By Cat Wyatt

In Dark Fang #4 we were left off with Valla in a very dangerous situation. I’m not going to lie to you; I’ve been very worried about her ever since I read the last issue. This issue picks up right where things left off; with Valla hanging in chains and her captor gloating all the while about his success and his divinity (which I would love to bring into question, based on his actions alone).

So obviously this issue doesn’t start off in a great place. Valla has been tortured by a religious zealot, who is likely about to end her life (unlife?) any moment. Plus I’m still worried about that eye of hers (a minor concern, all things considered, but I can’t help it).

Sir tall, dark, and surly was moving in for the final blow when something wonderful happened (and no, I’m not talking about his confessed love of Amazon prime); an ally arrived to save the day. A glowing figure in a green cloak arrives and quickly entangles the captor, and oddly enough, I recognize this figure.

It is the jellyfish dress we saw her wearing in the first issue! I knew it had to be magical in order to clothe and protect her as it had done, but I had no idea it was capable of tracking her as it has. Or of leaving the ocean. And let’s not forget the fighting it’s currently doing. Okay, it’s more restraining than fighting, but it sure is effective (it’s actually probably the best way to fight a guy like this).

Apparently, the dress had been following Valla the whole time, despite the orders she gave it to return to the ocean. Out of concern for her, it stayed a discreet distance away but was ready to act when needed. Obviously, it was a fair clip away, considering how long it took to arrive and help Valla, but there’s no arguing how useful it ended up being, so no complaints here (I doubt Valla would complain either).

Have you ever wanted to see a beefy villain wearing a glowing jellyfish dress? Well, if you haven’t then I don’t know what’s wrong with you. If you have been waiting for this glorious moment, then I have great news for you, it finally happened!

But in all seriousness, the fight isn’t over, and Valla is more aware of that than I would have guessed (I would have been pretty out of it, had I been in her shoes). She can’t very well fight an army in the weakened state she’s in, but the good news is there’s a tasty snack right here. How convenient!

If you’re wondering whether or not I feel bad about that guy getting drained dry, the answer is no. I mean, look at what he did to poor Toby! The guy was a human, and an unfit and non-threatening one at that. There was no need to treat him so, which means it was done solely for fun. So I say good riddance (and bonus: it helped strengthen Valla again).

Remember that army I mentioned? Well they’re not done attacking yet, and they don’t seem to care much about any casualties they take out alongside their attacks. Valla actually did a great job fighting back in the beginning…it was the holy water in the rain (must have blessed a cloud or something?) that was the real problem. Apparently it isn’t just vampires that are vulnerable to holy water, but also anything affected by their abilities, such as the jellyfish dress and Toby the head. That was a truly heartbreaking moment, if you ask me. I wasn’t expecting to see either of those events occur, and certainly not side by side like that. My poor heart.

Valla does make a couple of last ditch attempts during the final battle. One of them I’d like to comment on (the other one I’ll let you read for yourself). Valla attempted to influence all of her webcam followers; her goal was to get them to continue the fight she had started. She wanted them to save the earth. She doesn’t seem to think this trick worked (low battery and all that), but I saw plenty of faces reacting to what she said, so I’m actually thinking it worked better than she thought. Though I understand why she would feel defeated at that particular moment.

Normally I don’t talk about the author’s notes put in the back of issues, but this one is too funny to miss. The note is written as if Valla herself was the author, full of sass and threats. It’s delightful and worth the read. It certainly got a few chuckles out of me.

Dark Fang is officially taking a slight breather. Since I’m really curious to see what happens next I hope the break doesn’t last more than a few months, but I’m selfish like that. It was nice that a note was included at the end, letting us know about the break (I know I personally panic if I don’t see a series I like pop up in the listing for the following month).

I’m surprised by all the twists and turns that Dark Fang had taken. When I first started reading this series I thought it was going to be a vampire series where she was learning to adjust to the modern world (thus the webcam girl thing). Then they introduced the global warming spin, and I figured the whole story was going to be about her turning superhero for mother earth. But it twisted again, giving us another enemy for Valla to deal with. The end result is an incredibly and surprisingly complex story.

The cover for this issue is stunning as always. I don’t think the chosen image is as strong as some of the others, but the color palette is striking (and complements the bomb in the background, so bonus). The artwork inside is equally striking, though obviously some pages more than others. The magical shield Valla used was beautiful (and apparently pretty effective), and as much as I hate to say it – the distant images of the bomb were very pretty as well. Especially the out of orbit images. The final panel had the best still image, which is the perfect way to end things before a break.

Score: 4/5

Dark Fang #5
Image Comics