Vampirella Strikes (2022) is a comic book starring the vampire heroine Vampirella. Written by Thomas Sniegoski and drawn by Lucio Parillo, the book is a sequel to Vengeance of Vampirella (2019).
The series takes place in the city of Sepulcher. Having defeated Nyx in the previous series, Vampirella is now an agent of Danse Macabre in where humans now live with the knowledge of the existence of supernatural creatures, but don't necessarily tolerate them. And that is far from the only problem brewing in Sepulcher.
The first issue was released on May 11, 2022. The thirteenth and final issue was released on May 13, 2023.
Vampirella Strikes (2022) provides examples of:
- Abnormal Ammo: The Drujh's weapons fire living bug-like creatures that burrow into the body and consume the target from the inside.
- Attack Its Weak Point: After drinking Lazlo Ahabb's blood, Vampirella learns of the vulnerable points in the Blood Red Queen of Hearts' new body and uses this knowledge to her advantage during their fight in issue #9.
- Arc Villain:
- Issues #1 through #5 has the two mysterious beings who give the Drujh weapons to ordinary humans to sow chaos.
- Issues #6 through #9 has the newly formed Chaos Council resurrecting the Blood Red Queen of Hearts.
- Issues #10 through 13 has Ezromith the Savior who is harvesting the corpses and souls of humans and monsters she kills in preparation of an impending apocalypse.
- Arm Cannon: The Drujh weapons are guns which can be strapped to the arm but eventually fuse with the user and become part of them.
- Bad Boss: The Blood Red Queen of Hearts rewards the Chaos Council for bringing her back by ripping out their hearts with the intent of using them to bring forth her lover.
- Bizarre Alien Reproduction: The Drujh weapon Heller gave Bonnie, Barry and Vijaya are egg layers.
- Blaming the Victim: An old man does this to Dante after he is found murdered, citing the latter's job as a "juicebox" as the reason he was killed.
- Body Horror: Bonnie's body becomes a horrifying green, tumor-like mass of green skin and pinkish tentacles due to the Drujh weapon planting an egg inside her.
- Catch and Return: One of the Drujh weapon users shoots a bug bullet into Jeannine who is fused with Passion. Passion simply spits the bullet back at the shooter.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Two of the high-ranking members of the new Cult of Chaos qualify. Basil Turks is the heir to the Turks Pharmaceutical empire and Gwyneth Masterton is the head of Masterton Genetics.
- Dark Messiah: Ezromith the Savior is one of the seven devils who laid claim to Earth. Having come into existence with the knowledge that the Earth would be destroyed in a great war, Ezromith took it upon herself to save as many lives as possible by harvesting their physical bodies and storing their souls within her being. Jeannine even calls her a demonic Noah.
- Driven to Suicide: The guilt of her actions and the pain from trying to resist the Drujh weapon cause Vijaya kill herself by blowing off her head with her own weapon.
- Enemy Mine:
- In issue #5, Vampirella and Balthazar go to Hell to track down the Summoner, the Drujh responsible for creating the weapons. He takes them back from the humans using them and returns to Hell to complete his race's original campaign of conquest. He also lets Vampirella know that Hell isn't the only place he intends to rule.
- Vampirella forms an alliance of convenience with Lazlo Ahabb, a member of the Chaos Council, when the Queen of Hearts tries to take both their hearts to summon Chaos.
- Evil Weapon: The Drujh weapons assert more and more influence on their hosts as they fuse with them.
- Fantastic Racism: Humans and demons live side by side in Menagerie. However, this does not mean there is peaceful co-existence, especially since a lot of humans remember demons once oppressed and terrorized humanity.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: The Drujh were a race of demons with who sought total supremacy over hell, but lacked the power to make this ambition a reality. Every attempt they made to subjugate other demons was met with one swift and humiliating defeat after another, and they were largely seen as jokes by the other denizens of Hell. That is, until they got their hands on some very powerful weapons that made them seem a lot more dangerous and made the idea of them ruling hell seem much more plausible. The other demon races, who otherwise didn't usually get along, had to put aside their differences to defeat the Drujh together.
- Giant Spider: Vampirella and Dante first met when she saved him from a spider monster that wanted to eat him.
- It's Personal: Vampirella takes a personal interest in the murders going on in Menagerie when her boyfriend Dante becomes one of the victims. Vampirella does feel a bit guilty that it took someone she cared about being killed for her to take notice of people being killed.
- Last of Their Kind: Issue #5 introduces the Summoner, the last surviving Drujh and the creator of the weapons they used in their war of conquest.
- Mix-and-Match Critters/Mix-and-Match Man:
- Issue #10 has Vampirella fighting a green-skinned, baby-like creature that is stealing body parts from the city morgue to build itself a new body for protection for creature behind the Menagerie murders. Speaking of which...
- While examining Dante's body, the coroners discover samplings from just about every monstrous creature in Sepulcher, despite there being no evidence he was killed by more than one person. This creature is the demon goddess Ezromith who is "harvesting" the body parts and souls of the monsters she kills.
- Rank Up: Dervish is now the leader of the Danse Macabre after the death of Sebastian in the previous series.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Blood Red Queen of Hearts has been sealed inside a playing card for years. At the end of issue #7, the Cult of Chaos frees her by inserting the card into a cyborg body for her.
- Seen It All: Vampirella has been around for a long time and has "seen some shit". However, even she is shaken when she sees the aftermath of a massacre of a demon gang, with holes the size of baseballs in the corpses.
- Sleeps in the Nude: The first issue shows Vampirella sleeping in the nude before being woken up.
- Spotting the Thread: The Danse Macabre disguises Vampirella as Cordelia Wynne so she can infiltrate the Chaos Council and figure out their intended goal. One of the council members notices something is off when "Cordelia" doesn't eat human flesh like the rest of them.
- Tough Spikes and Studs: The werewolf Dagwood wears a leather vest with spikes on the shoulders. He's shown to be very aggressive and confrontational in his first encounter with Vampirella and proves tough enough to survive being gutted by Ezrimoth's henchman Victor.
- The Unmasqued World: The series takes place in a world where existence of the supernatural is now known.
- Voluntary Vampire Victim: Issue #10 introduces Dante, Vampirella's new love interest, who works as a "juicebox" for hire, allowing himself to be bitten and drained by vampires in exchange for money.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Both Marco and Dagwood castigate Vampirella for only taking an interest in the Menagerie murders when her boyfriend Dante becomes one of the victims. This prompts Vampirella to quit the Danse Macabre and move into Menagerie to be closer to the monster community.
- Weather-Control Machine: Using a combination of science and technology, the Chaos Council created a machine to generate a snowstorm and prevent anyone who opposed them from approaching their base. When it's destroyed, the Danse Macabre head to Romania in order to provide Vampirella with much needed back up.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Dante is introduced in issue #10 as Vampirella's new love interest whom she saved from a spider creature. He is murdered in that very same issue on his way to a date with her.
