The misguided direction of the first Vampi book, Switchblade Kiss, continues in the second, Tainted Love.

Although Vampi finally shows a bit more of the vampire side of her nature that made her forebear, Vampirella, so enduringly popular, this manga revamp of the character continues to focus more on guns and blades when fighting her foes instead of her own supernatural powers. It's almost like the vampire bit is more of an after thought than a central pillar of Vampi's personality.

But she's still fighting to win a cure for her condition as well as, in flashbacks, battling a mutant band of Dead Presidents in an attempt to save her friends' lives. In this collection, we have the added bonus of tormented children -- tortured, abused, cut into pieces and experimented upon -- to add an unsavory flavor to the plot. Otherwise, the focus is almost solely on blood and Vampi's barely legal butt in its red-leather thong.

The art ain't bad, really, but one might wish more energy had been spent on the creative use of Vampirella rather than a fruitless attempt to market a lesser version of the character in her stead. Vampi proved to have a short shelf-life, and it was, unfortunately, a fate she deserved.

by Tom Knapp
Rambles.NET
26 May 2007