Another early issue of Vampirella, with no actual Vampirella story. The cover is by Ken Kelly, his first for Warren, featuring a young woman walking down a dark alley were a ugly creature lurks with a club. The frontis for this issue is "Vampi's Feary Tales: The Centaur" by Dan Adkins.
Up first is "The Curse of Circe" by Jerry Grandenetti (art) and Gardner Fox (story). A man is lost at sea and ends up landing on an island, populated by beautiful women, the most beautiful of which is named Circe. After a night of passion, he wakes up, to find that he's been turned into a pig! With the help of another woman he is able to return to his human form and the two escape, only to end up dying while at sea.
Up next is "The Brothers Death" by Jack Sparling (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). A girl obsessed with death is transported to a medieval type world where the Brothers Death battle the evil Gurn. The girl is captured by Gurn, then rescued by the brothers. A rare Warren tale with a happy ending, this is not all that good of a story, probably the worst of the issue.
"Darkworth" by Mike Royer (art) and Nicola Cuti (story) features a stripper who becomes the assistant to a Magician, Darkworth. Darkworth becomes famous through his magic, but seeking more, plans to escape from being buried alive. Upon finding out that she's cheating on him, Darkworth's assistant Togo clubs the stripper to death and while he's digging from underground, Darkworth finds her corpse. This story seems like it just ends right in the middle, without much of an ending.
"A New Girl in Town" by Dan Adkins (art) and Gardner Fox (story) is about a girl who goes to visit her parents in a weird town. The address her parents gave her ends up being a graveyard, as she's dead and doesn't know about it. A very short story, at just 4 pages in length.
"Victim of the Vampire" by Frank Bolle (art) and Vern Bennett (story) is next. A rich man's wife is being pursued by a vampire. With the help of a priest they're able to rescue her by hiding in a coffin. An okay story, but not that great.
Sixth is "One Way Trip!" by Tony Williamsune (art) and Larry Herndon (story). A man overdosing on drugs encounters a horrific monster in his dreams. After getting treatment he thinks he's okay, only to find out that the monster is real.
Last is "The Wolf-Man", once again by Frank Bolle (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). A woman plots with her lover to kill her husband, Roger. Finding him with another woman in the woods, they follow, and end up killing a wolf whom his lover claims is Roger. The lover is killed soon afterwards, but upon finding a tape recording, it is revealed that Roger switched minds with a wolf, and his human body, occupied with the wolf's mind kills both his wife and her lover. Not a bad story, one of the issue's better ones.
Overall this issue is average at best. It'd be another year or so before Vampirella as a magazine really started turning out high qualify stuff consistently.
Up first is "The Curse of Circe" by Jerry Grandenetti (art) and Gardner Fox (story). A man is lost at sea and ends up landing on an island, populated by beautiful women, the most beautiful of which is named Circe. After a night of passion, he wakes up, to find that he's been turned into a pig! With the help of another woman he is able to return to his human form and the two escape, only to end up dying while at sea.
Up next is "The Brothers Death" by Jack Sparling (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). A girl obsessed with death is transported to a medieval type world where the Brothers Death battle the evil Gurn. The girl is captured by Gurn, then rescued by the brothers. A rare Warren tale with a happy ending, this is not all that good of a story, probably the worst of the issue.
"Darkworth" by Mike Royer (art) and Nicola Cuti (story) features a stripper who becomes the assistant to a Magician, Darkworth. Darkworth becomes famous through his magic, but seeking more, plans to escape from being buried alive. Upon finding out that she's cheating on him, Darkworth's assistant Togo clubs the stripper to death and while he's digging from underground, Darkworth finds her corpse. This story seems like it just ends right in the middle, without much of an ending.
"A New Girl in Town" by Dan Adkins (art) and Gardner Fox (story) is about a girl who goes to visit her parents in a weird town. The address her parents gave her ends up being a graveyard, as she's dead and doesn't know about it. A very short story, at just 4 pages in length.
"Victim of the Vampire" by Frank Bolle (art) and Vern Bennett (story) is next. A rich man's wife is being pursued by a vampire. With the help of a priest they're able to rescue her by hiding in a coffin. An okay story, but not that great.
Sixth is "One Way Trip!" by Tony Williamsune (art) and Larry Herndon (story). A man overdosing on drugs encounters a horrific monster in his dreams. After getting treatment he thinks he's okay, only to find out that the monster is real.
Last is "The Wolf-Man", once again by Frank Bolle (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). A woman plots with her lover to kill her husband, Roger. Finding him with another woman in the woods, they follow, and end up killing a wolf whom his lover claims is Roger. The lover is killed soon afterwards, but upon finding a tape recording, it is revealed that Roger switched minds with a wolf, and his human body, occupied with the wolf's mind kills both his wife and her lover. Not a bad story, one of the issue's better ones.
Overall this issue is average at best. It'd be another year or so before Vampirella as a magazine really started turning out high qualify stuff consistently.
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