Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, vengence of vampirella, Writer's Commentary

Thomas E. Sniegoski's Writer's Commentary on Vengeance of Vampirella #2

Published Mon, 11 Nov 2019 08:00:00 -0600

Thomas E. Sniegoski's Writer's Commentary on Vengeance of Vampirella #2, on sale now from Dynamite.

With the release of Issue #1, we learned that the world has been totally overrun by Chaos; the forces of darkness, under the control of Mistress Nyx, have reduced humanity to near extinction levels. It looks as though the bad guys have actually won . . . but there's a problem, Nyx is getting bored. She misses the conflict of fighting a war against the forces of good . . . she misses her most hated/loved adversary, Vampirella—whom she killed twenty five long years ago.

Nyx is desperate to have a purpose again . . . to have a challenge. She wants Vampirella back in her life and has done something . . . drastic.

PAGES 1-2

At the close of Issue #1, we have Pendragon/Passion wielding a spell of resurrection that was obtained by a Danse Macabre agent (sacrificed, by the way, to make this spell work) directing its incredible power towards the accursed earth below. We see the spell strike, plunging into the Pit of Sorrows in an explosion of dust and bone. We then see a very savage Vampirella crawling up out of the earth.

I wanted Issue #2 to explore this from another angle. I wanted readers to see the spell striking, and then working on the skeletal remains of Vampirella. I wanted them to see what a painful process this is; to return from the dead. In the captions, I discuss the various beliefs of what happens when somebody dies, where do they go and all, as we see Vampirella's flesh growing on her bones. Michael really did an amazing job of making this look really disturbing and Omi's colors bring it even more vividly to life. A great two pages.

PAGES 3-6

These pages were fun to write. Here I wanted to show two (three counting the hellhound) of the Chaos world's monstrous denizens dealing with a newly resurrected Vampirella. Dur-Roc and Tikk come across as a couple of low life scum bags that just so happen to be demons. Really not much difference between them and a human low life scum bag. Their banter back and forth over how valuable whatever it was that fell from the sky was amusing to write. I wanted to build some classic tension here by having their hellhound, Blister, get all crazy and run off into the shadows in pursuit of something. They can't see what's happening with their hound, but it doesn't sound good. When the hellhound's dead body gets tossed from the darkness, the scene really picks up in intensity. The demon bros get all tough, and we see a female shape striding from the shadows toward them. This is a great panel, especially that last one where we first see Vampirella advancing.

The next page, she's there and completely savage. She's practically an animal at this point, leaping and ripping out Dur-Roc's throat as Tikk watches terrified. Sensing that the situation isn't good, Tikk tells his friend that he's going for help . . . and Vampirella stalks him into the shadows where we then hear his death screams.

I wanted this scene to be kinda scary . . . to show that everything isn't all sunshine and roses now that she's come back from the dead. She's back, but she isn't quite the Vampirella that we know. Michael and Omi again do an amazing job with the art and color. There's a real mood set up in these pages that I was hoping to convey.

PAGES 7-9

Here was our reintroduction to Nyx from last issue. Here I wanted to show her cockiness, but also show that she has a higher authority to report to—the Chaos Lords. We also meet her demonic assistant, Desmond.

I wanted the Chaos Lords to be scary . . . faceless abominations without a true form. I have Nyx communicating with her fathers using a kind of gateway made out of corpses, and random body parts. Michael did a really cool job of depicting what I was looking for here. The Chaos Lords are a bit annoyed by their daughter's tardiness. (She's been looking into reports of something of great magical power falling from the sky and is secretly all excited that it has something to do with the return of Vampirella—which she orchestrated!) The Chaos Lords are not particularly happy that a human rebellion is still a thing. They want humanity exterminated and plan to make earth their throne world; the jewel in the crown of their monstrous empire. They want to be sure that Nyx is taking this all seriously, and is working towards humanity's total extinction. Nyx yeses them to death, and they leave, warning her that if she doesn't take care of the problem that they might need to get involved. Perhaps a little foreshadowing to future Vengeance of Vampirella stories? Could be!

