Vampirella: Crimson Chronicles

This collects stories from Warren’s Vampirella series. You can read the origin of the vamp from Drakulon, plus a lot more. But the “lot more” is not what will attract readers, nor does it add value.

Let’s talk about Vampirella first. Her adventures skip continuity. First, she becomes a soap actress. All of a sudden, she’s a huntress in a hospital bed. What happened? Did Warren writers change their minds or did Harris skip a chapter? We also see several chapters of Vampirella’s war with the witch Evily. (What a name!) Does this take place on Earth or on Drakulon? Is it part of the same continuity?

Most of the other tales are standard 1970s black-and-white horror fare: no worse than the rest, perhaps, but certainly no better. Not surprisingly, some of the better stories come from such familiar names as Neal Adams and Steve Englehart. Not all the big names are at their peaks here. Archie Goodwin may tell the better Vampirella stories, but Gardner Fox’s Circe tale is disappointing and Ernie Colon’s Mind Witch art is just disturbing. A collection of pure Vampirella stories would have been a better choice.

— Jack Abramowitz

Jump to issue:

Deluxe Set #1

Cover: $17.95

W: Forrest J. Ackerman, Archie Goodwin, T. Casey Brennan, Chad Archer, Steve Englehart, Len Wein, Josep Toutain, Mike Butterworth · A: Tom Sutton, Mike Royer, José Gonzalez, Josè Ortiz

Collects Vampirella (Magazine) #1–37; Indicia reads title as Vampirella: Crimson Chronicles Maximum

2 copies from $9.50