DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War (2022-): Part 2

DC vs. Vampires

by Matthew Rosenberg, Hicham Habchi - Pyroow (Cover Art), Alan Quah (Cover Art)

In the cataclysmic second volume, the human rebel forces led by Deathstroke have begun their assault on Baron Cinder’s fortress. Will their mission bring sunlight back to the world? Or is humanity doomed to die in the solemn darkness?! Collecting DC vs. All-Out War #4-6 and DC vs. Killers. 

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics, Vampires, Superheroes

142 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 26, 2023

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

"I haven’t always been a writer. My parents are writers and my brother is a writer, and I resisted that as long as I could. When I was 17, I hopped in a band’s van and I went on tour for a summer, and that was it, that was what I wanted to do. I ran a record label for 10 years, a small indie punk label. I did everything in music that you can do that doesn’t involve having musical ability. Eventually the music business, probably in a similar way to comics, will just start to break your heart, and I realized one day that I kind of hated music. I was resigned to thinking, if I’m going to be involved in music forever, I’m going to hate it for the rest of my life. I just stopped. I stopped having any sort of business with music, any involvement.

I read comics my whole life, so I just naturally fell back into another medium that is marginalized and hard to make a living in."

Source: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles...

Writer of comics WE CAN NEVER GO HOME, SECRET WARS JOURNAL, OUR WORK FILLS THE PEWS, 12 REASONS TO DIE, & MENU.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collects issues #4-6

I read them as single issues on DC Infinite, and the review links are below.
Basically, this is the second half of All-Out War, and features Deathstroke and his team as they search for Weather Wizard (or anyone) who can clear the ash out of the sky enough to help Supergirl power up.
All in all, a pretty good story.

issue #4



issue #5



issue #6



Recommended.

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. The artwork of the main story was in the Black, White, and Red style, which I usually like, but here it was just confusing. The story was rushed and not even a definitive ending. The side stories were better, but they just brought this book up to an ok level for me. For such a huge story, this is an unworthy ending. Not even a decent final battle. The covet art was the best thing about this book for me. The book finishes with a varient cover gallery.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I enjoyed the Killers storyline the most in this collection, followed by the back-up stories at the ends of the original issues, and then lastly the actual All-Out-War story. The Harley stuff was fun in a Deadpool-esque way and I really, really dug that issue. The back-ups were interesting in focusing on a specific character’s story during this vampire apocalypse. The main story felt very busy and hard to follow. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the art, which took a lot out right away.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've loved all of the DC vs. Vampires stuff! I really can't wait for more.

[John Wright · Rating 1 out of 5]

Incomprehensible.

[Eli · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

If all the following DC vs. Vampires comics are like this, I might tap out on this run… The coloring is all shades of white, black, and red. The paneling/storytelling was kinda confusing. I guess good for them for rounding out the universe of this story more, but the All-Out War side story isn’t for me.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.6 stars

[Sonikz Comics · Rating 3 out of 5]

The same vibe from the first volume but with a new mission this time round.

The story continues with Deathstoke and his team as they make their way to Florida on a rescue mission that could help save the world and give the resistence the edge they need to turn the tides on the war with the Vampires.

The art is the same Black, White & Red style from the previous volume and most new characters that are added in this arc are characters that already have that touch of red to their outfits that obviously pop in this art style (Mary Marvel being one of them)

The story itself was a different twist from the first volume but also like the first one was a story that could easily be skipped if you didnt want to read on from the main series.

The One-Shot in this collection is based on Harley Quinn and a few villians that are operating beneath Gotham trying to survive from the Vampires.

Like the previous one-shot this was also in full colour and was an interesting arc that was fun to read but also left the story open to follow on from.

---------------

💙💙💙🖤🖤 = Average 🙂

This story continues on from the first one in the same way on a suicide mission to save humanity, there are some memorable moments along the way but as ive said before this can all be skipped if the main series was enough for you.

The one-shot would be something id like to see continued as it showed promise but i doubt it will go on any further for here.

[Alek Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

All Out War follows Deathstroke and a rag tag team as they try to accomplish John Constantine's plan to turn the tied of the apocalypse. It suffers from the same bumpy plot as Vol. 2 with multiple characters having a sub plot that never gets full attention so things aren't always concise. It is a good companion book though that contributes to the overall story, so dont think it's unnecessary.

There are also some one off issues at the end if the book that I guess contribute to the future of this series.

[Adrian Santiago · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lo ùnico bueno fue lo emocionalillo al final y la historia corta de Poison Ivy.

Lo demàs, como que hasta cansa y aburre leerlo. Lamentablemente.
Recuerdo el Unkillables de DCeased, y esa historia secundaria estuvo buenìsima.

Esta... pues la verdad no...

