Red Sonja & Vampirella Meet Betty & Veronica #10 : Hot Summer Drakulon

Who thought these vampires would be so sunny? In this issue of Red Sonja & Vampirella Meet Betty & Veronica, it’s all about the latter two. They get to meet Vampi’s home world and her enemies, and even fall on a pit with a human prisoner from 1974 (sounds familiar? yeah, seems like last issue is gonna connect in more than one way). Laura Sanapo, back with art duties, really makes you feel the overwhelming warm of Drakulon and the feverish mood of our characters, whose faces scream “I’m tired!” as vampires carry them around.

The main downside of this issue is the story building, with practically nothing happening till the last few panels. As stated, it’s basically vampiri carrying around Betty and Veronica from one place to another and making some gritty jokes and slight info dumping on Drakulon’s history. The cameos, the little reveal of Draculina’s plans and the last three pages with a bunch of returnings and surprises don’t save this issue of being like a hot day at Drakulon; in the sense that the art is solid, the atmosphere is achieved, but the plot doesn’t really get built or growth, and you find yourself wandering in the desert for most of it. The main cover art, a hippie rendition by Fay Dalton, calls to the time travel style of the last issue but not at all to this one’s tone.

With all that in mind, we still are promised an exciting return and unfolding of some story lines in the last pages that make us be waiting for Amy Chu’s next chapter. Since this run has been a solid one so far, I am eager to find myself wrong and that this issue gets more important and has more ramifications in the two ones left.