After an interlude focusing on how Vampire Diana and Green Lantern Alfred deal with living in this new world, we’re back to the main story where a three-way conflict between the vampires, the humans, and a newly introduced third party of Darkseid and his forces. The situation is poised to be extremely chaotic and, dare I say it, potentially exciting…not that this series has handled its potentially exciting plot points well. So how does this issue do?

Leave Your Brains at the Door (No, That’s Not a Zombie Reference)

In my opinion, the DC vs Vampires franchise has been at its best when it throws away any semblance of plot or characterization and instead becomes a shlocky B-movie complete with mindless action and gore. And with 17 out of 23 pages focusing on said action and gore, the issue flows really well and is actually kinda enjoyable. Between our heroes' thrilling attempt at escaping from the Parademon horde (someone on the creative team really likes Killer Moth because there’s no other reason he’s still alive) and one of the most brutal fights between Wonder Woman and Darkseid I have ever seen, there’s a lot to like about this issue…

…if you choose to turn off your brain or wipe it clean of all the potential missteps this series has made so far. Unfortunately, I like my brain, so I am forced to actually think about what’s going on in the story. Namely, the vampires are capable of turning New Gods (as seen in the case of Barda and Scott), but they can’t turn Parademons and even attempting to do so kills them… for some reason. Also, Vampire Aquaman getting squished like a grape last time has apparently killed him (they go out of their way to make this sound like a big deal), despite other vampires simply walking off similar injuries (remember when Barda crushed Vampire Raven’s head a few issues back). But I guess it's important for the plot for Vampire Aquaman to stay dead so he’s dead now for realsies.

Also, just in case the vampires weren’t enough, we also see a potential fourth party getting ready to throw their hat into the ring with all of the robots, cyborgs, and mechs of the DC Universe are getting ready to make their move, appropriately led by Cyborg (who we haven’t seen since DC vs Vampires #5). While the child-like part of my brain which remembers enjoying smashing my action figures together feels excited, I’m really not sure if this bodes well for the story.

Backup: The Hunger, Part Two

Animal Man drifts into the Red while dreaming, hoping to find a solution to the vampire infestation… only to be confronted with a horrible realization of what has happened to him and the world. The story manages to check off all the boxes a good horror story requires, including a somber twist and an ending that fills the reader with dread. I have to mention the exceptional lighting colorist Pierluigi Casolino does in the scenes set in the forest around the cabin.

However, I have to say something (this doesn’t affect my score for this part but it's still worth mentioning), which is the fact that these backups do not matter. Not only do any of these stories line up with each other, they also don’t line up with the main story. Remember the Black Lightning backup which I thought was really good and had some heartfelt moments. Yeah, Black Lightning is a vampire working for Queen Barbara, which we can see him do in this story (just scroll up in this review for verification). So, enjoy these for what they are and I will not be adding the backup’s score to the overall one as it might lead to the total score inflating more than it should.

Score: 8/10

Recommended If

• Parademons!!! Vampires!!! Darkseid!!! KILLER MOTH!!!
• Fighting!!! Car Chases!!! EXPLOSIONS!!!
• You somehow still care about the plot

Overall

DC vs Vampires: World War V #7 takes another step into B-movie territory and subsequently ups the entertainment value by a significant margin. However, the fact that the plot has become an afterthought, the characterization absurd, and the vampires continue to remain hair-tearingly inconsistent, means it's highly unlikely all of this will come together satisfactorily.

Score: 7/10

Disclaimer: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review