When I posted information about From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures way back in February, I never believed it would be nearly June by the time I wrote and posted a proper review of it. But, here we are, three months and a pandemic later. The good news is that, even though I’m not sure the review was worth waiting for, the book certainly is.
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Check that February post for what the book promises, then continue this one to read how it delivers. All my suspicions were true. I expected it would make me want to become a Vampirella fan; however, minus reading the original material, there’s everything I need here to already be one. If those original comics and magazines somehow fail to impress, the guides and checklists offered by Steven A, Romano do not.
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The middle section, Part III: Vampi Goes to Hollywood, is everything I hoped for, adding meat to the bones of what little I already know about the failed attempt by Hammer Films to make a big-screen adaptation of the character and her story. From the information delivered about the script, we should perhaps count ourselves lucky that it was never made. However, it couldn’t have been nearly as bizarre as the one that was produced by Roger Corman.
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Part II: The Vampirella Episode Guide summarizes every story featuring Vampirella, plus some that were never published. This is where you don’t really need access to the original comics, except for the fact that you don’t have the art. (With that costume, you really need the art). If short, text versions of her adventures don’t entice you, the skimpy outfit would. But since this is an unauthorized book, there’s little of it shown here.
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A nice companion to Part II is Part V: Vampirella’s Warren Era Checklist. The two parts work nicely together to paint a true chronological picture of the character and her adventures at the height of her “career.” I found myself flipping back and forth, piecing it all together. This isn’t a complaint; such is the nature of the wealth of information provided and that fact that I simply wanted to absorb it all.
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There are also chapters on the Warner Books’ novel series and, of course, a history of the creation of Vampirella that opens the book. While the “golden age” is heavily featured, the “modern age” of Dynamite stories and reprints do play a part, demonstrating the ongoing infatuation with “the vampiress who fell to Earth.” For me, Vampirella is all about my childhood and a little taste of forbidden fruit, but it’s fascinating to read how she’s endured.
About the Author:
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Steven A. Roman is the bestselling author of the novels X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy and Final Destination: Dead Man’s Hand, the critically acclaimed author of the Saga of Pandora Zwieback novels, and the writer of the graphic novels Sunn and Lorelei: Sects and the City. His short fiction has appeared in such anthologies as Best New Zombie Tales 2, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, Doctor Who: Short Trips: Farewells, and Urban Temples of Cthulhu.
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About the Book:
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From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures
by Steven A. Roman
Published by StarWarp Concepts
308 pages, trade paperback (6” x 9”)
U.S. $19.99 (print edition) • $9.99 (digital; PDF)
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For more information, please visit www.StarwarpConcepts.com.
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