Margo: Attack of the Space-Vampire is this week’s two-issued complementary story from creator Jim Whiting’s Whiting Studio‘s Margo: Intergalactic Trash Collector. Joining Whiting is Charles Santino as co-writer and colorist Chuck Michael Obach for Whiting’s art. The second story features Whiting as writer, letterer, and co-colorist while Marcelo Trom acts as artist, and Thyago Brandao serves as co-colorist. Despite this series’s pulpy nature, this two-pronged release has a theme concerning sexual assault and how familial love acts as a deterrent.
Margo: Intergalactic Trash Collector Prologue/Story Dynamic
Rather than diving right into the titular situation, readers instead get an introduction to the title character. In Applicant, Whiting and Charles Santino introduce new readers to a rather decent first impression. One that shows both Margo’s rocky relationship with her mother but still appreciates what it does for Margo. Especially when it comes to a plot point that has become increasingly relevant for its depiction of workplace sexual harassment, even if it does come with implications of needing to bring cameras everywhere to expose misappropriation and conversely elevate status, even Margo isn’t too fond of the result despite getting the job of the series and her mother’s insistence everything was okay.
Which brings us to Margo: Attack Of The Space Vampire from just Whiting. Margo’s relationship with her mother is as rocky as ever. Yet it’s Margo’s relationship with her late father that takes center stage. This manifests in two forms, an image that is either a recording or a memory, and Margo’s loyal dog Millie. In this way, when the titular vampire appears, it’s a father’s love that goes out of its way to protect his daughter from assaults. No steamy gothic fantasies about vampires are allowed in this story—only affection matters in this and the rest of the series.
Art
Art duties split up among the different takes of the narrative. Whiting does the art in Applicant, where the rough yet simplistically chaotic line work is applicable in different cases. The use of backgrounds really tells the mood of the setting. A very vibrant background is a piece in time to remember, like a mural of an emergency worker. Or a dangerous area that can happen in other places in the Margo series. Meanwhile, a lack of background is where things disappear and transition to a new moment in time. All of which heighten with Chuck Michael Obach’s coloring. For example, a bright and uplifting setting in yellows transition to a green one to reflect a change in less certain times. Or when things are about to become harder with orange and reds, which match the colorations of Margo herself.
Margo: Attack of the Space-Vampire features art from Marcelo Trom. The smoother artwork comes with more cinematic transitions that always seem to shift angles. This can allow for more storytelling, like when parallel points come up. Points like that highlight Whiting’s lettering where word balloons positions intersect from one scene until they come together. The wordmarks with stylizations like a heavy ship landing with a loud “klunk” serve as the lynchpin of those points. The coloring between Thyago Brandao and Whiting mostly highlights points of interest, including lights that guide the reader.
Feel The Love In Margo: Attack of the Space-Vampire
Margo: Attack of the Space-Vampire is a pretty good piece for new readers to get acquainted with. Not only does it introduce a character in a way people relate to at the time of its release, but it also has a good message about familial love. It’s something that manifests differently, like a pet that’s an extension of a late relative. All in an environment that’s constantly changing perspectives but still comes back to the point of origin.
