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Vampirella
Vampirella is a seductive Vampire heroine of Comic books. The fictional character was created by Forrest J. Ackerman for Warren Magazine publication with the help of Archie Goodwin and artists Frank Frazetta and Tom Sutton.
Vampirella debuted in 1969 in a printed black & white horror-comics magazine merely titled as Vampirella. After appearing in Warren magazines from 1969 to 1983, Vampirella was bought by Harris Comics. Since then, they gave the character a full-scale relaunch and appeared in dozens of miniseries, specials, and graphic novels until 1991. She remained quite popular until a short break was made, Vampirella returned in 1992 in a blockbuster new color comic book format.
Vampirella’s many fans generally credit Archie Goodwin, who began scripting her in the second issue, with fleshing out her personality, building her supporting cast, and generally making the character come to life. The comic’s best-known artistic collaborators were Tom Sutton and José Gonzales.
Vampirella History
Vampirella, as she appeared in Warren's magazines, was from the doomed
planet Drakulon, a world where inhabitants lived on blood as human survived on
water. Drakulon orbited around Satyr and Circe, the twin suns. Satyr is a
variable star which always erupts at an irregular interval causing to burn the
surface of the planet, destroying all life. Then, as the sun declines, a new civilisation
begins anew. The race of Vampirella, the Vampiri was born. They are vampires
who are able to change themselves into bats at will, push wings when required,
and drink blood.
Unfortunately from Satyr's latest eruption, the inhabitants of the planet eventually die. The sun increases its size and strength as the effect of the after-explosion making all of them in danger. A spacecraft from earth crashed landed on Drakulon. Vampirella was task to investigate but when she went to the crashed site, she was attacked by the astronauts. As she avenged, she discovered that they have blood in their veins. To save her race, she managed to pilot the spacecraft back to Earth where her adventures began. However, Vampirella was a good vampire, a heroine who devoted her energy to free our world from the homegrown evil kind.
When the character was revived after being bought by Harris Comics, changes were made to her origin.
In the Harris version, Vampirella’s origin was abandoned in favor of an intricate story of ancient family secrets and feuds among supernatural beings. Apparently, the story is not yet complete, as bits and pieces continue to appear. The original history was explained as artificially-induced false memories placed into Vampirella’s mind by her evil brother Madek and her sister Magdalene. In truth, Vampirella is the daughter of Lilith. She was born to provide redemption for her mother after she was cast out of Heaven and spawned a race of vampires. According to this account, Drakulon was a part of Hell where Lilith lived and ruled.
Lilith was the first wife of Adam from the Book of Genesis. She would not surrender before Adam and was cast out from the Garden of Eden. She mated with demons in hell, giving birth to vampires who would kill the sons and daughters 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. Lilith also bore two others, Madek and Magdalene, in the hopes they would give her the redemption she seeks, but they abused their powers and follow the dark path.
With the help of Adam van Helsing who also finds redemption in Drakulon, Vampirella restores the Styx, the river of blood that provides nourishment for the vampires of Drakulon and bids her mother farewell one last time before Lilith is taken by God. Although the heroine spends some considerable time eliminating the Earth from vampires, she promised her mother that she will find herself back on Drakulon again.
Vampirella Costume
Vampirella's costume was originally
designed back in 1969 by both Trina Robbins and Frank Frazetta. Vampirella’s
costume has a
"mature" flavor where she wears an impossibly
red skimpy one-piece bathing suit and black high-heeled boots. The costume has
also been described as a bikini, swimsuit, dental floss, butt floss and rubber
band (not all at the same time). It has changed over the years, basically
becoming even smaller and more revealing. Even worse, she is
often unfairly blamed for triggering the whole "bad girl" movement of
the early 1990s, simply because her costume is the skimpiest of all.
The story behind her revealing outfit was when she was rewarded with it which Satyr and Circe (spiders in the Garden of Eden - not twin suns) have spun for her that will become her trademark. Her costume distinguished her virtually from all other female comic characters ever since. Perhaps the greatest compliment to the original design is that her costume remains instantly recognisable until this day.
Attacks and Abilities of 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, shape shifting 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.
Hypnotic Powers
Vampirella uses her hypnotic abilities to mesmerise her victims.
Ability to Fly
Vampirella can morph into a bat or morph to have wings and fly.
Regeneration
Vampirella has the ability to heal quickly. As a Vampire, she regenerates faster than humans.
Immortality
Bleeding is a temporary death among Vampirella’s race because they have the blood from the river of blood of Drakulon, so they can regenerate and be resurrected. However, stake through the heart is a permanent death. Vampirella is already immune to silver and sunlight.
Moon Glade Blades
A pair of twin scimitars made from a very special metal. It is more than just indestructible and it is enchanted as well. When Vampirella is holding these scimitars, she can feel her supremacy and draws out more of her hidden powers.
Shadowbolt
Vampirella draws from shadows, an energy blast that cause shadow damage.
Shadow Ward
Vampirella can summon shadows and becomes a misty shadow too. But while on this form, she can not bite or claw her victims.
Bites and Talons
As a Vampire, she has long fangs that can extend and rip a throat. She can also pull out her finger nails to a sharp hooked claw to kill her enemies.
Vampirella Comics Magazines
Warren Publishing
Vampirella #1-112 (1969 to 1983)
Harris Comics
Vampirella:
Morning in America
Vampirella's Summer Nights
Creepy 1993 Fearbook
Vampirella #1-5
Vampirella Strikes #1-7
Vampirella: Chains of Chaos
#1-3
Vengeance of Vampirella #1-25
Vampirella Zero
Vampirella: Death and Destruction #1-3
Vampirella: Sad Wings of Destiny
Vampirella Bloodlust #1-2
Vampirella Lives #1-3
Vampirella vs. Pantha
Vampirella vs. Hemmorage #1-3
Vampirella Monthly #1-26,
Special Issue #0
Vampirella #1-22
Vampirella Revelations (book 1)
#0-3
Vampirella Comics Magazine
#1-10
Vampirella Comics Magazine Special
Other Appearances of Vampirella
Movie
In 1996, Vampirella was made into a movie with Talisa Soto in the title role. It aired on the cable station Showtime, and was directed by Jim Wynorski.
In this movie, her origin was tinkered with again - here, she left Drakulon voluntarily, 3000 years ago, to chase the killer of her stepfather, and finally succeeded in tracking him down on Earth, where he was known as Dracula. The movie was later released on video, and is rumored to be headed for theatrical release.
Live Models
A variety of models have donned various versions of the trademark of Vampirella in scanty outfit for magazine covers, posters, trading cards, and even live appearances.
· Barbara Leigh
· Brinke Stevens
· Julie Strain
· Cathy Christian
· Sascha Knopf
· Maria DiAngelis
Comic Appearance
Photoshoot Appearance
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