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From the Stars...a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella's Classic Horror Adventures
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 examines the history of the queen of the bad girls whose reign has lasted through five decades of published comic books, novels, and magazines, and turns a critical eye toward her sole motion picture appearance--as well as the 1970s movie version that might have been. Combined with an extensive checklist of her Warren Era appearances and a foreword by Sean Fernald, the Official Vampirella Historian, From the Stars is a smorgasblood of information for Vampirella fans!
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.
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 examines the history of the queen of the bad girls whose reign has lasted through five decades of published comic books, novels, and magazines, and turns a critical eye toward her sole motion picture appearance--as well as the 1970s movie version that might have been. Combined with an extensive checklist of her Warren Era appearances and a foreword by Sean Fernald, the Official Vampirella Historian, From the Stars is a smorgasblood of information for Vampirella fans!
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.
308 pages, Paperback
Published February 18, 2020
2 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Steven A. Roman
23 books15 followersSTEVEN A. ROMAN is the bestselling author of the novels Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1, X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy, and Final Destination: Dead Man’s Hand. His writing has garnered praise from such authors as World Fantasy Award–winner Charles de Lint, Bram Stoker Award–winner Elizabeth Massie, and fantasist and crime fiction novelist Neal Barrett Jr.
His short fiction has appeared in the anthologies The Best New Zombie Tales 2, The Dead Walk Again!, Doctor Who: Short Trips: Farewells, If I Were an Evil Overlord, Tales of the Shadowmen 4: Lords of Terror, The Ultimate Hulk, and Untold Tales of Spider-Man. He also wrote the graphic novels Lorelei: Building the Perfect Beast, Stan Lee’s Alexa, and Sunn, and co-wrote the direct-to-DVD animated short X-Men: Darktide.
In addition to writing Steve worked as a fiction editor, then later as Editor-in-Chief, for ibooks, inc., a New York–based publishing company. Among the many titles he edited during his tenure were: original licensed novels based on Terminator 2, The Transformers, Witchblade, Spider-Man, and Ghostbusters; the fantasies Dragonkin, Moebius’ Arzach, and The Orc’s Treasure; the science fiction series Isaac Asimov’s Robot Mysteries; and the Young Adult SF spoof Britney Spears is a Three-Headed Alien!
Steve’s current writing projects include the Saga of Pandora Zwieback novel series.
His short fiction has appeared in the anthologies The Best New Zombie Tales 2, The Dead Walk Again!, Doctor Who: Short Trips: Farewells, If I Were an Evil Overlord, Tales of the Shadowmen 4: Lords of Terror, The Ultimate Hulk, and Untold Tales of Spider-Man. He also wrote the graphic novels Lorelei: Building the Perfect Beast, Stan Lee’s Alexa, and Sunn, and co-wrote the direct-to-DVD animated short X-Men: Darktide.
In addition to writing Steve worked as a fiction editor, then later as Editor-in-Chief, for ibooks, inc., a New York–based publishing company. Among the many titles he edited during his tenure were: original licensed novels based on Terminator 2, The Transformers, Witchblade, Spider-Man, and Ghostbusters; the fantasies Dragonkin, Moebius’ Arzach, and The Orc’s Treasure; the science fiction series Isaac Asimov’s Robot Mysteries; and the Young Adult SF spoof Britney Spears is a Three-Headed Alien!
Steve’s current writing projects include the Saga of Pandora Zwieback novel series.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 3, 2020
A big Vampirella fan since I was a child (some would say I was too young to be seeing such things), I dove right into this authoritative book about the most famous of female vampires. Yeah, take that, Carmilla.
I've known Steve Roman for twenty plus years, back in his Lorelei days, when I was writing and drawing my Cassiopeia the Witch series. As I recall, we even entertained the thought of a crossover that never got very far. I forget why.
While reading Steve's book, I did have to stop and research the DuBay-King lawsuit, as this was mentioned but was not really relevant to the subject at hand. But I quickly got back to the luscious subject matter. Um, the behind-the-scenes of how comics publishing worked in the 1960s, that is.
There's plenty of history here, showing how James Warren (whom I met once) and Forrest J. Ackerman hammered out the character. But the heart of the book is the listing of every Vampirella story to appear in the magazine that bore her name.
Fully half the book consists of mini synapses of Warren's Vampirella adventures and it's a delight to read them (and a sorrow for me, having lost so many of them in the Camp Fire). Roman is thorough—not only does he include her tales from her own mag, but her appearances in another Warren title, Eerie, were she teamed up with the Rook and others.
Kudos for the inclusion of Creepy 8 and 9 in the list, since the “Coffin of Dracula” story, written years before anyone thought of Vampi, is the direct prequel to one of her greatest adventures. Anyone less dedicated than Steve would have neglected the relevance.
Among other things I learned from reading this book, Pantha—a female were-cat, sort of the reciprocal to Vampi—was created by Steve Skeates, another friend of mine! She joined the cast after I'd given up on it. (Not because I wanted to. There were precious few comic book specialty shops in the world when I was a kid. I had to find the Warren mags in liquor stores. But after moving from the Bay Area to the boonies, I couldn't find them at all!)
After the synapses ends, Roman jumps into the most thorough study of the ill-fated Vampirella movie project by Hammer Films I've ever read. Ah, the vagaries of corporate greed. He also goes on to tell about the 1996 movie that, sadly, did get made.
This is followed by a unique overview of the many Vampirella novelizations by Ron Goulart. I either never knew or had forgotten these books existed.
The checklist of Vampi stories largely duplicates the info of the synapses, but its still worth a look. There's a where-are-they-now section which is frankly sad, given how many of the great Warren writers and artists are no longer with us. The book is thoroughly annotated and indexed. It's also highly recommended.
I've known Steve Roman for twenty plus years, back in his Lorelei days, when I was writing and drawing my Cassiopeia the Witch series. As I recall, we even entertained the thought of a crossover that never got very far. I forget why.
While reading Steve's book, I did have to stop and research the DuBay-King lawsuit, as this was mentioned but was not really relevant to the subject at hand. But I quickly got back to the luscious subject matter. Um, the behind-the-scenes of how comics publishing worked in the 1960s, that is.
There's plenty of history here, showing how James Warren (whom I met once) and Forrest J. Ackerman hammered out the character. But the heart of the book is the listing of every Vampirella story to appear in the magazine that bore her name.
Fully half the book consists of mini synapses of Warren's Vampirella adventures and it's a delight to read them (and a sorrow for me, having lost so many of them in the Camp Fire). Roman is thorough—not only does he include her tales from her own mag, but her appearances in another Warren title, Eerie, were she teamed up with the Rook and others.
Kudos for the inclusion of Creepy 8 and 9 in the list, since the “Coffin of Dracula” story, written years before anyone thought of Vampi, is the direct prequel to one of her greatest adventures. Anyone less dedicated than Steve would have neglected the relevance.
Among other things I learned from reading this book, Pantha—a female were-cat, sort of the reciprocal to Vampi—was created by Steve Skeates, another friend of mine! She joined the cast after I'd given up on it. (Not because I wanted to. There were precious few comic book specialty shops in the world when I was a kid. I had to find the Warren mags in liquor stores. But after moving from the Bay Area to the boonies, I couldn't find them at all!)
After the synapses ends, Roman jumps into the most thorough study of the ill-fated Vampirella movie project by Hammer Films I've ever read. Ah, the vagaries of corporate greed. He also goes on to tell about the 1996 movie that, sadly, did get made.
This is followed by a unique overview of the many Vampirella novelizations by Ron Goulart. I either never knew or had forgotten these books existed.
The checklist of Vampi stories largely duplicates the info of the synapses, but its still worth a look. There's a where-are-they-now section which is frankly sad, given how many of the great Warren writers and artists are no longer with us. The book is thoroughly annotated and indexed. It's also highly recommended.
May 26, 2020
Review for Monster Librarian forthcoming.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews