A lack of any real investment in the Vampirella character beforehand probably didn’t help matters, but with such a bold reimagining of the iconic Vamp, I sort of hoped my lack of prior knowledge wouldn’t be a factor. A shocking departure from the bulk of her other work, Collins’ dialogue here is clunky, exposition-heavy and more than a little jarring in places, with Vampirella frequently sounding more like a teen ditz in a cheesy high school movie than a space-travelling Lieutenant. There’s also one particularly awkward scene near the end where ‘Ella’ recaps her current situation out loud — in spite of being completely alone.

Francesco Manna’s artwork, while serviceable enough, is nothing to really write home about, and is given a strangely glossy and sterile appearance courtesy of Viviane Souza’s colours. It’s not an unattractive book by any stretch of the imagination, and it’s somewhat refreshing to see the title character dressed in something other than her gravity-defying Vamp-kini (gratuitous shower scene notwithstanding), but the artwork just didn’t manage to do enough to lift the book above the limitations of Collins’ dialogue and the frustrating under-utilisation of the (admittedly brilliant) twist.

While long-time Vampirella fans will undoubtedly get a kick out of the unique take on their beloved heroine, for everyone else there’s just not enough here to get too excited about. Novelty factor aside, what we have here is a flat sci-fi yarn with a creative twist that isn’t utilised anywhere near enough to make it worthwhile. One for the die-hard fans only, I’m afraid.

Rating: 2/5.

---

PREVIEW ARTWORK
[Click to Enlarge]

---

The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson (aka Ceej)
Article Archive: Ceej Says
You can follow Ceej on Twitter

---