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Vampirella 2014 #1-6
Vampirella (2014-2015) Vol. 1: Our Lady of The Shadows (Vampirella
The horror icon Vampirella returns to her roots, courtesy of Bram Stoker Award-winning author Nancy A. Collins (Sunglasses After Dark)! Vampirella is sent by the Vatican to investigate the kidnapping of a little girl by Ethan Shroud and the Chaos Cult, only to become the centerpiece of a ritual invoking Lady Umbra, the sister-bride of Chaos, that leaves her marked as a living sacrifice to the dark goddess who rules the shadows. Hunted by the Mallus Maleficarum, an elite hit-squad of monster-killers also known as "The Witch-Hammer", she finds her world abruptly turned upside down... and herself unexpectedly allied with the strangest bedfellow imaginable!
235 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2015
25 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Nancy A. Collins
340 books674 followersNancy A. Collins (born 10 September 1959) is a United States horror fiction writer best known for her series of vampire novels featuring her character Sonja Blue. Collins has also written for comic books, including the Swamp Thing series, Jason Vs. Leatherface, Predator: Hell Come A Walkin and her own one-shot Dhampire: Stillborn.
Collins was born in McGehee, Arkansas, United States. She lived in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1980s; after time in New York City and Atlanta, Georgia she settled in Wilmington, North Carolina in the late 2000s.
Collins has written twenty novels since 1989, many of which refer to and directly include races of creatures the author calls Pretenders, monsters from myth and legend passing as human to better hunt their prey.
Collins has also written a number of highly acclaimed Southern Gothic short stories and novellas, most of which are set in Seven Devils, Arkansas, a highly fictionalized version of her hometown.
Most recently, she has focused her attention onto the Golgotham urban fantasy series,published by Penguin. Golgotham is the 'supernatural' ghetto of New York City, where creatures from myth and folklore--including witches,shapeshifters,leprechauns and centaurs--live and work in uneasy alliance with mankind.
Collins was born in McGehee, Arkansas, United States. She lived in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1980s; after time in New York City and Atlanta, Georgia she settled in Wilmington, North Carolina in the late 2000s.
Collins has written twenty novels since 1989, many of which refer to and directly include races of creatures the author calls Pretenders, monsters from myth and legend passing as human to better hunt their prey.
Collins has also written a number of highly acclaimed Southern Gothic short stories and novellas, most of which are set in Seven Devils, Arkansas, a highly fictionalized version of her hometown.
Most recently, she has focused her attention onto the Golgotham urban fantasy series,published by Penguin. Golgotham is the 'supernatural' ghetto of New York City, where creatures from myth and folklore--including witches,shapeshifters,leprechauns and centaurs--live and work in uneasy alliance with mankind.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 16, 2019
Vampirella is about as unapologetic as it gets when it comes to chicks in dental floss fighting demons and whatnot. There's honestly no reason for her to run around stabbing bad guys in that wedgie maker, but she does manage to look fabulous doing it.
So.
Either get on board with the undead camel toe or stop reading V's comics, I suppose.
I enjoyed this one even more than The Dynamite Years Omnibus simply b/c the plot seemed to be cooler overall. Or maybe this one was just shorter and more to the point? Also, this one introduced a whole lotta different types of vampires and expanded a bit on the lore in this world.
In this one, V deals with a curse, the Vatican's betrayal, and then (in what seemed like a backward leap in time?) an issue with a witch/demon in a convent.
Regardless of any confusion I felt, it was interesting and fun to read.
I'm not a Dynamite expert (yet!) but I'm digging this character and the universe she lives in.
So.
Either get on board with the undead camel toe or stop reading V's comics, I suppose.
I enjoyed this one even more than The Dynamite Years Omnibus simply b/c the plot seemed to be cooler overall. Or maybe this one was just shorter and more to the point? Also, this one introduced a whole lotta different types of vampires and expanded a bit on the lore in this world.
In this one, V deals with a curse, the Vatican's betrayal, and then (in what seemed like a backward leap in time?) an issue with a witch/demon in a convent.
Regardless of any confusion I felt, it was interesting and fun to read.
I'm not a Dynamite expert (yet!) but I'm digging this character and the universe she lives in.
December 28, 2017
Adventuresome first of this 2 part series wherein Vampirella becomes the victim of a curse cast by the Cult of Chaos. To break the curse, she must go on a blood hunt to track down and consume the blood of vampires with the highest concentration of demon blood. Excellent writing and amazing illustrations make this book well worth reading. Highly recommended.
