The Good
Li'l Vampi moves to Stoker, Maine and it's pretty boring. However, craziness and danger always follow her in this kid-friendly Vampirella book.
First and foremost, I was excited for this book for one reason: the art of Agnes Garbowska. She's been a part of the Mystery Art Challenge, here at Comic Vine, and her art is both adorable and awesome. It really shines here. Her character designs are so dang cute, but what really makes her art stand out is her color work. It's soft, has smooth transitions, and it is unlike any other color work currently in comics. The art is always clear and crisp and nothing is ever muddled or hard to read. This is a book I picked up just for the art, and I'm truly glad I did.
Writers Eric Trautmann (Li'l Vampi story) and Brandon & Orion Jerwa (Pantha story) do a great job at taking this more adult character and bringing her to a whole new audience: kids. The first page set-up is fantastic. It gives the reader a bit of info about the character and sets up where she is right now. They continue to keep the book fun with a dash of silly, which is just what younger readers enjoy. As an adult, you can really appreciate and enjoy what these writers are doing here.
Need a break from the main story? Well, luckily, there are a couple of super-fun pages that break up the story with games to play like word search (I found "Flag Rations!"), spot the difference, and a couple of others. I LOVE seeing this in the issue. It's a bit of a laugh for the older folks and something to keep younger readers coming back for more.
The Bad
At the bottom of every page sits three panels, which is a completely separate story from the one above. I hated this format, and it was a tad confusing the in beginning of the issue. I wasn't too sure what was going on, and why the bottom section had nothing to do with the story above.
The main story is just ok. It will play a bit well to a younger audience, but it never really grabbed me.
The Verdict
LI'L VAMPI is a ton of fun. Sure, there's some folks out there who don't like the "li'l-cizing" of their favorite characters, but those folks just don't know how to have a good time. Dynamite has something special here, and this is something I'd love to see as a mini-series or on-going, as long as Agnes Garbowski is attached. Pick this up for yourself of you kid, they'll have a ton of fun with it. Overall, I highly recommend this issue.
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