Born in 1930, James Warren is a name known to every horror fan who grew up in the 1950s to 1980s. He was the driving force behind the Warren Publishing Company; the man who thumbed his nose at the censorial limitations imposed by the Comics Code Authority to publish the entertainment magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, the horror-comic anthology series Creepy and Eerie, the war-critique comic series Blazing Combat, the time-traveling adventures of The Rook, and—best known of all—the risqué adventures of Vampirella, the scantily clad outer-space vampiress that he cocreated with Famous Monsters editor Forrest J Ackerman (with the help of design artists Frank Frazetta and Trina Robbins).
And today’s the day when James Warren celebrates his 95th birthday!
I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting the man, but I did reach out to him in 2001, when I was about to launch a rebooted Lorelei comic book series (sadly, it lasted only two issues due to low sales). I mailed a copy of Lorelei, Volume 2 #1—which contained the prologue and first chapter of what would become the graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City—to his home (I don’t remember how I found the address), along with a cover letter expressing my admiration for his work and my thanks for being such an inspiration. And boy, was I surprised when he wrote back!
“You sure do pay Warren Publishing a nice tribute. I wish you good luck and good acceptance. I like the graphics, and the story is exciting!”
I couldn’t have asked for a better reception than that! And when Lorelei: Sects and the City was eventually published in 2012, it seemed I’d learned all the right lessons from those comics he published, because reviewers were united in agreeing that Lori’s succubus-vs.-Lovecraftian-cult adventure perfectly captured the Warren Publishing vibe!
So, how can you celebrate this special day? Well, around here, we recommend there’s no better way than by purchasing a copy of our popular and well-reviewed nonfiction comics history that’s all about James Warren’s most famous comic creation:
From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures, by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), is the critically acclaimed nonfiction history of Vampirella that takes an extensive look at her early days, from the debut of her series in 1969 to the death of Warren Publishing in 1983. In it you’ll find an in-depth examination of the life and death of Warren Publishing; a guide to all of Vampirella’s Warren stories; a checklist of all her Warren appearances (plus the publications from Harris Comics and Dynamite Entertainment that reprinted her Warren adventures); an overview of the six novelizations by pulp sci-fi author Ron Goulart that were published in the 1970s by Warner Books; and the behind-the-scenes story of Warren Publishing’s demise, explaining how Vampirella survived the death of her original comic house. There’s also a foreword by Official Vampirella Historian Sean Fernald, a frontispiece by Warren artist Bob Larkin, and photographs from the personal archives of Forrest J Ackerman.
In addition to all that, I tell the tale of the unproduced film adaptation of the 1970s planned by legendary horror studio Hammer Films that was to star Barbara Leigh as Vampi and Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin of Star Wars) as her constant companion, the stage magician Pendragon. How the production came to be and how it ultimately fell apart is a complicated, somewhat convoluted story, but I did my best to put the events surrounding it into a chronological, logical order—for the first time ever! This overview includes a peek at Mr. Cushing’s personal copy of the ’70s Vampirella screenplay.
I also take a look at the awful 1996 direct-to-cable-TV movie that was made for the Showtime network, produced by Roger Corman, directed by Jim Wynorski (Dinocroc vs. SuperGator), scripted by Gary Gerani (Pumpkinhead), and starring Talisa Soto (Mortal Kombat) as Vampi and The Who’s front man, rock god Roger Daltrey as…Dracula! It’s a film so bad and so low budget, with such a godawful Vampirella costume, that even Wynorski hates being reminded of his involvement with it!
From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures is available in print and digital formats. Visit its product page for ordering information.
Happy birthday, Mr. Warren, and thanks for all the inspiration!
