Vampirella: The Dark Powers - a Dynamite Entertainment mini-series

Some years ago, when Harris Publications came out with the Vengeance of Vampirella comic book series, I picked it up simply because it was a female-led comic.  I stuck with it for a few issues, but eventually gave it up, as I lost interest.  However, the character of Vampirella has stuck around, albeit via different publishers.  Currently, Dynamite Entertainment has the rights and has been publishing many varied series about Vampirella.  One of the most recent series presented a team-up between Vampirella and some of the public domain characters that Dynamite has been using in their Project Super Powers series.  As a fan of the Project Super Powers characters and series, I decided to pick it up and see how it faired...

Vampirella: The Dark Powers is a twist on the "fish out of water" tales, placing Vampirella into the world(s) of superheroes and multiversal crises.  The idea behind the book is that there is a multiverse of Earths out there, and so the heroes of all these Earths have united to defend their planets against the various threats that seem to pop up on a daily basis.  Whenever an Earth is discovered to have a super hero presence, the Project (as they are called - get it? Project Super Powers?) reaches out to that Earth and inducts one or more of its heroes into the Project to help defend the multiverse.  Thus, as Vampirella exhibits which might be considered superpowers, she gets inducted into the group (whether she wants to or not - and quite frankly, she's none too keen on being there...)

I readily admit, I find the concept to be mildly intriguing - Vampirella is a vampire (sort-of) that has no issues releasing her bloodlust to kill those who would threaten her or others; and here she is, teaming up with a bunch of do-gooders who abhor killing for any reason, and who are doing their best to tame Vampirella and teach her how to fight the "good fight" without killing.  Her probation does not seem to be going so well - she helps the team battle a dangerous villain; she goes to Plural World 5192 with The Flame and Flame Girl in order to prove herself worthy of being a member of the Project; and she ends up on her own world (conveniently called Plural World 0666) with Black Terror in tow to keep watch over her.  But what happens when the Terror gets a transmission from his own world, where his sidekick is crying out for help? It leaves Black Terror and the rest of the Project wondering - is Vampirella really on their side, or is she a daemonic terror that has unleashed unspeakable horrors on their worlds to destroy them all, starting with Black Terror's own Earth?

The story is a great mix of super-heroics and horror, and it definitely raises some very good points about comic book heroes in general.  While on the Flame's Earth, Vampirella discovers that the Flame has had sidekicks before Flame Girl - sidekicks who have been killed by the villains of that world.  When the Flame reminds Vampirella that they never use lethal force, Vampirella asks the question:

"You spare his life, and he returns to kill all over again ... If you'd killed him the first time, how many lives would have been saved? ... How many more victories will it take before you realize that you actually keep losing? How many more sidekicks before he finally wins and destroys you? Him, or any of the others you round and round with? ... You've enabled mass killers by playing their game."

And Vampirella has a point.  In these fictitious worlds of super heroes and super villains, how many innocent lives have been destroyed and lost, all because the "heroes" are unwilling to take the life of these villains - villains who have absolutely no qualms about taking lives, and they often do. Obviously, I'm not saying that super heroes should all act like Marvel's The Punisher and go out shooting and killing every villain in site.  However, if a super-villain is using deadly force, killing innocent people again and again, and a hero has a chance to put an end to that once and for all - which is more heroic?  Not killing the villain, putting him in a jail, only to have him break out and kill again - OR - killing the villain, and ending his murdering cycle, thus saving who knows how many lives?  Definitely food for thought.

While the writing is fairly strong, the art comes across somewhat jumbled and inconsistent, which is a shame.  Paul Davidson provides the art on the first two issues, but by the time we get to the third issue, the art is suddenly shared between Davidson, Jordi Perez, and Lee Ferguson.  Then, the fourth issue suddenly has art by Jonathan Lau, Alessandro Miracolo, Vincenzo Federici, and Jordi Perez! By the last issue, the art is provided solely by Federici.  I have no idea why the shuffle in artists - whether it was because of problems with meeting deadlines, or if there were other behind-the-scenes issues, but the constant change in artists caused a complete lack of consistency in the book, and sadly (for me), that detracted from the over all enjoyment of the series.  I mean, when you have an ongoing series that is lasting for 50 or more issues, you rather expect the artists to change at some point.  But, for a five-issue mini-series that couldn't even keep to a monthly schedule, you would think they could keep one artist on the book so that the art and the look of the characters remain consistent.

Overall, it was a pretty good read - and, oh, you should probably be aware - the last issue ends with a rather surprise guest appearance that leaves off with a big cliffhanger - - and leads directly into the fifth and final issue of the Red Sonja: The Super Powers mini-series, being concurrently published by Dynamite Entertainment (fortunately, I have been picking up that title as well, so I'll be able to read the conclusion to this series there!).

RATING:  7 multiversal-crossing super hero teams out of 10 for giving fans a story that questions both the hero-side and supernatural-side of comic fandom and makes readers actually stop and think for a  moment!