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Hunter – Lover – Killer: Vanya 02

The Story So Far

Two hundred plus years in the future, mankind has expanded across space and time. Leading the humans’ expansion are the Astral Guard, elite warriors born out of surviving many months in the prehistoric past.

Standard, non-nude cover of Vanya issue 2. Vanya is sending atop a T-rex head. The T-rex is roaring and Vanya is holding stone knives in both hands. Behind her are trees and cliffs.
Vanya issue two, cover A.

Vanya Tepanov is eight months into her journey as a Time Guard to become an Astral Guard, spending her days surviving dinosaurs and other creatures from the far past. Vanya’s world is turned upside down after she encounters another Time Guard named Reed and her betrothed from her present, Serah.

Issue 02 Plot

Unbeknownst to Vanya, two months after she started her trials, the alien race of the Torridians commenced a surprise attack on humanity. In order to proceed with a counterattack, soldiers were trained and sent back to the past to fetch the Time Guards, with Serah sent to retrieve Vanya.

Despite the looming threat of the Torridians, Vanya and Serah intimately rekindle their romance, with Reed welcomed in. Sexual appetite satiated, the trio decide the best course of action is to proceed to an emergency armory that has a stockpile of weapons. Vanya and company are not the only ones with an interest in the armory as a tribe of savages have also set their eyes on the cache prize.   

Commentary

Neo-jungle girl Vanya’s adventures continue in the second issue of the planned twelve issue series with a dramatic increase in narrative stakes, the introduction of new characters and threats, a stronger sense of humor, and, of course, erotic content.

As with issue one, issue two of Vanya goes full speed at rapidly laying out the greater narrative context. The Torridians are introduced (but only their UFOs are shown), along with a tribe of barbarians led by the, pudgy, dino skull wearing Bone King, and more dinosaur encounters. In addition to the Bone King, one of his soldiers, Niya, is introduced. An attractive jungle-girl herself, it can probably be surmised she will become both a nemesis and a paramour of Vanya. With all of this going on the stakes in the Vanya universe must be dire, especially if the humans in the present are sending fresh meat into the past fetch the Time Guards who have not completed their own trainings quite yet.

The world of Vanya takes much inspiration from the works of Paul Verhoven regarding sex and violence: over the top and plentiful. Due to all three major characters having been without sex for many months, their pent-up lust for one another explodes across multiple pages, only interrupted with the arrival of a T-rex. In just a few panels the comic goes from erotic, to suspenseful, to humorous as the trio crack a pop culture joke about Jurassic Park being a documentary.

Two panels from issue two. The left panel shows the heads of Serah and Vanya. They each have 3 band-aids on their faces. Serah says "Don't move. They can't see movement." The right panel is a close up of Reed. He has two band-aids on his face. He replies with "I watched that Documentary once."
Jurassic Park reference.

Even more subtle in these rapid panels are blink-and-you’ll-miss-it details, such as the T-Rex’s head being peppered by lodged arrows, indicating the king of dinosaurs has encountered something humanoid (savages? Cavemen? Other Time Guards?) before. Other humorous moments include Reed making a Jaws reference of “We are going to need a bigger bow” after witnessing a giant anaconda constrict a barbarian and when Reed mentions that “they will be fine” in one panel, followed by a sudden downpour the next. It is great timing and does not impede the overall atmosphere of the comic.

A peppering of pop culture references aside, the second issue of Vanya begins to show even more genre homages. While issue one solidified Vanya as a jungle girl homage, issue two teases additional pulp elements. For example, the spaceships of the Torridians take inspiration from 50s and 60s era circular UFOs from sci-fi comics and movies, yet they act as formidable as the alien crafts in Independence Day. Another genre throwback is with the Bone King and his lair (which looks akin to a volcanic lair high in the mountains) which fully embrace the spear and fang genre.

As is custom with many adult Kickstarter endeavors, Vanya #02 comes with a plethora of alternate covers, in both non-nude and nude varieties. Two standout covers are the Renato Camilo/Boyfiy Miah and the Pow Podrix/Jasen Smith covers. The Camilo/Miah cover is particularly flirty as it is detailed and colorful, giving an “inviting’ sense. The Podrix/Smith cover scales back the colors and goes more ominous in mood. The exploding volcano, approaching T-rex, and Vanya drawing her bow convey strong adventurous, Turok vibes.

Nude version of the Renato Camilo/Boyfiy Miah cover. Vanya is laying on her stomach, propped up her elbows, looking over her shoulder. She had red dreadlocks. She has a knife and fur boots, but no under garments.
Nude version of the Renato Camilo+Boyfiy Miah cover.

In addition, the Vanya #02 crowdfunding campaign met many of its stretch goals, which aside from the additional pages of sexual content (no doubt the extended ménage à trois between Vanya, Serah, and Reed), entails a handful of ephemera and swag. 

A magnet depicting a close up of Vanya, with a red feather in her hair and the setting sun and ocean behind her. To the right is a white, circular coast. Vanya is in the middle with the blue feather in her hair. She is wearing a ripped pink top, pink shorts, and pink roller skates. Behind her is a circular emblem that kind of looks like an Aztec calendar.
Vanya Magnet and Coaster.

For utility items, there is a square magnet by an uncredited artist that shows a close up of Vanya with a setting sun behind her. Along with this there is a round coaster that depicts Vanya in pink rollerblade and blowing bubble gum, taken from an alternate issue two cover done by Gregbo Watson and Gwenaelle Daligault. 

