From the Stars…A Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures by Steven A. Roman, with a forward by the official Vampirella historian Sean Fernald  (  Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com )

StarWarp Concepts, 2020

ISBN: 9780998236148

Available: Paperback

From the Stars…a Vampiress provides a great reference guide to one of the most recognizable female horror comics heroines, Vampirella. The first section, “The Vampire Who Fell to Earth”, tells her story from her initial creation by James Warren and Forrest J. Ackerman, and other writers and artists who helped her development such as Archie Goodwin, Jose Gonzalez, Trina Robbins, Frank Frazetta, Gonzalo Mayo, and many more, to her cancellation in 1982 after Warren Publishing closed its doors. The second section, “The Vampirella Episode Guide”, is an annotated bibliography of the Warren Publishing Vampirella stories, including ones that went unpublished. Entries include the names of the writer and artist, the issue in which the story was published, a list of main characters, setting, chronology, synopsis, and a brief review. This section makes up a bulk of the book. In the third section, “Vampi Goes to Hollywood”, Roman covers the 1966 Queen of Blood; a Vampirella film that never was, which was going to be produced by Hammer Films and to star Barbara Leigh and Peter Cushing; the unfortunate 1996 movie that starred Talisa Soto in the titular role, the Who’s Roger Daltrey, and an unfortunate redesign of Vampirella’s famous costume; and an entry that warranted less than a page about an animated film that never came to fruition. The fourth section, “The Literary Vampiress”, presents information on the Vampirella novelizations written by Ron Goulart and published by Warner Books. The fifth section provides just what it says, “The Vampirella Warren Era Checklist”. Roman presents a comprehensive list of all the Warren era Vampirella stories. Roman also includes reprint issues that were released by Dynamite Entertainment and Harris Comics.

The only criticism I have regards the use of illustrations. While there are amazing behind the scenes black and white photographs, there are very few pieces of artwork of the gorgeous Vampirella due to licensing. Otherwise, From the Stars…A Vampiress is not only a fantastic reference guide, but it is also a love letter to the fanged horror heroine. New fans and old will be interested in the Vampirella bibliography especially. Libraries that specialize in comics history should consider including this volume in their collection as well. Highly recommended.

Fun fact: One of my most prized comics is an issue of Vampirella with Julie Strain as the cover model.

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker