variant covers

Review – Vampirella/Dracula: Unholy #1 Writer – Christopher Priest Artist – Donny Hadiwidjaja Colourist – Mohan Letterer – Willie Schubert Publisher – Dynamite Comics Release Date – 15 December 2021 Cover Artist – Lucio Parrillo Variant Covers – KyuYong Eom, Adam Hughes, Shannon Maer Intro The honeymoon begins! The adventure of several lifetimes begins as Vampirella and new husband Matt journey to Castle Dracula in Transylvania in an attempt to cheat fate by preventing both a high-tech virus and an ancient curse from using Matt’s body to resurrect the deadliest threat the world has ever known. Meanwhile secrets and mystery grow around Vampi’s spouse, who may not be nearly as innocent as he appears to be. Join us for this new series debut by twice-bitten writer Christopher Priest and bloodthirsty artist Donny Hadiwidjaja! Writing I’ve never read a Vampirella book before and thought I would pick it up and see what it was like. And from the title of the book alone, my interest was piqued. But when you have one of the most recognised horror characters ever in Count Dracula, it’s always going to be interesting to see how he is utilised. To be brutally honest, I was slightly underwhelmed with the book as a whole. I thought as a first issue it would be more gripping and something to sink your teeth into (pun intended). But sadly the storyline didn’t deliver. Artwork The thing that first caught my attention was the cover art from Lucio Parrillo. And not to mention the variants from KyuYong Eom, Adam Hughes and Shannon Maer. (Check out the full list of variants here). But on to the main art from Donny Hadiwidjaja which is certainly a positive. He captures the protagonist in all her glory and even shys away from her famed red suit for the majority of the book. And his heavy line work is prominent throughout. The colour work is dark and in keeping with the tone of the book. And as you can imagine, red is prominent throughout. Overall So one thing I really didn’t enjoy about the book is the amount of referrals to previous issues. which I feel detracts from the fluidity of the book. And having never read a Vampirella book before, the need to refer to previous books for context was off-putting. But due to this, it’s not a book I see myself returning to in the future. The book itself isn’t bad but it’s not something I found myself enjoying and would recommend. Fans of Vampirella may disagree and enjoy the book more than I did. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Discord and join our official Facebook Group.