The corner has been turned and we are fast approaching the conclusion of the current story arc in which Vampirella, representing the Kabal, a secretive organization of supernatural beings who work tirelessly to keep those mystical creatures of the night under wraps, is on the hunt to capture and contain three conspirators cursed with immortality who are working to put upon an end to the human race and possibly to bring about an end to their immortality as well.  Within their conspiracy, they have successfully released a Rabies like virus upon an unknowing public that turns regular folks into raving mad homicidal maniacs.  Through Vampirella and her companions’ efforts, the spread of the virus has been minimal and two of the three conspirators have been bagged.  All that remains is one.  But this one has been around for a very long time (think Garden of Eden old).  This last conspirator is none other than Cain, the world’s first murderer. Since its beginnings some nine issues ago, New Vampirella creators Nancy A. Collins (writer) and Patrick Berkenkotter (artist) have created a strong look and feel for this lady of the night, putting her in a little bit less sleazy light and a far more heroic mode.  While at the same time providing class A entertainment for all who read it.  Sure, the red one piece is still there, but this dark haired lady is much more than a body and fangs.  In New Vampirella, Collins and Berkenkotter have made a lady of power and substance.  She is intelligent, caring, with a desire to do right, never unleashing the full ferocious fury of her powers.  This makes New Vampirella a softer hero who has grown in both stature and confidence since her humble start in Issue #1.

And she is going to need every last bit of that confidence and power if she is to bring the mighty Cain to capture.  This guy has been busy on the world for a long time and he has done it mostly incognito with very few knowing even of his existence.  That veil has been opened within this issue however.  And now, it is going to be a no holds barred battle with humanity being held in the balance.

For the most part, this issue serves as a natural progression from the previous three issues in which Vampirella, with the assistance of her hunky werewolf Kabal partner Tristan, have been dispatched around the world working to take down the threat.  This time however, they find themselves right to the good old U S of A in their search for this not so good farmer. And making matters worse, it all may just be too late as the virus (now called “Black Rabies”) has already been released on an unsuspecting public.

There is some real good action in this issue with intermittent periods of back story allowing the reader to transition from sequence to sequence with ease.  We even have a little romance in the mix here as well which is a nice touch given the sexual tension that has been building between Ms. V and Tristan.  But romance will have to wait as a breakout of Black Rabies must be vanquished, along with this last of conspirators.  It all ends up at Cain’s farm (appropriately called New Eden Organics) and a possible battle for all the marbles.  Old Cain might just have a trick or two up his sleeve too that could trump Vampirella.  We won’t find out here in this issue.  But Collins drops a nice teaser right on top of the reader at the end promising to make for a rather interesting Issue #11 I would say.

Overall, Collins’ pacing is good and Berkenkotter’s art continues to be strong really capturing a rough brutality tempered with equal parts of noble heroism.  I am still feeling however that the issue once again feels rushed, trying to fit a whole lot of backstory in with some heavy duty action.  This doesn’t necessarily hurt the issue, but it does flood the reader with a whole lot of information when the action within this arc has been the rock star of the story so far.  The ending is quite pleasing though, and I do believe that the ongoing back story will be significantly less as we have the potential for some very strong evenly matched fisticuffs ready to fly on the next issue.

Score: 3/5

Vampirella #10 Writer: Nancy A. Collins Artist: Patrick Berkenkotter Colorist: Dinei Ribeiro Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 3/11/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital