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Well, well, well. Here we are at the halfway point of the sequel to a series that I don’t know if anyone asked for, but we’re getting anyway. And hey, the first DC vs Vampires underwent a drastic shift after its 6th issue, so can we expect something similar in World War V?
So last time, our heroes, i.e., the humans and their allies, rescued Wally West from the vampires but failed to retrieve the Miracle Baby on behalf of Constantine, who was asking them to do that on behalf of Metro—I mean, a mysterious stranger—while stuck in a Looney Tunes dust cloud with Barda as Scott slipped away with his kid.
As for the vampires, Aquavampire gets uppity and drowns Scott and the kid (seemingly fatally), where we actually answer something from the previous series — the fate of Black Manta II, i.e., Mera, who has seemingly been turned. Now, neither of these things has been outright confirmed, so I assume a twist is in the works, but this series has constantly underwhelmed in that department.
So, we finally get to see the world war between the heroes and the vampires go from cold to very hot, though not before vampire Grodd tosses Granny Goodn—I mean, the mysterious ambassador aside.
Ok, now that I have taken several paragraphs to set things up that are happening in the comic, it’s time to delve into the issues I have with it and, by extension, the series and franchise as a whole. Firstly, the art, which I have mostly not talked much about since the first issue because I would just be repeating myself. Otto Schmidt was able to create a tense atmosphere in the first six issues of the first series, but ever since the vampires moved out into the open and the story shifted its focus toward more fight scenes, his art just has not been able to keep up. If the intention was to show how chaotic a fight is by displaying a series of blurs and explosions, it fails because most of the characters are non-descript people and vampires depicted by blobs and shadows.
Good luck telling whose fighting whom in this page
Secondly, the heroes, led by Ollie, are so willing to fight the vampires despite being horribly outnumbered that it seems as if they have a death wish. Yes, they want to avenge what happened to Wally and realize there is no point in trying to keep peace with the vampires, as they have constantly undermined any pact they have made. However, instead of utilizing any of their remaining superheroes in clever ways or using guerilla tactics, the heroes’ plan… is to charge the vampires directly despite being hopelessly outnumbered.
Thirdly, the vampires are invincible blobs that are able to withstand any damage done to them, which means they will only stay dead when the writer wants them to. Black Adam has been blasted by sunlight twice and lived, Raven has had her skull cracked open and also survived being blasted by sunlight, and the mere existence of Power Girl seems impossible, considering she’s a vampire dependent on sunlight. Oh, and in this issue, Martian Manhunter shows up again despite having been blown apart by Supergirl’s heat vision in the last series. So, why should I bat an eye at Darkseid popping Aquavampire like a grape?
Aquavampire sure has a lot of blood inside him
Finally, oh yeah, in case it wasn’t obvious, Darkseid shows up looking for the baby. Now, I’m not sure how far back World War V was planned with respect to DC All-In, but Darkseid showing up here is a direct contradiction to everything going on over there. Also, Darkseid essentially saves the heroes as he attacks with his Parademons, leading to both sides retreating. And, of course, we start to get the classic alternate universe trope of people not being familiar with something they should obviously be familiar with. Because Mister Miracle and Big Barda exist and everybody knew they existed. Yet somehow, everybody is shocked by the existence of Boom Tubes and Darkseid so that we can treat them like a brand new threat.
Score: 5/10
From one family man to another. Unlike Black Lightning, who went looking throughout the world to find his family, Animal Man has to keep his vampirized family from getting out into the world. There are really only two things worth noting here — one, the art makes Buddy’s son Cliff appear like a grown adult at one point…
…and two, I’m dying to see how this leads to Buddy’s final fate, as shown in All Out War.
I wonder when he changes into his old costume
Score: 6/10
Recommended If
You’re invested in this story
You like invincible vampires that can only be defeated by the writer
You’ve sunk too much time into this series to give up now
Overall
DC vs Vampires: World War V #6 is a turning point in the series, just like its predecessor. And just like its predecessor, while things will seemingly shake the status quo of this world, there is little to no indication that the changes made will lead to an improvement in the overall story. Darkseid shows up as the next big thing to hype this series up, which just goes to show how overexposed the villain has become. With seemingly unending threats on the horizon, this series risks falling into a misery fest that isn’t worth caring about.
Score: 5.5/10
Disclaimer: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of review.
“}]] Well, well, well. Here we are at the halfway point of the sequel to a series that I don’t know if anyone asked for,… Read More