July 27, 2018
Sexy, gory, over-the-top good times featuring a series of intense escapades and, yes, even a prequel issue in which Vampirella infiltrates a convent gone wrong.
March 18, 2016
I've stated in a few other reviews on here that I *usually* don't like modern vampire fiction because writers try too hard to make it hip and trendy to cater to the teenage audience. So while everyone was obsessed with sparkly shirtless vampires, I basically stopped reading anything in the genre. I have, however, found that I actually do like this stuff, I'm just an old "stick in the mud" traditionalist when it comes to it. Even some of the more of-the-wall vampire stuff I enjoy (like Vampire Hunter D) is firmly based on stuff like Christopher Lee films from Hammer Films. When reading Vampirella Volume 1: Our Lady of Shadows, I was having a lot of fun. Despite the covers, the story doesn't really get too outlandish and exploitative, and everything is fairly well written. This is basically my introduction to the character since I always assumed this book was nothing more than softcore porn - now I know it's more of a "pulp" series, and I feel bad for ignoring it so long.
The story follows Vampirella as she is sent by The Vatican to stop a long dead nemesis, a cult leader and warlock, that may have resurfaced. She ends up on a quest (aided by a Nosferatu no less) to consume energy from various "vampires" from other cultures to make herself able to stop him and his plan to start the apocalypse.
Honestly the only reason I am giving this three stars and not four is that it ended in such a way that it really should have had at least one more issue. Everything seems rushed at the end, thus making the whole story-arc unbalanced. There was even a point where the "monster of the issue" feel is thrown out in order to speed things up (what previously took a full issue was resolved in two pages), making 'Ella's quest seem pointless. It was good that a "prequel" issue was included, but I wanted a better ending. I will have to look at more Vampirella titles from Dynamite and possibly read more as I am starting to really enjoy these retro "pulpy" titles they are doing.
The story follows Vampirella as she is sent by The Vatican to stop a long dead nemesis, a cult leader and warlock, that may have resurfaced. She ends up on a quest (aided by a Nosferatu no less) to consume energy from various "vampires" from other cultures to make herself able to stop him and his plan to start the apocalypse.
Honestly the only reason I am giving this three stars and not four is that it ended in such a way that it really should have had at least one more issue. Everything seems rushed at the end, thus making the whole story-arc unbalanced. There was even a point where the "monster of the issue" feel is thrown out in order to speed things up (what previously took a full issue was resolved in two pages), making 'Ella's quest seem pointless. It was good that a "prequel" issue was included, but I wanted a better ending. I will have to look at more Vampirella titles from Dynamite and possibly read more as I am starting to really enjoy these retro "pulpy" titles they are doing.
January 4, 2022
Very cheesy, very dumb, super unnessary, needless to say...I love Vampirella
October 1, 2018
A nice reboot to the Vampirella series, although it's nothing that radical and more of a soft reboot. Vampirella is possessed by the Bride of Chaos, and must prevent a ritual in order to save herself. However, in order to make herself strong enough to prevent the ritual she must gather the blood of several rare vampires, including a Lamia and some other more obscure vampires. One is a vampire from Thailand that is only made up of a female's head and entrails and flies around sucking blood. Another is a weird moth type vampire, and more. I liked reading about the more exotic vampires. Art is sexy as always when dealing with Vampirella. Good outing from veteran writer Nancy Collins.
November 3, 2019
Finally, something half-cool about Vampirella - she has wings. We also get a glimpse into her origins and get some girl-on-girl action. Too bad the ending was so rushed, though the enjoyable buildup makes up for it. All in all, in my eyes this is the sexiest Vampirella comic from Dynamite. It's finally something befitting this character.
Young Emma is kidnapped by her father's a cult. He is William Baxter, renamed Ethan Shroud, the leader of the Cult of Chaos. He and Vampirella have history, so she is more than happy to take the case for the priest of the Vatican. Unfortunately, he is ready for her, so she has to take a roundabout way before she can face the powerful demon threatening to bring about the apocalypse.
Young Emma is kidnapped by her father's a cult. He is William Baxter, renamed Ethan Shroud, the leader of the Cult of Chaos. He and Vampirella have history, so she is more than happy to take the case for the priest of the Vatican. Unfortunately, he is ready for her, so she has to take a roundabout way before she can face the powerful demon threatening to bring about the apocalypse.
February 22, 2016
Same Old Vampirella
I was kind of disappointed by how paint-by-the-numbers this book is. I like Nancy A. Collins and was psyched to find she was writing Vampirella. This book is fun in terms of how Vampirella takes on various versions of vampires from other cultures, but there's really not much more to it than that.
I was kind of disappointed by how paint-by-the-numbers this book is. I like Nancy A. Collins and was psyched to find she was writing Vampirella. This book is fun in terms of how Vampirella takes on various versions of vampires from other cultures, but there's really not much more to it than that.
September 2, 2015
Vampirella is a nice story arc with a bonus mini story at the end. The drawing was well-done, and the story was compelling. However as an introduction to the character the story was confusing. The storyline of the last section did not mesh with the main story of the volume. It would have made more sense had that last been in front.
Also, the overt sexual nature of the comic is uncalled for. The skimpy outfit and brief sex scene seem to be trying to use sex to sell the comic. It would serve Vampirella better if they gave her more clothes and invested more in storytelling.
Also, the overt sexual nature of the comic is uncalled for. The skimpy outfit and brief sex scene seem to be trying to use sex to sell the comic. It would serve Vampirella better if they gave her more clothes and invested more in storytelling.
June 25, 2019
Someone that gets the character
Nancy A Collins is a superb writer and it's clear reading this she understands Vampirella better than the majority of her modern writers. The art is just okay but this is the best I've seen from Dynamite with the character.
Nancy A Collins is a superb writer and it's clear reading this she understands Vampirella better than the majority of her modern writers. The art is just okay but this is the best I've seen from Dynamite with the character.
March 21, 2021
Continuando nossa odisseia vampírica, chegamos na fase da Nacy A Collins escrevendo Vampirella, 2014 a 2016, ou algo assim.
Como vocês sabem, o critério para leitura é a falsa gratuidade da assinatura de gibis digitais ou a boa velha promoção do vintão, no caso, a falsa gratuidade.
Vampirella começa de sobretudo e, na hora de invadir o ritual macabro no cemitério, resolve voltar pro maiô cavadão que tanto amamos, bem na hora que tudo parece resolvido, as crianças da escuridão estão tomando uma surra, armadilha, agora Vampirella está em processo de possessão pela Senhora das Sombras do título.
O Vaticano que terceiriza os serviços da Vampi na hora de caçar demônios, entende isso como uma traição e resolve matar a Vampirella, claro, ela sobrevive e descobre que, para enfrentar a Senhora das Sombras, ela deve matar vampiros mais esquisitos e poderosos para se apropriar do poder sobrenatural ou algo de gênero.
Vietnã, Grécia, Cárpatos; vampiro de tripas, vampiro-cobra, vampiro roxo dentuço parente da Mônica, respectivamente.
Eu achei essa ideia genial, explorar as diferentes mitologias vampíricas, tradições, monstros e tudo mais, tinha tudo para durar umas 10 edições, fácil, mas são só três. Depois que ela passa a régua na vampirada, ela enfrenta a tal da Senhora numa edição muito sem graça em que nada parece funcionar. Depois tem mais uma edição sobre freiras demoníacas, e a Vampirella vestida de freira, taí uma imagem que vai ficar no meu cérebro.
No geral, achei a ideia boa, mas mal executada, os desenhos são sem graça e a resolução do principal conflito não funcionou direito.
Contudo tem uma coisa interessante, eu sempre penso na Vampi como a versão alienígena de Drakulon, porém, nos últimos anos, tem havido uma ênfase na versão filha de Lilith, e uma dessas edições explica que todos os vampiros são filhos de Lilith, cada um é diferente, porque dependendo do demônio que a Lilith tava pegando na época, o filhote vampiro saía meio diferente um do outro, e, considerando a variedade de tipos de vampiros que temos por aí, a Lilith andou ocupada.
Ô.
Põe ocupada nisso.
Como vocês sabem, o critério para leitura é a falsa gratuidade da assinatura de gibis digitais ou a boa velha promoção do vintão, no caso, a falsa gratuidade.
Vampirella começa de sobretudo e, na hora de invadir o ritual macabro no cemitério, resolve voltar pro maiô cavadão que tanto amamos, bem na hora que tudo parece resolvido, as crianças da escuridão estão tomando uma surra, armadilha, agora Vampirella está em processo de possessão pela Senhora das Sombras do título.
O Vaticano que terceiriza os serviços da Vampi na hora de caçar demônios, entende isso como uma traição e resolve matar a Vampirella, claro, ela sobrevive e descobre que, para enfrentar a Senhora das Sombras, ela deve matar vampiros mais esquisitos e poderosos para se apropriar do poder sobrenatural ou algo de gênero.