At the end of the scene, we see that Nyx is still totally obsessed with a plan that she's set in motion, and how things are coming together.

PAGES 10-12

Here we are reintroducing the new and improved and badass Pendragon. Joined with the ectoplasmic tulpa, Passion, Pendragon has come down to earth from the Passion craft hovering just above the earth's atmosphere to see if the resurrection spell has worked.

We get a better idea in these pages of how Pendragon and Passion have merged into one being. We also see how dangerous this merger has made him (them). I especially love the scene where Pendragon/Passion skewers the rat-demons just as they are about to attack. It looks awesome . . . thanks, Michael!

Pendragon/Passion then discover the corpses of the two demon bros and are coming to the realization that the resurrection spell has indeed worked. Finding the bloody Vampirella bat symbol scrawled on a brick wall, with other demon corpses ravaged beneath it gives Pendragon/Passion pause. They're worried now that she might bring unwanted attention to herself, and that they need to find her at once.

PAGES 13-15

In this scene, I wanted to show how terrifying and dangerous it is to live in this world. Using the Grandmother and Granddaughter characters—as well as the two other survivors—from Issue #1, I wanted to show how just the simple act of finding shelter could result in a horrible death. In the scene the Grandmother has cut herself while making a dash towards a safe hiding place. They know what this means . . . they know that the blood will attract predators. One by one, the survivors are picked off; snatched up and into the sky. The Grandmother begs her Granddaughter to leave her . . . to save herself. The Grandmother also reminds her to remember the stories.

The predators currently gobbling up anything that they can get their maws on are a kind of sky shark, winged beasts that swim through the air in search of prey. Michael did a nice job with their design, as well as making this scene real tense. The colors pop as well.

The scene ends with the frantic little girl, obeying her Grandmother's wishes and running for cover, all the while repeating her Grandmother's last message to her to remember the stories. Not paying attention to where she is going, the little girl runs into something . . . someone likely as dangerous as the sky sharks.

Vampirella.

PAGES 16-18

The little girl looks up into the face of the resurrected Vampirella. The way Michael drew her here, she comes across as quite frightening—which is what I was going for. This is a Vampirella who really doesn't remember who she is—what she is! Through the captions, I convey through Vampirella's point of view her frustrations and disgust with the world she finds herself reborn in. She doesn't remember if she is just a monstrous part of it all, or something more . . . something special.

When the little girl begs her to help her Grandmother, something kicks in, a part of her is awakened. What follows is some cool action shots of a very savage Vampirella attacking and doing some serious damage to the sky sharks. Also, in this section we see that Vampirella is wearing the leather jacket and boots of Dur-Roc whom she killed along with Tikk earlier in the issue.

Vampirella causes a feeding frenzy amongst the sky sharks by savagely gutting one, which causes them all to feed on each other. The little girl is helping her Grandmother get to cover, telling the old woman that she knows who the woman is . . . that it's her, the one from the stories her Grandmother tells her.

The end of that scene has a still very confused Vampirella being confronted by what she perceives to be a new threat—Pendragon/Passion. He attempts to calm her, to reassure her that he means her no harm, but Vampirella isn't buying it.

PAGES 19-22

The first panel of this page has a ferocious Vampirella charging the figure that she does not recognize. I wanted to leave their reunion on a bit of a cliff hanger!

The final scenes of the issue involve Nyx. A powerful feeling has brought her down onto the monster-filled streets of the ravaged city. She senses that Vampirella has returned, that Vampirella is alive again. Her feelings of euphoria are interrupted by some cocky street demons who believe that they've found a victim to play with before eventually doing away with her. Nyx is not in the least bit amused, dismembering the demons so quickly that we don't even see her actions—but we see her blood-covered hands as she continues to be drawn to something on the streets, something that practically calls to her.

We end the issue with Nyx falling down on her knees, nearly brought to tears by the sight of the Vampirella bat symbol scrawled in blood upon a wall.

Nyx is overwhelmed with emotion. She's sure now. Vampirella has returned to her.

And if you can believe it, things get even more mental in Issue #3!