Dawn / Vampirella

by Joseph Michael Linsner

Joseph Michael Linsner, the celebrated creator of Dawn, writes and illustrates the first-ever crossover event for his beloved goddess, teaming her -- and pitting her against -- horror icon Vampirella! When the silver-tongued demon Masodik kidnaps these beautiful, powerful women, he demands that the two engage in a catfight to prove which is best suited as his new paramour. The ladies suggest to combat in a more sophisticated and feminine way: by engaging in a storytelling contest. Together, Dawn and Vampirella take us a on journey to the bloody shores of Drakulon, post-apocalyptic New York, and worlds beyond imagination. Ultimately, they know that they must join forces to overcome him... but what common ground can be found between goddess and vampire?

Genres: Comics, Vampires, Graphic Novels, Fantasy

128 pages, Hardcover

First published June 14, 2016

About the author

Joseph Michael Linsner is most well-known for DAWN, his personal Pin-Up Goddess. After her debut appearance on the cover of CRY FOR DAWN #1 in 1989, Dawn struck a chord with thousands of fans on an international level. She is currently published in six languages and has come to life in the form of statues, action figures, t-shirts, lithographs, lunch boxes and trading cards..An award winning Illustrator, Linsner has painted covers for all of the major comics characters, including Wolverine, Justice League, Conan, and Vampirella. One of his proudest moments was getting to illustrate a short story written by Stan Lee for 'Actor Comics Presents'. Next up for Linsner is 'The White Phoenix & Other Stories' a collection of Dawn short tales, before he starts work on the fourth Dawn graphic novel due in 2013. To contact JML for booking and appearances and conventions or shows please note the authorized email address and ONLY official JML AUTHORIZED 2011-2012 BIOGRAPHY has been updated from the old sites. Current info is on his Blogger, facebook and twitter accounts.

Reviews

[Mel (Epic Reading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thankfully this series gets much better as it goes along. The art is glorious; from famed artist Joseph Michael Lisner.
I love both these strong women but will confess that Dawn is my favourite. She’s so hard to categorize and has ultimate “goddess” power.
That said, Vampirella is a vampire and alien from another planet whom had a lot of humanity and emotions. Needless to say our two leading ladies don’t get along at first (lol).
With a powerful ending and a message that is well worth considering I would recommend this to any big fans of either lady.

[Marcelo Soares · Rating 2 out of 5]

Esse é o primeiro e único gibi da Dawn que eu li na vida.
Eu lembro que a personagem fez algum sucesso na época das Bad Girls noventeiras e tinha uma vibe bem independente e levemente gótica - a mina tem lágrimas tatuadas no olho esquerdo e usa franja -, o que era bem padrão nos angustiantes anos 90. Já a Vampirella é uma velha conhecida, eu já li vários gibis bons, ruins, péssimos, tenebrosos e que fizeram eu questionar o meu processo de decisão.
Esse é um dos últimos.
Foi difícil, basicamente, um demônio aleatório captura as heroínas porque ele quer escolher uma esposa, e, claro, a maneira mais óbvia de decidir isso é a mesma maneira wakandiana de escolher o próximo rei; o combate ritual até a morte. Contudo Dawn - aparentemente uma deusa apaixonada por um deus celta - propõe que, como as duas são bad girls noventeiras com faca na bota, logo são foda pra caralho, em vez de um combate físico, um combate intelectual; assim o demônio aleatório além de ter um filho forte terá um filho forte e inteligente.
E o cara cai nessa.
Então, cada edição tem uma ou outra contando uma histórias que serve como metáfora para algum outro pedaço do roteiro; quem é o demônio, a origem da Vampirella, a origem da Dawn, como elas são parecidas e como são diferentes ao mesmo tempo e por aí vai. O que não é uma ideia tão ruim assim, mas não bateu comigo.
Ah sim, no final descobrimos que o demônio aleatório é um servo de um deus indiano preso num ciclo de reencarnação para expiar seus pecados e não sei o quê. Claro, a edição termina com o demônio reencarnando como um humano americano e, no epílogo, vira presidente usando um terno com patrocinadores.
Talvez tudo seja um comentário sobre o capitalismo tardio, os biquinís armaduras e o amor líquido, vai saber, né?