Two trading cards. Both show the exact same image except one is nude and the other isn't. Vanya is in a swamp fighting a large blue snake with black stripes. There are trees standing on their roots sticking out of the splashing water behind her.
Vanya trading cards.

Next there are two trading cards (one nude, one note) that depict Vanya in a swamp fighting a large blue and black snake. There is no credited artist, but the cards evoke some epic thrash metal.

Four square stickers, all are headshots of different Bad Bug leading ladies. Vanya is in a profile, holding three spears and brown dreadknots. June has long purple hair with cyberpunk gridlines behind her. Maggie is missing an eye and she is blowing the smoke out of a revolver. Nell is wearing a fishnet top and has sailor moon buns. She is winking.
Bad Bug leading lady stickers.

Next there are four square stickers, also with an uncredited artist, each showing a headshot of a lady character from different Bad Bug Comics: Vanya, Nell (Death Nell), June (HyperGeist), and Maggie (Dead End Moon)

Hypergiest art print. The colors are all blue and purple. June sits on her knees atop a bed. She is wearing latex boots with garters and a black corset. She has 2 LEDs in her purple, beehive hair. On the bed beside her is an empty wine glass and wine bottle
HyperGeist art print.

And finally, there is an art print (uncredited) of June from HyperGeist, sitting on a bed with a wine glass and bottle at her side.

Vanya #02 is a great continuation of what was started in the first issue. Bigger scope and more threats are introduced yet the comic does not feel bogged down. The comic has a laid-back attitude regarding sex and violence, but in its primal setting, it works. The increase in humor in issue two was not expected but it is quite welcome. 


For more information on Vanya and the comic’s creative team, check out the links below:

Also, consider checking out the reviews I’ve done of other titles published by Bad Bug:

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Comics

She’s Got the Killer Instinct: Vanya Issue 01

The Story

In the far future of 2288 AD, mankind has mastered time, dimension, and space travel. Leading humanity’s front-line conquerors are the Astral Guard, fierce warriors who are battled hardened by spending a year surviving in the prehistoric past.

Cover A of Vanya 01 done by J. C. Fabul and Bryan Magnaye.

Vanya Tepanov is such a candidate for the Astral Guard, currently eight months into her year of living in four billion years in the past. Each day is a test of her skills, instinct, and luck, as she must deal with the likes of sabretooth tigers, Pteranodons, raptors, and even other Astral Guard trainees, dubbed Time Guards, that she is warned to stay away from. However, a chance encounter (and a night of passion) with a Time Guard named Reed jumpstarts Vanya’s newest escapade where the prehistoric past and the highly advanced future clash. 

Commentary

Vanya issue one is a crowdfunded comic book published by Bad Bug Media, the first in a planned twelve issue run. Kickstarted in August 2021 and shipped to backers in February 2022, Vanya is an ambitious, multi-genre adult comic. The Kickstarter campaign states that the series is for fans of Sheena: Queen of the Jungle, and that it is a “sci-fi twist on the jungle girl genre.” The first issue of Vanya is written by Mike Tener (who is also the editor in chief of Bad Bug), with art by J. C. Fabul (The Dragonfly) and Zoran Jovicic (Burlap), colours by Bryan Magnaye (MilitiaTwin Worlds), and lettering by Aaron Locust (Death NellHyperGeist). 

With its multi-genre approach, Vanya is ambitious and high concept. The future scenes hint at both a Blade Runner colonial setting (replicants at off world colonies vs. Astral Guards conquering new planets) and a Starship Troopers style of fascism (levels of citizen ship). The time traveling aspect of Vanya looks to take inspiration from Ray Bradbury’s story “A Sound of Thunder” in that going to the past is business-like, matter-of-factly, mixing hunting/safari-ing and surviving. Lastly, the jungle girl aspect is greatly emphasized, combining the menacing and awe-nature that dinosaurs evoked in Jurassic Park, the agility and nimbleness jungle girls like Sheena exhibit, and the eroticism of Budd Root’s Cavewoman, but fully embracing the pornographic elements that the genre normally only hints at. This is a lot to juggle, but Vanya anchors itself with its focus on the prehistoric/jungle girl aspect of the comic.

Personal copy of Vanya #1. Cover C done by Bruno Freitas and Gwenaelle Daligault.

Usually, the first issue of a new comic IP is unwieldy as it tries to accomplish too much (introduce characters, setting, plot, and so on) in too little space. Vanya is surprisingly quite concise in setting its game pieces: the one page pseudo-Star Wars opening text paints the big picture, while the comic proper does a succinct job at establish Vanya’s personality and goals (she wants to become an Astral Guard so her and her girl beau Serah can move to another world), establishes the risks, dangers, and day-to-day life in the prehistoric past (dodging tigers to fending off infections). As with the multiple genres, most comics would crumble under the weight of what Vanya is going for, but instead it pulls it all off effortless, at least in this debut issue.

Like the dinosaurs of the past, Vanya goes big, and its first issue is cleanly edited, drilled down to a concise story that could scatter in too many directions but does not. The action scenes are thrilling (taking down an entire Pteranodon and riding it into the ground), there is an air of intrigue that comes from unknown forces in the future, and the sex and nudity is integrated into the plot and not simply there to just be titillating. 


For more information on Vanya and the comic’s creative team, check out the links below:

Also, consider checking out other reviews I’ve done of titles published by Bad Bug: