Vampirella #1: "Goddess from the Sea"

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The Bettie Page of the vampire world, Vampirella was introduced by Warren Publishing in 1969. The Vampirella magazine, like Warren's Creepy and Eerie, was black-and-white, aimed at a somewhat older audience, and sold for fifty cents. A Frank Frazetta color cover introduced Vampi to readers, showing her in her terse crimson costume, posing with one spike-heeled foot resting on a human skull. Sci-fi maven Forrest J. Ackerman, who was editing Famous Monsters for Warren, came up with the name, and in the early issues Vampi was played for laughs. When Tom Sutton became the artist with the eighth issue things got serious. Scripts by Archie Goodwin helped convert Vampirella into a viable vampire. A typical good/bad girl, she sometimes gave in to the urge to sink her teeth into somebody's throat, but she also built a career as a sexy ghostbuster, aided by her mentor Pendragon. Vampi usually appeared in the opening story with the rest of the issue given over to assorted horror tales. The magazine ended in 1983.

Since then the virtuous vampire has been brought back to life several times and is now published by Dynamite Entertainment.



Credits

Cover painting: Frank Frazetta
Script: Don Glut
Pencils: Neal Adams
Inks:Neal Adams

Reprinted:

• in Vampirella Annual (Warren, 1972 series) #1
• in Eerie (Warren, 1966 series) #125
  

Monster Hunters #4: "That Old Gang of Mine"

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Monster Hunters #4 came to me via a stocking stuffer on Christmas and I am glad it did as I might have passed this one over on the racks at Rexall's Drugstore, despite the allure of the beautiful cover painting courtesy of the still-underrated Tom Sutton. "That Old Gang of Mine" was written by Joe Malloy and drawn by a then-unknown Mike Zeck and the entire thing just sucks you into the story with "you cannot run fast enough or hide well enough... for when they catch your scent, you can do but one thing... you can DIE!"

Secrets of Haunted House #5: "The Stars, Like Pallbearers"

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Perhaps I should have uploaded this one on Halloween considering the cover art, but hindsight is always 20/20. This story is similar to the last post in that the protagonist is forced to match wits with a vampire in space. Either way, I thought this story was very good.

Weird War Tales #16: "The Conquerors"

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"Oh, Earth fought back. Man flung his defiance skyward! But it was a hopeless defiance. The defiance of the doomed!"

Space head time, fellow travelers, as we shift gears to science fiction. This was the very first issue of Weird War Tales that I ever bought and, after reading "The Conquerors" by Jack Oleck and Alex Nino, I decided to stick around for several dozen more issues. Give this one a read and I think you'll see why.


Credits

Script: Jack Oleck
Pencils: Alex Nino
Inks: Alex Nino

Fear #24: Morbius, the Living Vampire in "Return to Terror!"

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Here's the excellent conclusion of the Steve Gerber & P. Craig Russel crafted Morbius three-part story arc. I never guessed as a kid that Blade, the vampire slayer, would star in his own movies someday.

To read part one please click here.


Credits

Script: Steve Gerber
Pencils: P. Craig Russell
Inks: Jack Abel

Fear #23: Morbius, the Living Vampire in "Alone Against Arcturus!"

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It is thanks to wonderful stories like this three-parter that I now understand why Steve Gerber has such a fiercely loyal, cultish following. The art by Rich Buckler was more than serviceable in Fear #22, but P. Craig Russell's art was outstanding, as you'll see in this issue and in issue #24.

Just wait until you see "I" and his demiurge in issues #23 and #24, but "I" all by himself was truly memorable—if not outright remarkable. These comic books also introduced me to Blade, the Vampire Slayer, whom went on to silver screen fame in decades to come. Anywhoo, please enjoy these rarely seen classics and the download link is below the cover.



Credits

Script: Steve Gerber
Pencils: P. Craig Russell
Inks: Vince Colletta