After a three-month-long hiatus, DC vs. Vampires returns this week with the seventh installment in the planned twelve-issue series. We did get a few tie-in one-shots, like DC vs. Vampires: Hunters, but the mainline book is back which means major story progress. But who am I kidding, this series is largely about the fights and finding out which superhero turned – DC vs. Vampires #7 has that and then some.
Spoilers ahead for DC vs. Vampires, but if you’re picking this up much of the first few pages will do short work of catching readers up. The first half of this series was basically about Batman and a select few heroes attempting to thwart the vampires. Problem was they didn’t know which superheroes were vampires usually until it was too late. That advantage basically won the vampires the war, but the heroes aren’t quitting just yet.
This issue picks up when things are most dire. The world’s skies are black, governments have fallen, and the non-vampire heroes are in hiding. This sets up a good second half since the stakes haven’t been higher. The characters that are still kicking are Adam Strange, Negative Man, Peacemaker, and a few villains. Much of this issue is following this group as they attempt to find a secret city.
This allows artist Otto Schmidt to go full-tilt with the action. Most of the heroes still left are B-listers which means a higher body count. Schmidt draws a great vampire Wonder Woman who gets featured, and each of the “good guys” listed above gets a kill or gets killed in an action-packed fashion. It’s fun to see this somewhat random pairing of characters fight vampires with almost no advantage at all.
Interesting selection of “good guys” left.
Credit: DC Comics
Story-wise, this issue brings focus to a new central character, which is an important element since Batman and a lot of the bat family are out of the picture. There’s also a singular weapon the good guys have that’s made more clear. These elements, along with some additional heroes yet to be turned into vampires, sets the stage for how the heroes win back the Earth. It’s seemingly an impossible task, and some of the heroes disagree, but it’s enough for the reader to dig into and root for.
Possibly the biggest negative of this issue is that we don’t get a check-in with Nightwing. He appeared in a one-shot, sure, but him being the central villain is missed here. As it reads, there are roaming factions of villains doing his work, but it’s unclear what their play is going forward. Maybe they think they already won, but that’s hard to believe.
DC vs. Vampires #7 is another great chapter in a series that’s more about seeing heroes die, become vampires, and interact in this alternate timeline. This issue has that in spades while building on how the heroes can turn the tide even after they seemingly lost everything.
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