Vietnã, Grécia, Cárpatos; vampiro de tripas, vampiro-cobra, vampiro roxo dentuço parente da Mônica, respectivamente.
Eu achei essa ideia genial, explorar as diferentes mitologias vampíricas, tradições, monstros e tudo mais, tinha tudo para durar umas 10 edições, fácil, mas são só três. Depois que ela passa a régua na vampirada, ela enfrenta a tal da Senhora numa edição muito sem graça em que nada parece funcionar. Depois tem mais uma edição sobre freiras demoníacas, e a Vampirella vestida de freira, taí uma imagem que vai ficar no meu cérebro.
No geral, achei a ideia boa, mas mal executada, os desenhos são sem graça e a resolução do principal conflito não funcionou direito.
Contudo tem uma coisa interessante, eu sempre penso na Vampi como a versão alienígena de Drakulon, porém, nos últimos anos, tem havido uma ênfase na versão filha de Lilith, e uma dessas edições explica que todos os vampiros são filhos de Lilith, cada um é diferente, porque dependendo do demônio que a Lilith tava pegando na época, o filhote vampiro saía meio diferente um do outro, e, considerando a variedade de tipos de vampiros que temos por aí, a Lilith andou ocupada.
Ô.
Põe ocupada nisso.
March 29, 2024
Vampirella with Nancy A. Collins writing - What an excellent combo! This TP contains two major story arcs. In the first The Cult of Chaos is planning to sacrifice a little girl. Vampirella is sent in and of course its a trap, forcing her to become the vessel for Our Lady of Shadows. She gets rescued by a Nosferatu and has to go on a side quest to hunt down a bunch of obscure ancient vampires, kill them, drink their blood and become powerful enough to defeat the shadow queen. We have a Krasue in Thailand, a Lamia in Greece a Leptirica in Serbia and Nosferatu in Romania - If you're a fan of vampire world cinema/mythology this is an utter delight - This half would have been 5* if this hadn't mixed up Etymologist (study of word origins) and Entomologist (study of insects) which is a pet peeve.
The second story looks at possessed lesbian nuns - We have Satan's favourite mistress, a witch infiltrate a convent and we get possessed and sacrificed nuns. Vampirella has to pose as a nun to smoke out the witch. Fun, but it seems to take a step back for feminism - Vampirella's really strong in the first half, but here this just seems more titilation and exploitation and we've seen it all before in all the supernatural nunsplitation films of the 70's.
Art isn't the best I've seen Vampirella, but far from the worst and I really loved the first half of this with all the different vamps. Lots of fun.
The second story looks at possessed lesbian nuns - We have Satan's favourite mistress, a witch infiltrate a convent and we get possessed and sacrificed nuns. Vampirella has to pose as a nun to smoke out the witch. Fun, but it seems to take a step back for feminism - Vampirella's really strong in the first half, but here this just seems more titilation and exploitation and we've seen it all before in all the supernatural nunsplitation films of the 70's.
Art isn't the best I've seen Vampirella, but far from the worst and I really loved the first half of this with all the different vamps. Lots of fun.
January 1, 2019
This is the best book I've read in this series so far.
I really enjoyed the first half of this. The second half really dropped the ball, but I do like Vampirella as a character and the more I read these books the more I like them. There are a lot of typos in this one though. It happened often enough to distract me from continuing the book because I had to figure out what the missing word was. I also think the finale was really stupid and made no sense at all. Overall it's a good read that will impress fans of this series. For everyone else... Look somewhere else. It's a 7/10 from me.
I really enjoyed the first half of this. The second half really dropped the ball, but I do like Vampirella as a character and the more I read these books the more I like them. There are a lot of typos in this one though. It happened often enough to distract me from continuing the book because I had to figure out what the missing word was. I also think the finale was really stupid and made no sense at all. Overall it's a good read that will impress fans of this series. For everyone else... Look somewhere else. It's a 7/10 from me.
February 28, 2022
Adult horror.
Good color artwork. Dynamite comics brings us the Warren era Vampirella. This should be read by teens and above. The occultism and perverse sex is a little too graphic.
Good color artwork. Dynamite comics brings us the Warren era Vampirella. This should be read by teens and above. The occultism and perverse sex is a little too graphic.
October 2, 2023
5 pages???
This should have been an easy 5 stars, but unfortunately this version is bugged and you can’t get past page 5, or that’s the entirety of the book. Either way, 1 star is being generous.
