When VAMPIRELLA hit the scene in 1968, she was the most sexy and provocative major horror-fantasy figure in comics. Visually modeled after Warren's teenage love Gloria, Vampirella has endured for nearly 35 years.

The VAMPIRELLA storyline was originally created by Forrest J. Ackerman, who at the time was the editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. He based her heavily on Jane Fonda's movie character Barbarella, and he wrote her first two adventures in a breezy, tongue-in-cheek style.

Sometime around the second issue, publisher Warren decided he wanted Vampirella to have more elaborate adventures with a more serious touch. He called in Archie Goodwin to revamp the budding series. Goodwin grafted on a Lovecratian cult of villains and demons for her to oppose (the Cult of Chaos) and some supporting characters (Conrad and Adam Van Helsing, Pendragon) for her to play against.

In the fourth of her new adventures; "Death's Dark Angel"; a beautiful cover by Sanjulian and dazzling interior art by Jose Gonzalez transformed the series. Gonzalez' version became, and would remain, the definitive Vampirella.

Vampirella was not your "average" vampire. She wasn't hostile towards humans, and she survived by drinking a blood serum developed by the Van Helsings. Only rarely did she succumb to her bloodlust and attack anyone, and in most cases the victims were evil types in league with Chaos, or humans who had gone over to the "dark side".

As the years went by, VAMPIRELLA began to feature more and more stories that lived up to its tagline of "tantalizing tales about captivating females". Some of the characters to be featured in multiple issues were Fleur and Pantha.

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