This coming weekend, fans of science fiction and fantasy will be gathering at the 42nd annual Shore Leave convention, being held at the Delta Hotels Baltimore Hunt Valley in Hunt Valley, Maryland. And among the guests you’ll find author Richard C. White, who will not only be participating in a number of genre-related panels, but also be selling copies of his published projects in the vendors room.
Rich is the bestselling author of the licensed novel Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil, as well as a bunch of titles published by us: the swashbuckling adventure novel Harbinger of Darkness; the story collection For a Few Gold Pieces More; the writers’ and RPG gamemasters’ aid Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination; the supernatural-superhero graphic novel Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings; the noir-fantasy story collection Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase; and the pirate-adventure digital comic The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special.
You’ll find Rich in the Dealers’ Room, where he’ll be selling copies of his books all weekend, so be sure to stop by and pick up any titles you might have missed. And if you can’t make it to Shore Leave, you can always purchase copies directly from the SWC webstore!
Shore Leave runs July 15–17. For more information on the show, visit the Shore Leave website.
If you’re a fan of comic books, or movies, or pulp fiction heroes, Bob Larkin is a painter whose work you recognize immediately; he’s provided covers and movie posters for just about every publishing house and film studio.
Doc Savage, Dazzler, Star Wars, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Babylon 5, Vampirella, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Tomb of Dracula, The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian, Piranha, Heaven’s Gate, Halloween, Night of the Creeps, and The Toxic Avenger II are just some of the painted images you’re already familiar with, even if you didn’t know they were Larkin’s work. He’s been an inspiration to artists like Joe Jusko and Alex Ross. If you’re a Panatic, then you know him as the cover artist of the Saga of Pandora Zwieback novels Blood Feud and Blood Reign.
And today is his birthday!
It’s not just his painting skills that are impressive—Bob’s also one hell of a pencil artist, as evidenced by his work in a couple of SWC projects.
The Bob Larkin Sketchbookis a collection of some of Bob’s incredible pencil drawings, and what you’ll discover when you see them is how wide-ranging his subjects are. Sci-fi, horror, Westerns, pulp adventure, crime fiction, movie merchandise, even wrestling stars—as we say on the book’s back cover, there really islittle that he hasn’t painted.
The sketchbook also features three pieces created especially for it: the Pandora Zwieback cover art; a portrait of Patricia Savage, the fightin’ cousin of pulp fiction’s top-tier adventurer, Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze; and a two-page spread in which Doc faces off against another Golden Age crimefighter—The Shadow!
And in From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures, by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), Bob provides a wonderful pencil-study frontispiece of the queen of comics’ bad girls. From the Stars is a 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 addition to telling the tale of Hammer’s unproduced film adaptation that was to star Barbara Leigh and Peter Cushing, I provide an in-depth guide to all her 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 a look at the awful 1996 direct-to-cable-TV movie that was made, starring Talisa Soto and Roger Daltrey. There’s also a peek at Mr. Cushing’s personal copy of the ’70s Vampirella screenplay; a foreword by Official Vampirella Historian Sean Fernald, and photographs from the personal archives of Forrest J Ackerman.
The Bob Larkin Sketchbook and From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures are available in print and digital formats. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information.
(Photograph by Steven A. Roman of Alewife Brewing’s UFO mural in Sunnyside, Queens)
World UFO Day: It’s undoubtedly UFOlogists Erich von Däniken and Giorgio Tsoukalos’s favorite holiday—and the History Channel’s, too, considering how often they run episodes of their documentary series Ancient Aliens! Could it also be the favorite holiday of William Shatner, host of HC’s series The Unexplained?
Well…that is what we’ll try and find out…
(Fun fact: The narrator of Ancient Aliens—as well as another HC series, The Curse of Oak Island—is actor Robert Clotworthy, whose credits include a supporting role in the 1996 Showtime adaptation Vampirella, a movie starring Talisa Soto and Roger Daltrey that I discuss at length in my nonfiction comics history, From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures—available from StarWarp Concepts. And since Vampirella is an alien from a distant planet, it’s the perfect book for you to read today!)
According to the site There Is a Day for That, World UFO Day was, er, launched in 2001 by UFO hunter and Mobile UFO Museum founder Haktan Akdogan and “is observed and celebrated on July 2nd every year to raise awareness about Unidentified Flying Objects UFOs) and alien life forms. The day aims to discuss and educate people about UFOs, flying saucers, and sightings of bright blue light in the sky that make headlines across the world.”
So, grab some popcorn and a favorite beverage, kick back and make a movie day of it—I recommend Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Independence Day (appropriate, considering it’s Fourth of July weekend), War of the Worlds (the 1953 version, not the Tom Cruise update—too many unlikeable characters in the latter), and The Day the Earth Stood Still (again, the original, not the Keanu Reeves remake). Or, if you’re in the mood to be terrified by off-world visitors, there’s always the alien-probe horrors of Fire in the Sky or the shape-shifting nightmare of John Carpenter’s The Thing (it came in a flying saucer, remember), which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
Horror and patriotism—they go together like chocolate and peanut butter! Don’t believe me? Then clearly you’re unfamiliar with that time in 1992 when Marvel Comics’ star-spangled superhero, Captain America, got turned into a werewolf. No, better than a werewolf—a Capwolf!
Yes, there was a time in the Star-Spangled Avenger’s history (1992, to be specific) when he became a shield-slinging, red-white-and-blue lycanthrope—after all, there’s no idea ridiculous enough that the comic industry isn’t willing to try it at least once. It happened during a mystical storyline in Captain America #402–408, written by Mark Gruenwald, that involved a whole bunch of supernatural characters from the Marvel rosters, including Man-Wolf and Werewolf by Night, and Cap getting injected with a werewolf serum. And of course he wound up fighting Marvel’s most popular character, the X-Man called Wolverine, which is almost a requirement at the House of Ideas—then and now.
Well, happy 4th of July, Capwolf—we’ll save you a steak at this year’s barbecue. You like it rare, don’t you?
(Cover art from Captain America #405 by Rik Levins and Danny Bulandi.)
And for further evidence of horror patriots, head over to the Pandora Zwieback blog and check out that little known midnight ride of Paul Revere…and Marvel’s supernatural motorcyclist, Ghost Rider!
So happy 245th birthday, America, and from all of us at ’Warp Central, have a fun—and safe—holiday weekend!
Staycation? Vacation? Whether you’re on the road or just hanging at home, today is the official start of the summer season (which ends September 23), and that means summer reading. And you know what would make for perfect reading this summer? The currently most popular titles from our awesome backlist!
From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures, by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!) is a nonfiction history that takes an extensive look at the queen of cpomic book bad girls, from the debut of her series in 1969 to the death of Warren Publishing in 1983. I provide an in-depth guide to all her Warren stories, a checklist of all her Warren appearances (plus the publications from Harris Comics and Dynamite Entertainment that reprinted her Warren adventures), and an overview of the six novelizations by pulp sci-fi author Ron Goulart that were published in the 1970s by Warner Books. Plus, there’s the story behind the rise and fall of Hammer Films’ proposed Vampi movie of the 1970s that was meant to star Playboy model Barbara Leigh and horror icon Peter Cushing—along with a peek at Peter Cushing’s personal copy of the ’70s Vampirella screenplay—and my look at the awful 1996 direct-to-cable-TV movie that was made, produced by b-movie icon Roger Corman and starring Talisa Soto (Mortal Kombat) as Vampirella and rock god Roger Daltrey, legendary lead singer of the Who, as Dracula. 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 Vampi’s cocreator (and creator/editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland), Forrest J Ackerman.
Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination is our popular how-to book for writers and role-playing gamers in which fantasy author Richard C. White (Harbinger of Darkness, Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase) takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion. A bonus feature is an interview with New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) that discusses his methods of world building, as well as his creative experiences during his time as a designer for gaming company TSR, the original home of Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, the book is so popular that it’s currently being used as a textbook in the Interactive Media & Game Development program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worchester, Massachusetts!
Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is the character-driven action-fest young adult novels by yours truly that introduces readers to the title character, a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets an immortal monster hunter named Annie that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. But matters become even more complicated when Pan, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes): the remains of a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover!
A Princess of Mars, one of our SWC Illustrated Classics, is the first in the “John Carter of Mars” series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, best known as the creator of the pulp-fiction jungle lord, Tarzan. Unlike Tarzan’s African adventures, Princess is the story of a post–Civil War era American who suddenly finds himself transported to the Red Planet, where he must constantly fight to stay alive against all sorts of alien threats—and where he falls in love with Dejah Thoris, the titular Martian princess. It served as the basis for Disney’s 2012 film adaptation, John Carter, and inspired works like Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon, George Lucas’s Star Wars, and James Cameron’s Avatar. Our edition features six incredible illustrations by SWC artist supreme Eliseu Gouveia (Carmilla, Lorelei: Sects and the City, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1), and a special introduction by Mars-fiction expert John Gosling, author of Waging the War of the Worlds.
For a Few Gold Pieces More collects Richard C. White’s fantasy short stories about a Rogue With No Name who travels a world of epic-fantasy adventure, looking for treasure—and revenge against the woman who sent him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit (but she did). Think Lord of the Rings meets the “spaghetti Westerns” of director Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). It’s “entertaining, old-school sword and sorcery, in the tradition of [Fritz Lieber’s] Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser,” according to author Jim C. Hines of the Magic ex Libris book series, and we couldn’t agree more!
And Carmilla is J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century classic vampiric tale of love gone wrong. Laura is so desperate for a friend that when a young woman named Carmilla practically turns up on the doorstep of the castle owned by Laura’s father, she thinks her prayers for companionship have been answered. But as she comes to realize, Carmilla isn’t as interested in making friends as she is in spilling blood. Regarded as the one of the earliest female vampire tales—if not the first—Carmilla was an influence on author Bram Stoker in the creation of the vampire brides in his seminal novel, Dracula, and remains a popular character in fiction to this day. Just like with A Princess of Mars, our edition contains six original illustrations done especially for StarWarp Concepts by the super-talented Eliseu Gouveia.
All these books are available in both print and digital formats. Visit their product pages for ordering information.
It’s Monday the 13th, which seems like the perfect time to pass along the recent announcement that writer Washington Irving’s classic tale of the Headless Horseman, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, is scheduled for an all-new screen adaptation courtesy of Paramount Pictures and writer/director Lindsey Beer (Pet Sematary).
If you’ve never read the chilling story of the headless soldier and his eternal search for a replacement, and want to find out what the interest is all about, then look no further than our SWC Horror Bites imprint, where The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is available as an e-book ready to be ordered! Here’s our back-cover copy to pique your interest:
Sleepy Hollow, New York, appears to be the perfect peaceful location for newly arrived schoolteacher Ichabod Crane, whose nerves always seem a little on edge. The people are nice enough—with the exception of the town bully, Bram Bones—the meals they serve are even better, and most appealing of all is the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, daughter of one of the town’s wealthiest families.
But lurking behind Sleepy Hollow’s peaceful setting is a terrifying secret: a murderer stalks the countryside—specifically, the ghost of a Hessian soldier whose head was blown off by a cannonball during the American Revolution. Ever since his grisly death, the dreaded Headless Horseman has been searching for a replacement…
…and Ichabod Crane’s noggin looks to be just the right size…
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has captivated readers ever since its first publication in 1820, in Irving’s collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. In the 200+ years since, it’s become the quintessential Halloween story, as well as the basis for countless movies, TV shows, comic books, and other pop-culture adaptations, among them Disney’s classic animated feature Ichabod and Mr. Toad (featuring the voice of Bing Crosby); director Tim Burton’s Hammer Films–esque live-action film that starred Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, and Christopher Walken; and most recently the TV show Sleepy Hollow, which starred Tom Mison as a resurrected Ichabod Crane pursuing the Horseman in modern-day New York State.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a digital exclusive available for download right now, so visit its product page for ordering information.
[Banner art: detail from “The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane” by John Quidor (1801–1881)]
With the unofficial start of summer having arrived last week with the celebration of Memorial Day here in the U.S., the time has arrived for summer reading—and for many people, summer reading means visiting your local library (either in-person or online) to find books that will assist in your enjoyment of these lazy, hazy days.
Well, librarians, it just so happens that OverDrive, the biggest distributor to libraries—both school and public—has our titles ready for order directly from their website! All you need to do to get started is visit the author pages for Steven A. Roman (that’s me!) and Richard C. White, where you’ll find all of the available ebooks.
Via OverDrive, the following titles can be ordered for your libraries:
Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 and Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2 are the critically acclaimed, character-driven action-fest young adult novels by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!) that introduce readers to the title character, a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets an immortal monster hunter named Annie that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. In Blood Feud and Blood Reign, Pan, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover!
“Far and away one of the best young adult supernatural fantasy novels. Pan is exactly the kind of teen heroine that readers should be standing up and cheering for.”—HorrorNews.net on Blood Feud
Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination is our popular how-to book for writers and gamers in which fantasy author Richard C. White takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion. Included is an interview with New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) that discusses his methods of world building, as well as his creative experiences during his time as a designer for gaming company TSR, the original home of Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, the book is so popular that it’s currently being used as a textbook in the Interactive Media & Game Development program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worchester, Massachusetts!
“A solid introduction to the subject of world building. The book succeeds in helping the aspiring writer in creating a skeletal framework on which to hang the moving parts required of a believable fictional setting.”—The Gaming Gang
For a Few Gold Pieces More collects Richard’s fantasy short stories about a Rogue With No Name who travels a world of epic-fantasy adventure, looking for treasure—and revenge against the woman who sent him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit (but she did). Think Lord of the Rings meets the “spaghetti Westerns” of director Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). It’s “entertaining, old-school sword and sorcery, in the tradition of [Fritz Lieber’s] Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser,” according to author Jim C. Hines of the Magic ex Libris book series, and we at SWC couldn’t agree more!
Harbinger of Darkness is Richard’s first fantasy novel for SWC. In it, a thief named Perrin steals an extremely valuable—and magical—gem from the evil king ruling her home country. With thugs and fellow thieves and the king’s assassins hot on her trail, Perrin finds just staying alive is becoming a full-time occupation, which directly conflict with her secret life—and identity—as a humble bookseller’s daughter. It’s sword-swinging adventure at its finest!
“A visceral adventure through a world of magic with well-developed characters, dynamic dialogue and a good dose of two-handed sword fights.”—Experience Writing
So if you’re a librarian interested in adding those titles to your digital bookshelves, head over to OverDrive and place your order today!
Celebrated on the first Saturday in June, International Tabletop Day is an annual event celebrating tabletop and board games of all sorts, launched in 2013 by creator Boyan Radakovich and originally hosted on actress (and gamer) Felicia Day’s Geek & Sundry YouTube channel. As the website Days of the Year explains, it’s “an opportunity for players to remember why they got into playing tabletop games in the first place. It’s all about pitting yourself against strangers and finding ways to survive through to the next turn.”
Well, if you’re looking to celebrate this special event, it just so happens that StarWarp Concepts has a book that’s perfect for tabletop RPG gamers:
Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination is our popular how-to book for writers and gamers in which bestselling fantasy author Richard C. White (Harbinger of Darkness, For a Few Gold Pieces More, Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings) takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion.
A bonus feature is an exclusive interview with New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) that discusses his methods of world building, as well as his creative experiences during his time as a designer for gaming company TSR, the original home of Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, it’s a book that’s become so popular with gamers that it’s currently being used as a textbook in the Interactive Media & Game Development program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worchester, Massachusetts!
This coming weekend, pop-culture fans of all ages will be gathering at Awesome Con, being held again at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the heart of Washington, DC. And among the exhibitors is author Richard C. White, who’ll be promoting his many projects (including his StarWarp Concepts titles, of course) at the Awesome Con Book Fair’s section of the event—you’ll find him at booth L04 in Author’s Lane (it’s part of Artists’ Alley).
We hope those of you attending Awesome Con enjoy the show. And for those of you who can’t make it but would like to pick up copies of Rich’s SWC titles…well, there’s no better place than right here for you to explore the Worlds of Richard C. White and purchase the very books you were looking for!
Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase is Rich’s collection of fantasy-noir, pulp-detective tales starring a private eye working the supernatural beat in the city of Calasia, and whose clientele is of a definitely paranormal persuasion. Think The Maltese Falcon crossed with Constantine and you’ve got a pretty good idea of Theron Chase’s workload. From a sexy chanteuse who literally turns into a beast when the moon is full to a string of pearls that kills its owners, and from the ghost of a dead woman seeking justice to the Grim Reaper’s little girl seeking her stolen chicken, Chase certainly has his hands full—of danger, death, and dames!
Harbinger of Darkness is an original novel that’s perfect for book lovers. It stars Perrin, the daughter of a bookstore owner in a land of magic and adventure. Quiet and unassuming, Perrin harbors a special secret: with the aid of a mystical talisman, she can transform into Raven, a swashbuckling thief who’s number one on the king’s list of most-wanted criminals. But with thugs and fellow thieves and the king’s assassins hot on her trail, Perrin finds just staying alive is becoming a full-time occupation! It’s sword-swinging adventure at its finest!
The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Specialis a digital pirate-fantasy comic created and written by Rich, drawn by Bill Bryan (artist of Caliber Press’ Dark Oz and DC Comics’ House of Mystery), and features cover art and color by Eliseu Gouveia (SWC’s The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual). It’s 48 pages of high-seas adventure perfect for fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise, as well as classics like The Crimson Pirate, Against All Flags, Captain Blood, and The Sea Hawk—and it’s available for download for just 99¢!
For a Few Gold Pieces More is a collection of ten critically acclaimed short stories that star a Rogue With No Name who travels a world of epic-fantasy adventure, looking for treasure—and revenge against the woman who sent him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit (but she did). Think Lord of the Rings meets the “spaghetti Westerns” of director Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), with a healthy dose of monsters, magic, and swordplay mixed in.
Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination is our most popular book, and a reference book for writers and RPG game masters. In it, Rich takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion. As a bonues, there’s an interview with New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) that discusses his methods of world building, as well as his creative experiences during his time as a designer for gaming company TSR, the original home of Dungeons & Dragons.
And Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is a general readers’ graphic novel about a group of supernatural-superheroes-for-hire taking on their first case. The team consists of a wizard, a female ninja, a sorceress, a werewolf, and a rock ’n’ roll lighting designer wearing high-tech armor. Sure, they might not be on a power level with the Avengers or Justice League of America—they’re more like superpowered Ghostbusters—but they get the job done. The graphic novel is written by Rich and his wife, Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman.
Terra Incognito is available in hardcover and trade paperback, and as an ebook. Chasing Danger, Harbinger of Darkness, For a Few Gold Pieces More, and Troubleshooters Incorporated are available in print and digital formats. Chronicles of the Sea Dragon is a digital exclusive. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information.
Today is World Dracula Day: the annual celebration launched in 2012 by the Whitby Dracula Society 1897to mark the first publication of Bram Stoker’s seminal novel in 1897. What makes it even better is that it’s also the 125th anniversary of that occasion!
It was Mary Shelley’s ghoulish but tortured Monster and Stoker’s vampire lord that both set the gold standard for horror icons, and not only are their works still in print over a century later, but the names Frankenstein and Dracula are recognized around the world, even by people who aren’t horror fans.
So, Happy 125th Anniversary to Mr. Stoker and his bloodthirsty count! Vampire fiction wouldn’t be the same without the lasting effect you had on the genre—an effect that continues to inspire legions of writers, artists, and Monster Kids young and old!
On a related note, today is also the birthday of legendary movie-vampire hunter Peter Cushing (1913–1994), who would have turned 108. Star Wars fans know him best as the villainous Grand Moff Tarkin, commander of the Death Star in Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope (and, through the wonders of CGI and animation, in the movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the Disney+ series Star Wars: The Bad Bunch), but horror fans fondly remember him as Professor Van Helsing, Dracula’s number one nemesis, in Hammer Films’ series of Dracula movies that starred Christopher Lee.
Speaking of Hammer, in 1975, Mr. Cushing was also meant to be the co-star of their planned movie adaptation of Vampirella, the Warren Publishing comics series about an outer-space vampire from a planet of bloodsuckers who teams up with an alcoholic stage magician to battle an alien invasion of Earth; Cushing was to play the magician, Pendragon, to actress Barbara Leigh’s Vampirella. If the movie had been successful, the sequel would have pitted Vampi and Pen against Dracula himself…only the first movie never got past the planning stages.
Still, Vampirella did clash with the lord of vampires a number of times in her classic Warren series, beginning with “…And Be a Bride of Chaos,” a story by writer Archie Goodwin and artist Jose Gonzales in which Dracula lured Vampi and Pen to his castle and then attempted to offer her as a marital sacrifice to Chaos, the mad, Lovecraftian Elder God whose followers often pursued Vampi in those days.
Eventually, though, the outer-space vampiress did eventually go on to fight a celluloid Dracula, in the made-for-cable-TV movie Vampirella, which starred Talisa Soto (1995’s Mortal Kombat) as Vampi and the Who’s front man, Roger Daltrey, as Dracula. The low-budget, poorly written adaptation was produced by b-movie king Roger Corman and directed by Jim Wynorski, and aired on Showtime in 1996. It is not highly regarded by Vampirella fans.
However, if you’re interested in exploring the Vampi/Dracula relationship—which has served as the basis for the recent Dynamite comic miniseries Vampirella/Dracula: Unholy—you can find the full details of the stories behind their clashes, both in print and on screen, in From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures, by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), 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 guide to all her 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.
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