Vampirella
| Vampirella | |
|---|---|
 Vampirella #1 (Sept. 1969). Cover art by Frank Frazetta. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Warren Publishing (1969-1983) Harris Publications (1991-2010) Dynamite Entertainment (2010-) |
| First appearance | Vampirella #1 (Sept. 1969) |
| Created by | Forrest J Ackerman Archie Goodwin Frank Frazetta Tom Sutton |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Vampirella |
| Notable aliases | Vampi |
| Abilities | Vampirism, Shapeshifting, Super strength |
Vampirella is a fictional character, a comic book vampire heroine created by Forrest J Ackerman for Warren Publishing's namesake black-and-white horror-comics magazine, and developed by Archie Goodwin with artists Frank Frazetta and Tom Sutton.
Vampirella first appeared as a horror-story hostess in Vampirella #1 (Sept. 1969), continuing in that capacity through issue #8 (Nov. 1970) when she was "revamped" as a leading character.
Publication history
Warren Publishing
Vampirella initially appeared in Warren Publishing's Vampirella #1 (Sept. 1969) and lasted until issue #112 (1983). The title was a sister magazine of Warren's horror-comics magazines Creepy and Eerie. Like those magazines' respective mascots, Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie, Vampirella hosted anthological horror stories. Unlike the other two hosts, Vampirella would also star in her own story, which would headline each issue. Vampirella was initially edited by Bill Parente. It would later be edited by Archie Goodwin (issues #7-12, 34-5), Billy Graham (#13-16), Bill DuBay (#21-50, 87-95, 101-102) and Louise Jones (#51-86).
The first artists for Vampirella were Frank Frazetta (the premiere cover) and Tom Sutton (interior art). Jose Gonzalez became the character's primary artist starting with issue #12. Other artists who would draw Vampirella during her magazine's original run included Gonzalo Mayo, Leopold Sanchez, Esteban Maroto, José Ortiz, Escolano, Rudy Nebres, Ramon Torrents, Pablo Marcos, Jim Janes, John Lakey, Val Lakey, and Louis Small, Jr..
Backup features appearing in Vampirella included "Tomb of the Gods", "Pantha" and "Fleur". Vampirella herself also appeared in a story with fellow Warren characters Pantha and the Rook in Eerie #94-95, and with most of the Warren characters in a company crossover special in Eerie #130. The final issue of the original Vampirella was cover-dated March 1983.
Harris Publications
Upon Warren's bankruptcy shortly afterward, Harris Publications acquired the company assets at auction in August 1983, although legal murkiness and a 1998 lawsuit by Warren publisher James Warren resulted in his reacquisition of the rights to sister publications Creepy and Eerie. Harris Comics published Vampirella stories in various series and miniseries from 1991 to 2007. Harris also published Vampirella #113, a one-issue continuation of the original series, containing solely reprinted stories, in 1988.
At the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors convention in January 2007, Scott Licina, editor-in-chief of Fangoria Comics, announced his company had acquired the character from Harris.[1] However, on April 30, 2007, Harris editor Bon Alimagno denied there had been such an arrangement in place and that Fangoria's claim was "not factual".[2] Harris subsequently launched the title Vampirella Quarterly.
Dynamite Entertainment
On March 17, 2010, Dynamite Entertainment announced it had acquired the rights to Vampirella from Harris Comics.[3]
Fictional character biography
Vampirella was originally presented as an inhabitant of the planet Draculon, a world where people lived on blood and where blood flowed in rivers. Draculon orbits two twin suns that were causing droughts across the planet, marking certain doom for Vampirella and her race. The race of which Vampirella was born, the Vampiri, were able to transform themselves into bats at will, sprout wings when required, and drink blood.
The story begins with the inhabitants of Draculon dying slowly due to the drying up of its blood. The last few lie dying when a spaceship from Earth crashes on the planet. Vampirella, sent to investigate, is attacked; retaliating, she discovers that the astronauts have blood in their veins. In order for her race to survive, she manages to pilot the ship back to Earth where her adventures begin. Vampirella becomes a "good" vampire, and devotes her energy to ridding our world of the homegrown "evil" kind.
Harris Comics revived Vampirella in the miniseries Morning In America, written by Kurt Busiek. Soon thereafter, Vampirella was established as being brainwashed by her sister and brother (in the story "Mystery Walk") and led to believe she was from the planet Drakulon. She learned that she was, in fact, the daughter of Lilith, whom popular medieval Jewish lore depicts as the first wife of Adam. Lilith would not submit before Adam and was cast out of Eden. She mated with demons in hell, giving birth to vampires who would kill the offspring of Adam and Eve on Earth. Later, she sought redemption from God and gave birth to Vampirella, whom she sent to Earth to kill all evil vampires. According to this account, Drakulon was a part of Hell where Lilith lived and ruled.
Characters
- Vampirella
- The heroine is considered a vampire, since she needs blood to survive and has many of the typical vampiric powers, including increased strength and reflexes, shapeshifting into a bat, and a mesmeric stare. She is not prone to the group's traditional weaknesses, such as daylight, holy water, garlic, or crosses. She cannot, most importantly, transform others into vampires. She does not attack people to drink their blood, except occasionally when she herself is attacked. She is almost always scantily clad in her signature red thong suit with a white collar and wearing shiny black knee-high boots.
- Conrad van Helsing
- A blind, psychic vampire hunter. [citation needed] He was pursuing Dracula and initially tried to destroy Vampirella, believing her to be kin to that vampire lord.
- Adam van Helsing
- Conrad's son, and the last of a long line of vampire hunters, he followed his father's steps and became a paranormal researcher. He is portrayed as more open-minded than his father. He believed Vampirella was not evil, and eventually they fell in love. Vampirella has often helped Adam in his research. Adam was killed in Vengeance of Vampirella #25 by Mistress Nyx.
- Tyler Westron
- A physician who rescued Vampirella after a plane crash. Due to the injuries she sustained, he had to amputate her wings and was able to create a substitute blood serum that keeps Vampirella's thirst under control.
- Pendragon / Mordecai the Great
- A former sorcerer, now a sideshow magician. Vampirella often traveled with him in the Warren stories.
- The Blood-Red Queen of Hearts
- Formerly the Whore of Babylon, her spirit became infused with a Queen of Hearts playing card. Whenever a woman touches the card, she magically becomes this topless serial killer. Originally the Queen wanted to marry the mad-god Chaos, and she needed a dowry of seven human hearts. Vampirella's heart was to have been the last, but the Queen's demon lost his eyes and tore the Queen's out in anger. The Queen later cut out Vampirella's eyes in revenge, but the former was killed by the same demon and the latter had her eyes restored by a space doctor. The Queen's "sister," actually another woman possessed by the card, had an incubus kill six women for their hearts and planned to have Vampirella become the bride of Chaos. She then killed the incubus and used his heart to summon Chaos. But his spilled blood drove Vampirella into a feeding frenzy and she broke her bonds. She drank much of the Queen's blood, and then threw her into the mad-god's giant hand. He then took the latest Queen to his hellish dimension. The Queen later possessed Vampirella and her friends in the Queen's Gambit story arc.
- Madek and Magdalene
- Evil brother and sister of Vampirella, who planted false memories of the planet Drakulon in Vampirella's mind. Vampirella also has a blonde twin sister, Draculina, who appeared only once, in Vampirella #2.
- Nuberus
- The demon who tempted Vampirella with her true origin in order to gain access to Earth.
- Von Kreist
- A former Prussian World War I officer, now a lich, who won his state of immortality in a card game with Satan, but at the price of steadily decaying alive. A cruel and sadistic mastermind, with a special victim preference in children.[4]
- Mistress Nyx
- The daughter of a liaison between the Mad God Chaos and Lucrezia Borgia, as originally recorded in Vampirella #16. A demonic persona, who is bent on destroying Vampirella.
- Dixie Fattoni
- One of two daughters of a Mafioso boss whom she was forced to kill by von Kreist; her twin sister Trixie was turned into a vampire by von Kreist's minions. Vampirella took the orphaned girl under her wing and trained her in combating vampires.
- Pantha
- Initially, alien shapeshifter from Vampirella's native planet who can morph into a black panther. She is generally portrayed as more violent and feral than Vampirella. Later stories rewrote her origin to that of an ancient Egyptian cursed by the gods because of a murderous spree. She is cursed to live forever, with periods where she does not know who or what she is.
- Lilith
- Vampirella's mother. Based on the Lilith from an alternate version of the events of Genesis, she was the first wife of Adam, and the mother of demons. She sent her daughter to Earth to atone for her mistakes. Vampirella Revelations #0-3 (see Bibliography) revealed a more sinister side to her.
