Vampirella - Crimson Chronicles Volume One!

Without question the most successful vampire in comics is Vampirella. Thanks to her astounding costume and the bodacious bod beneath she's hardly been out of print for decades. When Forry Ackerman first dreamt her up she was just another ghost host for her own self-titled horror anthology from Warren Magazines. She was a female equivalent of Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie. But she would not be contained in the corners of pages merely presenting horror yarns in the classic tradition, she demanded stories all her own and eventually she got them. Sone of the stories from the earliest issues were gathered by Harris when they had the property. The Jim Silkie does Vampirella proud. 

We are introduced to Vampirella in the opening story of issue one. She's an alluring vampire from the planet of Draculon where blood flows in rivers. But things have gotten tough and blood is hard to find until a spaceship from Earth descends and Vampirella discovers to heart's content that blood flows inside the bodies of these handsome blokes from another planet. This tongue-in-cheek yarn was written by Forry Ackerman in pretty much the same joking style he used in his many articles for Famous Monsters of Filmland. The Harris collection reprints two more stories from the debut issue, both written by Don Glut. The first titled "Death Boat' was drawn by Billy Graham and shows what happens when vampires turn up in all the strangest places, even when you're lost at sea. "Goddess of the Sea" was drawn by Neal Adams and seems to have been published from his pencils. A man falls in love with a betwitching creature from beneath the waves and sadly must pay the ultimate price. I'd be remiss to not mention Frank Frazetta's outstanding cover. 

Issue two sees the debut of "Vampi's Feary Tales" a one-page featurette written and drawn by diverse hands. This first one showcases the Bride of Frankenstein. "Evily" is by Bill Parent and artist Jerry Grandenetti. Rating the cover, we find out that the witch Evily is somehow related to Vampirella though that makes little sense. She's hung up on her looks like many an evil witch. "Down to Earth" by Ackerman and artist Mike Royer shows how Vampirella, already on Earth, tries to cope by entering a monster "beauty" pagent. Both Ackerman and publisher Bill Warren make appearances. 

Underneath an eye-catching cover by Vaughn Bode, the third issues of Vampirella offers up for entries in this collection. We get a "Feary Tales" about space queens. "Wicked is Who Wicked Does" was written by Bill Parent and drawn magnificently by Tom Sutton. It's about a sorceress and tries vainly to tie into the Vampi storyline. "Blast Off to a Nightmare" by Al Hewetson and artist Jack Sparling follows two astronauts to a planet filled with lovely women and other deadly creatures as well. There's an attempt by Sparling to evoke the cover but it's a clumsy effort. "Didn't I See You on Television?" was both written and drawn by Billy Graham and deals with a witch with an uncanny connection to the camera. 

Jeff Jones provides the cover for issue four. "Feary Tales" this time deals with witches being burned at the stake and is the work of Tom Sutton. Bill Parente wrote "Forgotten Kingdom" about an astronaut on a planet in desperate need of fertile men, but of course there's a twist. The art is attributed to "David Sinclair" but is almost certainly done by Ernie Colon. 

Issue five sports a Frazetta cover no less. The "Feary Tales" by Tom Sutton deals with ancient female cults at Stonehenge. Don Glut wrote and John Fantuccio drew "Craft of a Cat's Eye" about an unscrupulous gent who marries a woman for her wealth. Things go badly. 

The cover for the sixth issue is by Ken Kelly . "Feary Tales" deals with centaurs and is done by Dan Adkins. The story "Curse of Circe" was written by Gardner Fox and drawn magnificently by Jerry Grandenetti. It concerns a modern man who finds Circe's island and tries to flee.

The seventh issue of Vampirella offers up something a bit more ambitious beneath another Frazetta cover. Vampi tells three stories about three witches. Nick Cuti and artist Tom Sutton share the story of the "White Witch" who turns out to be less human than most folks find optimal. Cuti again writes "The Mind Witch" with art by Ernie Colon and deals with a woman who turns out to have celestial origins "The Black Witch" was drawn wonderfully by Billy Graham with Cuti in for a third outing. She's a witch who likes to change people into bugs, but finds that to be a mistake ultimately. This one has a frame drawn by Sutton and point the way for more coherence in the package. 

Vampirella makes the cover (by Ken Kelly again) of her magazine for a second in issue eight. After a "Feary Tales" item about classic horror romances, we get the first actual Vampirella story which has some sense of continuity. Archie Goodwin steps in to give us a more serious Vampi who runs afoul of the Chaos Cult for the first time. She also loses her wings while recovering from a plane crash. She is given her blood substitute, so she won't have to prey on people. It's fa great twenty-one page kick off for the Vampirella we've all come to know and adore. Tom Sutton, Vampirella's first artist is back in this and the next issue as well. 

The second installment of Goodwin's story picks up with Dr. Van Helsing and his son Adam getting on the trail of Vampirella when they believe she killed Van Helsing's brother. Vampi runs into more Crimson Cult members and even gets hold of the cult's bible "The Crimson Chronicles" (which also gave this reprint series from Harris its title). There's a "Feary Tales" item by Jeff Jones and Nick Cuti about the original vampire "Lilith". The cover is a combination of Wally Wood and Boris Vallejo. 

The tenth issue of Vampirella doesn't give us a new chapter in her ongoing adventures. Rather we have a tale titled "The Soft Sweet Lips of Hell" by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams about a woman takes youth where she finds it, mostly from young men. "Feary Tales" this time is by Billy Graham deals with Medusa. The cover artist is Bill Hughes. 

There has been tremendous growth in the magazine in its year and half of publication. Vampirella has gone from a joke to a fully realized character who can carry her own adventures. The strip continues to develop and will take a major step forward next time when Jose Gonzalez joins the team. 

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