DC vs. Vampires #12 – James Tynion IV/Matthew Rosenberg, Writers; Otto Schmidt, Artist; Francesco Mortarino, Pierluigi Casolino, Colorists
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The DC Universe has been expanding a lot in recent months, with a whole lot of new alternative universes cropping up and making their way to the main DCU. One of them was this high-octane horror series which turned Dick Grayson into a mad vampire king and pitted the surviving humans against an army of superpowered thralls. The series dovetailed into a side story, All-Out War, which ended last week, and that’s gotten all the main characters into place. The core of this series was the quest to get Supergirl to a place where she can recharge and possibly take on the lead vampires. But while she was shepherded to her destiny, another hero took her own path—Barbara Gordon, who was determined to find the man she used to love and determine if there was anything left to save within him—and if not, finish him off personally and save humanity in the process.
Along the way, we’ve got some great moments, particularly a surprise role for Swamp Thing. I was hoping that Kara would play a more active role in this final issue, but she spends most of the issue unconscious. Really, it’s Barbara and Harley who take the starring role this issue, with Dick playing the seductive monster to Barbara as she’s tempted to say goodbye to her humanity. Harley desperately tries to pull her back, but Barbara seems to be lost—until a shocking last-act twist that turns the entire series on its head. The thing is… this is the final issue. It’s not clear if there’s a sequel planned, but DC hasn’t let us know. So ending this on a wild cliffhanger makes the entire thing feel a little bit empty and makes me wonder if this was all an elaborate setup for a crossover with the main universe. Its depiction of a world filled with intelligent monsters is compelling, but lacks the x-factor that made DCeased and other alternate universes so great.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
