Writer: Dan Abnett
Art: Alessandro Ranaldi and Ellie Wright
Letters: Jeff Eckleberry
Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 7th, 2022
The multiverse continues to be under attack in Vampirella Versus Red Sonja #2, as heroes gather at The Project HQ (located at the nexus of universes) to determine what course of action to take next. Meanwhile, Red Sonja and another team of heroes has travelled to Earth Projection 6337 to battle the threat head-on, while Vampirella bides her time in the depths of The Project HQ vault, held prisoner but sure she knows how to save the multiverse, if someone will just let her free.
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The Story
When I first started reading the Vampirella Versus Red Sonja series, I didn’t expect it to be a full-blown Crisis on Infinite Earth style superhero saga. It’s been a fun and pleasant surprise, and in Vampirella Versus Red Sonja #2, everything ramps up.
The book starts off with a blast on The Project HQ space station, where a large roster of Dynamite’s superhero properties have gathered to figure out how to stop the demonic hordes that are sweeping from Earth to Earth across the multiverse, destroying each one. Super-American (who seems to be the Superman of the Dynamite Universe) proposes a course of action that the other heroes don’t agree with, and we get some good character conflict between them, as their personalities and viewpoints clash. I’m not familiar with Super-American, Green Lama and Vana, but you get a good sense here of what makes them tick.
Just when you think neither Red Sonja or Vampirella are going to appear in their own mini-series, though, we get some great action with Red Sonja and a team of heroes as they travel to one of the alternate Earths to save people and face the threat head on. I enjoyed this section of the book and how Red Sonja interacts with the heroes. She’s all business, and when things start getting crazy violent, she stays focused on the battle, and it’s hilarious seeing her matter-of-fact manner in the middle of an overwhelming battle as the other heroes are falling apart around her.
The only annoying thing is that, because her speech is being translated by a computer device, she sounds like a slightly more intelligent version of the Hulk throughout.
This is the best part of the book by far, with some heavy action and Red Sonja doing what she does best, chopping up monsters.
Vampirella also makes an appearance, but doesn’t get much to do this issue other than using her abilities to try to get free from her imprisonment. This issue and last issue she’s seemed very bland. Vampirella is normally my favorite Dynamite character, but she doesn’t get much to do here so far. Hopefully next issue she’ll be more involved in the main plot, rather than just being a sidetrack. Overall though, it’s been a fun mini-series so far, seeing Red Sonja and Vampirella interacting with superheroes. It’s a combination of two genres that works perfectly.
The Art
Alessandro Ranaldi and Ellie Wright’s art on Vampirella Versus Red Sonja #2 delivers some great action scenes, and the large number of characters appearing this issue are all well-defined, with their personalities and powers shining in the art.
Cosmic scenes and ground-level battles are both depicted wonderfully.
Final Thoughts
Vampirella Versus Red Sonja #2 amps up the threat to Dynamite’s multiverse while giving us some great character conflict and sword-wielding action with Red Sonja. All the featured heroes are interesting and the ending makes me look forward to seeing what happens next issue. Great work!