DC vs. Vampires: Killers #1 Review

 

It Sucks!

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg

Artist: Mike Bowden

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: June 28, 2022

I was into the DC vs. Vampires book until it went away for months, only giving readers these one-shots instead of actual issues of the max-series.  Seriously, why is DC trying to milk this series?  I guess I know the answer, but if you have been paying attention, this book isn't selling as well as DCeased did, though I think DC might be pretending it is.  So, instead of the beginning of the second half of the series, we get another one-shot, this one featuring Harley Quinn as she tries to run the Gotham Underworld while avoiding the bite of the Vamp  Nation.

The problem with this one-shot is that it doesn't have much to say.  There isn't much setup, not much as far as character work, and while there is a colossal thing involved that should affect the overall series, it's hard to say when, where, and how that will happen.

Harley (kind of) gets the reader up to speed with a couple of sentences, and away we go.  She is running a part of the human Gotham Underworld, which has led her to butt heads with Mad Hatter, who seems to be a bit more of a hero than Harley here.  It's hard to care about it, though, since we don't know exactly what's going on, and also, the Mad Hatter has never been a likable guy.  But, of course, it also doesn't matter much because Harley kills him!

The only thing that matters in the issue happens next as Jim Gordon shows up looking for Mad Hatter.  It seems that they have Lex's blood (which I assumed had blown up when Wayne Mansion went kablooey) and were working on a cure.  With Hatter dead, it's up to Harley to take it and save humanity herself.  Humanity is screwed!

The rest of the issue has a bunch of spoilers that I don't want to ruin here, but it also has an overlong fight scene, a bunch of deaths, and another "The End...?" On the last page.  Umm... with six more issues in the series, I don't think so.  

Besides Lex's blood showing up out of nowhere here, this issue can be skipped entirely.  The art is decent, but why put out these one-shots instead of just giving us the regular series?  I mean, some of the time devoted to these could go into a regular series issue, right?!?

Bits and Pieces:

DC vs. Vampires: Killers #1 can be skipped entirely, which is a shame since we haven't gotten a new issue of the main series in months.  I am still looking forward to continuing the series, but I will admit that my enthusiasm is waning, partly from the delays and partly from these lackluster tie-ins.

5.5/10