This should have been an easy 5 stars, but unfortunately this version is bugged and you can’t get past page 5, or that’s the entirety of the book. Either way, 1 star is being generous.
August 26, 2017
Always loved Vampirella. The art was amazing. The writing had quite a few errors and typos which was somewhat distracting, but all in all I liked this collection.
November 9, 2021
A pretty solid story after Vampirella is rebooted (again).
October 12, 2023
My favorite villain/hero-en. I use to collect the Vampirella magazines throughout the 1970s. Great drawings and graphics and a great story. Buy it.
September 7, 2025
A new take on Vampirella that I absolutely loved as writer Nancy Collins made the lovely but deadly anti-heroine vampire an awesome read in this collection.
January 26, 2016
In theory, they describe Vampirella as a horror book and this book's cover claims that it is returning to its horror roots. But it's really more sexy adventure with some gore thrown in. I've never read a Vampirella book which actually felt frightening, so this is in line with my expectations. On the adventure side, I thought that this was okay. The plot was interesting and moved well, both explaining motivation, leaving some uncertainty for the future as we went, and providing good variety of events, but I can't say it was amazing. I've never really been a fan of gore, so the gory or vaguely spooky parts were fine.
The sexiness I thought was fairly well done. (As a side note, I saw that some of the other reviewers complained about her revealing costume. It's Vampirella. Titillation has always been part of the character. I would love to have more female comic book characters which don't rely on titillation as a big part of their appeal, but expecting Vampirella to suddenly leave that niche after 35 years in it is silly.) I've found that very commonly comic book artists want to draw their heroines as being very chesty, but don't really understand how large breasts actually look and move and wind up effectively bolting some fleshy spheres onto the front of their heroines. This is not the case with Berkenkotter's art. He clearly understands how to draw breasts which is a definite asset for an artist of a book whose heroine generally shows so much of hers off. Now, of course, not all versions of Vampirella have been quite so chesty, so he could alternately have chosen that route and it would have been fine as well. But since he went this way, at least he knew how to execute it properly. The plot itself also involved some sexy moments. It was nice for Vampirella to sometimes get to be sensual and, in fact, be a sexual aggressor rather than just an object of desire.
On the whole, the art was good and the plot was okay, but not great. I liked it, but I didn't love it.
The sexiness I thought was fairly well done. (As a side note, I saw that some of the other reviewers complained about her revealing costume. It's Vampirella. Titillation has always been part of the character. I would love to have more female comic book characters which don't rely on titillation as a big part of their appeal, but expecting Vampirella to suddenly leave that niche after 35 years in it is silly.) I've found that very commonly comic book artists want to draw their heroines as being very chesty, but don't really understand how large breasts actually look and move and wind up effectively bolting some fleshy spheres onto the front of their heroines. This is not the case with Berkenkotter's art. He clearly understands how to draw breasts which is a definite asset for an artist of a book whose heroine generally shows so much of hers off. Now, of course, not all versions of Vampirella have been quite so chesty, so he could alternately have chosen that route and it would have been fine as well. But since he went this way, at least he knew how to execute it properly. The plot itself also involved some sexy moments. It was nice for Vampirella to sometimes get to be sensual and, in fact, be a sexual aggressor rather than just an object of desire.
On the whole, the art was good and the plot was okay, but not great. I liked it, but I didn't love it.
September 25, 2015
So far, this is the best of the color Vampi reboots I've read, but that is not saying much. This seemed to to capture the spirit of the character well and had a good story line. I especially enjoyed the bits were she had to hunt down various types of vampires from around the world & absorb their powers. The prologue to the story was also quite good, why put it in the back of the book? That's where epilogues go!
October 1, 2015
It was a solid wee horror read, the art wasnt completely to my taste but the cover art and the art gallery of the individual issues covers made up for that (look out for Jenny Frison's art it's fantastic.)
It was a good wee story that drew on various incarnations of mythology and monster mythology to create Vampirella's world.
It was a good wee story that drew on various incarnations of mythology and monster mythology to create Vampirella's world.
December 29, 2015
I thought this was a really strong story. I enjoyed it from start to finish. The only real criticism I would have is that the girl Vampirella rescues seems totally unaffected by her father committing suicide right in front of her. Other than that, it was a solid horror/vampire tale. I'll definitely be reading volume 2 when it's released.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2024
Always loved Vampirella and it being written by Nancy Collins makes it even more so.
January 22, 2016
Oddly formatted, had the prelude story at the end instead of the beginning.
August 25, 2017
Recommended only to masochists and next level fashionistas. This is a terrible comic.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews