An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures
An examination of the early years of the queen of the comic book bad girls, by the creator of Lorelei and author of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback!
She came from a dying world in search of adventure, love…and blood!
The year was 1969. Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. Over 300,000 music lovers flooded into a farm outside Woodstock, NY for the ultimate concert. The Beatles recorded their final album. And crashing to Earth aboard a damaged spacecraft was a refugee from Drakulon, whose inhabitants had drunk from rivers of blood―until they ultimately ran dry. A lone survivor of a dead planet who discovered that the sustenance she needed in order to live flowed not in rivers but in the veins of the humans of this strange new world.
A huntress named…Vampirella!
In From the Stars…a Vampiress, author Steven A. Roman (Lorelei: Sects and the City, X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy) examines the history of the queen of the bad girls whose reign has lasted through five decades of published comic books, novels, and magazines, in five heavily researched chapters:
The Vampire Who Fell to Earth: It’s the story of the life of Vampirella at Warren Publishing: her 1969 development by cocreators James Warren and Forrest J Ackerman, with the assistance of artists Frank Frazetta and Trina Robbins; the adventures she went on via the writing and artistic talents of such visionaries as Archie Goodwin, Bill DuBay, Jose Gonzalez, Enrich, Gonzalo Mayo, and many others; and the cancellation of her series in 1982 when the company collapsed. It also looks at the work of four Vampi writers who were just as talented but not as well known: Mike Butterworth, who wrote under the pseudonym Flaxman Loew; T. Casey Brennan; Rich Margopoulos; and Gerry Boudreau.
The Vampirella Episode Guide: The largest section of the book, it examines every story starring Vampirella during the Warren Era: over 100 entries, some with little known behind-the-scenes details. Plus stories behind some of Vampi’s unpublished adventures!
Vampi Goes to Hollywood: In 1975, Hammer Films announced the development of a Vampirella movie starring model/actress Barbara Leigh and the legendary Peter Cushing. The project crashed in spectacular fashion, but the details have always been murky. Roman attempts to clear up the confusion surrounding it, detailing the production from its launch to its unfortunate ending. And then he takes a critical look at the Vampirella movie that was made in 1996, starring Talisa Soto and rock god Roger Daltrey of the Who—and probably shouldn’t have been!
The Literary Vampiress: From 1975 to 1976, Warner Books published a series of Vampirella novelizations by science fiction and pulp author Ron Goulart. Roman takes a look at each novel, and explains why they’re worth tracking down…if you can find copies!
The Vampirella Warren Era Checklist: A list of every Warren Vampi story, plus every reprint volume from Harris Comics and Dynamite Entertainment, along with little-known trivia!
From the Stars also features: a foreword by Sean Fernald, the Official Vampirella Historian; a peek at Peter Cushing’s personal copy of the 1976 Vampirella screenplay; a frontispiece by legendary artist Bob Larkin, who painted covers for Warren’s Vampirella, The Rook, Eerie, and Famous Monsters of Filmland; and rare photos from the collection of Forrest J Ackerman.
This book is unofficial and unauthorized. It is not authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by Dynamite Entertainment or any of its licensees. Vampirella is a trademark of Dynamite Entertainment.
“This is without a doubt the essential, authoritative reference book for anything related to the Warren-era Vampirella… There are lots of books out there with good information—Empire of Monsters, The Art of Vampirella: The Warren Years, The Art of Jose Gonzalez, etc.—but none offers such a broad, all-encompassing look at the history of this character.”
—Vampirella of Drakulon
“It’s obvious that the author, Steven A. Roman, is a fan as the book is lovingly written…. If you have ever felt the need to geek out on Vampirella you have everything you need right here.”
—Ravenous Monster
“Author Steven A Roman clearly has a love for the subject and his writing is conversational in tone, with a bounce to it that makes it very readable…. This is an excellent volume for the Vampirella connoisseur and an education for folks like me, who didn’t know too much and who want to learn.”
—Taliesin Meets the Vampires
“I expected it would make me want to become a Vampirella fan; however, minus reading the original material, there’s everything I need here to already be one. If those original comics and magazines somehow fail to impress, the guides and checklists offered by Steven A. Roman do not.”
—Classic Horrors Club
“The book really is wonderful. You pay a fantastic tribute to my uncle, Bill DuBay, and to Vampirella.”
—Benjamin DuBay, curator of W.B. DuBay’s The Rook
“Not only a fantastic reference guide, but it is also a love letter to the fanged horror heroine. New fans and old will be interested in the bibliography especially. Libraries that specialize in comics should consider including this volume in their collection as well. Highly recommended.”
—Monster Librarian
