Witchblade Vampirella // Review
Sara Pezzini is investigating a series of killings. They’re all connected. There’s little doubt that they were all victims of the same killer. They’d all been...exsanguinated. On the surface this isn’t anything new for Sara. She’s been through a lot. And she’ll be through a lot more as she finds herself in Witchblade Vampirella. Top Cow and Dynamite Comics collaborate on an issue written by Marguerite Bennett with art by Laura Braga. Color comes to the page courtesy of Gibran Ferdian. It's a fun one-shot that explores a really natural team up between two very similarly-aligned heroes from different companies.
Sara knows that she's being watched. And this would probably be suspicious we're at not for the fact that she got attacked by something that wasn't necessarily watching her. It was acting on instinct. I looked a bit like a cross between a gargoyle and a vampire. So naturally, it's a little disconcerting of the thing bit into her. Just starting to feel the effects of her own death. The Witchblade is having some difficulty recognizing her. If she doesn't act quickly, she's going to turn it into one of those things permanently. Thankfully, someone was watching her. And a person who was watching her is very experienced with this sort of thing as she's a vampire too.
Bennett sets-up a very clever, little crossover and executes it beautifully. There isn't a whole lot of room to move around in a single issue for a story like this. Nevertheless, the author is able to strike some very sharp moments of both traumatic and physical intensity in a story that mixes a lot of different supernatural energies. And the true spirit of a crossover, Bennett manages to introduce both characters in a way that would possibly serve as an introduction to readers not entirely familiar with them. This is kind of a tricky thing to accomplish given how complicated both of these characters are. Quite an accomplishment.
Braga and Ferdian execute simple horror and action with clean lines and dramatic angles. Would it might lack in detail if more than makes up for inch sheer impact. It might feel a little bit like single frames of cel animation in places, but it still carries the right amount of impact for a story of this kind. Certainly there's a great visual appeal in both of these heroes doing what it is that they're doing to fight monsters. It's very primal stuff.
Much like the similar encounter Sara recently had in her own book with Aphrodite IX, the crossover with Vampirella feels very much like it could be an ongoing thing. Bennet has an enjoyable grasp of the personality of Vampirella that works well within the context of a partnership with Sara. It's a lot of fun watching it come together. And there's quite a lot going on that feels like it could be carried out into further issues. Given the right momentum this could really be a cool ongoing friendship.
