Sword of Dracula / Vampirella
Issue #1 (January 2008)
Regular cover A - Tony Harris $3.99
Regular cover B - Michael DiPascale $3.99
Extended and Dangerous [Artist - Greg Scott; Writer - Jason Henderson]
Ronnie van Helsing is the last of the van Helsings, and still chasing international terrorist/ vampire lord Dracula. Ronnie and her crew assault a train carrying Dracula in an attempt to capture a vampire called Freddie who was in the employ of the Curator - a rival to Dracula. At high cost they escape with Freddie, but a week later the vampires stage a rescue attempt. A shadowy figure watching events is revealed to be Vampirella (though she is referred to as 'Ella all the way through the story.)
'Ella joins the fray and turns the tide saving Ronnie van Helsing and her team, but at a price. 'Ella wants Freddie for herself. 'Ella turns over Freddie to the Curator's vampires in exchange for a young girl hostage, but Ronnie has the final say and detonates an explosive device hidden in Freddie's collar.
This is the same story that was featured in the 2004 Vampirella Magazine, issues 8 and 9, but with the addition of a few extra pages at the beginning and the end of the story to place it in context of the Sword of Dracula story arc.
Published by Digital Webring, this is a classic comic book cross-over, though I have to say that 'Ella is handled quite well by the Digital Webring crew. It is irritating though that she doesn't get full credit/ called "Vampirella" other than on the cover.
It is also a nice change for a cross-over to avoid the usual cliche of "the two heroes fight each other over mistaken identities then realise their error and team up to take on the real bad guys".