Bonding Over Beaten Enemies With Vampirella/Red Sonja #3
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
Vampirella has found a Drakulonian in the heart of the Soviet base. Her kin has been experimented upon, tortured, and is barely alive. Other Drakulonians lie dead in the base as well. Needless to say, Vampirella isn’t happy. Meanwhile, Red Sonja is having a good time fighting the Soviet soldiers in charge of protecting the base. The two women tear through the Soviet forces with the goal of leveling the base and evacuating the surviving Drakulonian while doing so.
Vampirella/Red Sonja #3 shows our heroes teaming up at last and laying waste to a base full of armed and trained soldiers.
It’s a lot of fun, and we get to see more bonding between Vampirella and Red Sonja. In fact, without giving too much away, the book ends with a powerful bonding moment between Sonja and Vampirella.
Much of the comic is dedicated to Vampirella and Sonja fighting through the Soviet troopers. There’s never much of a sense of danger; Sonja and Ella are in control of the fight from beginning to end. The only true risk is them annoying one another enough that another fight breaks out.
There is some inconsistency in how much Sonja understands about the modern world. Her calling a grenade a “death ball” but knowing it’s armed is one such example.
That instance with the grenade is another strange moment in the comic where Vampirella catches the grenade and throws it back at the soldiers, but we see none of this happen. We only know what happened because Sonja describes it after the fact. I’m unsure why none of this was rendered other than possibly being cut to save space. It was an odd moment that definitely took me out of the comic.
Beyond that, the art is great. Drew Moss knows how to make Sonja and Ella look as badass as ever, and he clearly has some fun with the fight scenes. That said, he knows how to render the more quiet and endearing moments as well. On top of that, Rebecca Nalty supplies the book with solid and atmospheric color work.
Vampirella/Red Sonja #3 is a flawed yet fun book that has two of comics’ most beloved heroes teaming up and bonding in the frigid wastelands of Russia. It’s an enjoyable read from beginning to end, and it’s worth a recommendation. Feel free to pick this one up.
Vampirella/Red Sonja #3 comes to us from writer Jordie Bellaire, artist Drew Moss, color artist Rebecca Nalty, letterer Becca Carey, cover artist Frank Cho with Sabine Rich, and variant cover artists Babs Tarr; Daniel Warren Johnson with Mike Spicer; Leonardo Romero with Jordie Bellaire; and Drew Moss with Rebecca Nalty and Frank Frazetta.
Final Score: 7.5/10