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't bad, but wasn't exceptional either. The Linsner art was good. The women were sexy as expected. But the story itself felt a little lacking. A demon kidnaps Dawn and Vampirella, and wants them to battle it out with the prize being bearing his child. They agree just in order to buy time to plan an escape. The battle is meant to be physical, but instead it becomes a storytelling battle. So each issue has the women telling stories about different things. I'd have much rather seen a more focused crossover.

Linsner fans will still enjoy this, but otherwise it may not be what most readers are looking for.

[Magnus Frederiksen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Likt alla historier av Joseph M Linsner har denna en twist i slutet som så oftast gör historien bra. Men ibland är resan dit lång. Denna gång är den berättad lite som om den var skriven av nån som precis lärt sig om religioner och ska upplysa sin nyvunna kunskap. Det blir lite högtravande. Jag fascineras av karaktären Dawn, men kanske att hon blir som Superman. För mäktig för att bli kul. Hade hoppats mer på mötet med Vampirella men fan va mycket snack och lite verksta’ det kan bli med denna karaktär. Är hon mest spännande i teorin?

Hade varit intressant med en annan berättarröst. Mer inre reflektioner än bredbent matcho snack.

Det är snyggt ritat, som alltid. Älskar blandandet av lite goofy och realism.

Jag gillar egentligen den här mer än betyget 3. Jag gäspar bara över det faktum att historien när man skärskådar den handlar om ett gäng egon.

[Helene Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐️

I actually liked this. I wasn’t very familiar with Dawn before this volume, and her story fascinated me. I liked the interplay of lore and fantasy, the take on reincarnation. Vampirella isn’t very powerful herself, so seeing her next to Dawn put the little vampire queen into perspective. The first issue of this series was quite weak, but the conclusion made up for it. All in all, a good collection with surprisingly low ratings on Goodreads.

[Crazed8J8 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written and drawn by Dawn's creator...adding in a cult character that he has much love for...this is a read for the ages!
A little slow starting, but a great book. I really enjoyed it, and love the artwork. Both characters are very strong women, very sexy, and very tough! Interesting insights into their histories, powers, and hearts...
Very worthwhile read if you enjoy either character.

[Johan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first impression was that I was reading a comic with 80s vibes, but I was wrong, the artwork is too clean. It is about a decade old.

The story is nothing to write home about, but as a pastime it wasn't bad.

I got this as part of the Boys vs Girls Humble Bundle.

[Glen Parks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who would have thought Linsner predicted Trump becoming president?

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent crossover featuring the goddess, Dawn and Vampirella. Cool storyline and spectacular art by the talented Joseph Michael Linsner. Very highly recommended.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this series digitally on Comixology rather than this book.

I love anthology horror stuff, so I've always enjoyed the handful of random Dawn issues I've read since they often employ a Twilight Zone-like narrative structure. Dawn/Vampirella does this, I presume, since both ladies have delved into this sort of storytelling (Vampi had a series called "Feary Tales") and as somewhat of a parody or meta in-joke on this structure. This book achieves this idea by being book-ended by a story involving contest organized by demon to pit the two ladies against each other. It appears that he is doing so in order to choose the strongest as his bride.

While it's cool seeing Vampi and Dawn tell stories of their origins and the like, I felt that the chemistry between the characters suffered a bit due to the format and that the ending seemed rushed (a problem with a few Dynamite releases that I've read). There were a few awesome moments like seeing Vampi's mother realized as the spitting image of Yvonne de Carlo as Lily Munster from The Munsters and Dawn's brief attempt at plagiarizing the plot of The Godfather as one of her stories. I won't say that this is a great comic, but it's pretty fun and worth checking out at least.

[Bobby Bermea · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like hot, comic book, pin-up babes (and I do) this book has appeal. Linsner's own Dawn and his interpretation of Vampirella are stellar examples of the type. But if you're expecting anything else to be of interest (and I was) you're going to be sorely disappointed.