Circulation figures
From annual required Statement of Circulation. "Copies printed" refers to total print run. "Total paid circulation" refers to number of copies actually sold, which is the above number minus returns, lost/damaged copies, and free/promotional copies.[5]
Vampirella (Warren)
| Statement date / published in | Average, copies printed | Average, total paid circulation | Percent of run returned / sell-through at retail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 1, 1974 / #42 (May 1974) | 170,850 | 95,735 | 22.2% / 56.0% |
| Oct. 1, 1975 / #49 (March 1975) | 175,150 | 97,530 | 20.0% / 55.7% |
| Oct. 1, 1976 / #58 (March 1976) | 162,740 | 90,725 | 20.0% / 55.7% |
| Nov. 30, 1977 / #67 (March 1977) | 165,400 | 92,125 | 20.0% / 55.7% |
| Sept. 30, 1978 / #76 (March 1978) | 166,395 | 92,550 | 20.0% / 55.6% |
| Sept. 30, 1979 / #85 (March 1979) | 161,745 | 90,050 | 20.0% / 55.7% |
| Sept. 30, 1980 / #94 (March 1980) | 137,345 | 76,468 | 20.0% / 55.7% |
| Sept. 28, 1981 / #104 (April 1981) | 129,311 | 71,923 | 20.0% / 55.6% |
| Oct. 1, 1982 / #112 (March 1982) | 123,592 | 68,728 | 43.2% / 55.6% |
Collected editions
Warren magazine stories
- Vampirella vs. the Cult of Chaos trade paperback (reprints from #8-9, 11-16)
- Vampirella: Transcending Time & Space trade paperback (reprints from #17-23)
- Vampirella: A Scarlet Thirst trade paperback (reprints from #30-31, 36, 71-72, 92, 94-96, 110)
- Vampirella & the Blood-Red Queen of Hearts trade paperback (reprints from #49, 60- 62, 65-66, 101-102)
- Vampirella Classic #1-5
- Vampirella of Drakulon #1-5, Special Issue 0
- Vampirella Retro #1-3
- Vampirella: Silver Anniversary Collection #1-4
- Vampirella: Legendary Tales #1-2
- Vampirella: Crimson Chronicles Volumes #1-4 (trade paperbacks):
- Volume 1 (reprints from #1-10)
- Volume 2 (reprints from #11-18)
- Volume 3 (reprints from #19-28)
- Volume 4 (reprints from #29-41)
- Vampirella: Crimson Chronicles Maximum Volume 1 (2008) (reprints from #1-37) (448 Pages) (ISBN 0-910692-85-8)
Film
Vampirella is a 1996 direct to video movie adaptation of the comic starring Talisa Soto, Roger Daltrey, Richard Joseph Paul and Corinna Harney, directed by Jim Wynorski. A sequel was intended and announced in the ending credits, but it was not produced.
Live models
A variety of models have donned various versions of the trademark scanty outfit for magazine covers, posters, trading cards, and live appearances. The first model to wear the costume was Barbara Leigh on the cover of the original Warren Vampirella magazine, #67 (March 1978). Other officially licensed models have included:[6]
- Kitana Baker
- Lola Beth
- Kathy Bushman
- Cathy Christian
- Leslie Culton
- Maria Di Angelis[7]
- Diana Knight
- Sascha Knopf
- Masuimi Max
- Avery Misuraca
- Caroline Munro
- Arban Ornelas
- Patricia Rosario
- Heidi Saha
- Carolyn Renee Smith
- Talisa Soto
- Brinke Stevens
- Julie Strain
- Angelique Trouvere
- Cristiva Turner
- Alexxus Young
References
- ^ Newsarama.com (Jan. 11, 2007): "Updated: Fangoria Comics Acquires Vampirella", by Matt Brady
- ^ Newsarama.com (April 30, 2007): "Bon Alimagno on Vampirella Quarterly", by Chris Arrant
- ^ Dynamite Entertainment press release "Dynamite Entertainment Acquires Vampirella", March 17, 2010, via Comic Book Resources
- ^ von Kreist
- ^ VampirellaSales Figures, The Comics Chronicles, n.d.
- ^ Vampirella, Daughter of Drakulon: "Vampirella: The Models
- ^ Maria Di Angelis (official site)
External links
- Official Site
- Vampirella at IMDb
- Grand Comics Database
- Philadelphia City Paper, Jan. 6-12,2005: "Jim Warren Meets Vampirella"
- Arndt, Richard J. "The Warren Magazines: Interviews" (requires scrolling). February 3, 2010 update with nine interviews. Accessed 22 September 2010. WebCitation archive.
- Dean, Michael. "The Vampirella Wars: The Untold Story of James Warren's Custody Battle with Harris Comics" (excerpt), The Comics Journal #253, June 2003. Archive of original. WebCitation archive.
- Sascha Knopf
- Anderson, Martin. "To Hell With Spandex: Dead sexy — a look back at Vampirella and the occult superheroes/heroines of the naughty 1970s", Den of Geek, January 2, 2008