[Eldon Farrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just too hard to follow to rate any higher. Seemed like the narrative was all over the place.

[Lola]

2.25 stars

This serves as a review for Volumes 1 and 2.

Honestly, I cannot say I liked the All-Out War storyline at all. In comparison to the main DC vs. Vampires series, this was really disappointing. My main issue was that I knew like one of the characters in this arc. That's definitely my fault, but it felt like I was watching the middle of a TV series without watching any of the preceding seasons. Not only did I not know the characters at all, but the story felt random, difficult to follow, and very separate from the main series. Of course it's supposed to be its own story arc, but there wasn't much correlation, and I just found myself wishing I could finish the issue I was on so I could return to the main series.

And in terms of the art, I wasn't in love. The art itself was fine, but I hated the red-white-gray scheme. It was kind of cool at first, but once I got past the first issue, I was over it. I felt like it made it unnecessarily difficult to follow, and it didn't add anything to the story at all.

Volume 1: 2.0 stars
Volume 2: 2.25 stars just because it was mildly less unenjoyable than Volume 1. But overall, I was disappointed.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of the same, filling in some of the gaps not covered by the main title. The art is again primarily black and white with splashes of red and it isn't always clear what the heck is going on in a lot of these panels. There was finally some Superman action this time--a vampiric Superman is about as scary as it gets, though I'm not sure who had fangs strong enough to pierce his skin in the first place. And, anyway, things get sorted pretty quickly. Also in some of the side pieces, we see some of the Wildstorm characters, Poison Ivy (who may have become something even worse as a result of her turning), and Harley Quinn and Catwoman, briefly the rulers of what's left of Gotham City's underworld. It also looks like there'll be at least another one of these collections, since the main story isn't resolved here.

[Lexi52Lemire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy this second part more than the first. I think this side story overall perhaps relies a bit too much on action, but what elevates it is the use of some very good twists and character bits, specially the one involving Mary Marvel.

She was written excellently in this story, and the mix of vampirism with her powers is the king of great combination of character and lore that can only happen in a well.thought genre mix like this story, with a scene between her and Billy that was terrific and horrific in the best way.

The little side stories at the end work well, Harley's being the weakest, Poison Ivy's being the strongest.

[Tom Brertholt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked this little spin-off. Reminding me of the Witcher series, like a twisted Fairy Tale, we've got a bunch of anti-heroic knights in a desperate quest to rescue a princess and save the world from mosnters.

Deathstroke, Midnighter and Mary Marvel were the highlights and the reveals in this second half worked very well. There was a twist with one character that worked marvelously.The artowrk was lovely as well, though admittedly a bit difficult to read sometimes due to its B&W nature.

All in all, a very good companion series for the main story. Can be read on its own.

[Néstor Vargas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second part successfully wraps up the story, delivering sad but heroic finales for a couple of characters. It makes the story feel more relevant. The backup stories were okay; they are short and fun, but they didn’t add anything to the main story yet. And I had no idea that was Superman until they got very explicit about it.

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good overall. Mary Marvel's subplot was my favorite but the rest was good too.

[Min · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary was so cool in this.

[Bjorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than volume 1 but not as good as the main series.

[Dylan Clink · Rating 2 out of 5]

5/10

[Kylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay. I love the art style and it had moments I really liked but it was mostly just confusing

[Avery · Rating 2 out of 5]

boringggg

[Jeff Wait · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cool set of side quests. Interesting enough and with some cool visuals. Got some vampire Superman and Shazam action. This feels like a good setup for World War V.

[gab · Rating 2 out of 5]

confusing art style, highkey confusing storyline.

[Andrei · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This book wraps up the action in the DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War series, bringing it to a conclusion (albeit slightly open-ended). This one is filled with action from one end to the other, and maintains the same high-stakes as the first 3 issues. Wrapping up this hardcover, we have 3 standalone backup stories, each featuring different characters, as well as a one-shot starring Harley Quinn and Catwoman.

What I liked: Deathstroke is great, and I also liked Midnighter and Mary Marvel's roles. The backup story with Poison Ivy is excellent - written and drawn by Mirka Andolfo whose art I usually dig.

What I didn't like: Same as with the first volume of All-Out War, the art is not the easiest to follow, especially with all the action that's going on. With the exception of the Poison Ivy one, the backups didn't do anything for me, and neither did the Killers #1 one-shot.

[Doctor Doom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read with some of the untold stories from the DC VS Vampires series. While I liked the majority of the stories I did not like the black, white and red artwork.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

DC vs. Vampires: All out war part 2

The world is taken over by vampires. Nightwing is king of the vampire. Even Superman is a blood sucker. Love the storyline so far.

[Juarez Poletto Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the DC answer to Marvel Zombies, and it's very fun, well-paced and beatufully drawn.