Vampirella 27

Enrich provides the cover for this issue of Vampirella. Enrich later painted Vampirella in a very similar pose for the cover of issue 42. This is mostly a reprint issue, but does feature an all new color story featuring Vampirella.

First is "Wolf Hunt" with art by Esteban Maroto and story by Joe Wehrle. This story is originally from Vampirella #16. An old man finds a woman who transforms into a wolf in the moonlight and captures her in his castle. She is eventually able to escape and take revenge. As always, Maroto's art is quite good here, the best of the issue.

Next is "Welcome to the Witches Coven", from Vampirella #15. Art is by Luis Garcia story is by Don McGregor. Some extremely good art kicked off Garcia's short lived Warren career in this story's original appearance, appearing to have been done in pencil only here. The story ain't that great though, featuring a woman in the modern era joining a witch's cult with disastrous results as they sacrifice a business friend of her husband's, then kill her when she tries to escape and alert the authorities.

Third is "Quavering Shadows" by Jose Bea (art) and Doug Moench (story). This story is also originally from Vampirella #15. While a serial killer plauges a town, a man, Andrew, visits his friend Jason, who has purchased a castle deep in the woods. Andrew eventually makes it there and finds his friend barely sane, telling him of ghosts in the castle and showing him mysterious shadows on the wall. Things get even stranger as Jason appears in different parts of the castle at the same time, then attacking Andrew with a club. Andrew returns home where he finds that his wife had been attacked by the serial killer, who was Jason! A very odd story.

Next is "The Frog Prince" by Bill Dubay (story & art). This story is from Vampirella #13. A woman meets a talking frog who tells her he's a prince. She kisses him and he turns into a human and agrees to marry her. However it is soon revealed that as a human he can't speak, only croak!

Next is this issue's only original story, "Return Trip", featuring art by Jose Gonzalez and story by Jose Toutain (the head of Selecciones Illustrada, providing a rare story). This is the first ever color comic of Vampirella. The coloring is a lot better than that which had been used in issues 25 and 26 of Vampirella but is still hardly close to the greatness that Warren eventually attained. This story continues that which had been taking place in the last several issues of Vampirella. Rose, Pendragon's former wife seeks revenge on him so she recruits help from a man named the Dreamer who can manipulate people's dreams. He tries to trick Vampirella into killing Pendragon by sucking his blood but she won't do it. He tries to stab her instead, but Patrick, Pendragon's grandson, shoots him, saving Vampi.

Sixth is "Cilia" by Felix Mas (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). This story is from Vampirella #16. A pair of men are in a shipwreck, but a beautiful mermaid rescues them. She marries one of the men and is able to turn into a human form, but must remain near the water. A mob finds her however and captures her. The men eventually find her, but being away from the water so long, she has become an old woman. Her lover kills her then carries her off into the sea.

Next is "Quest" by Jeff Jones (story & art), from Vampirella #12. This story features a mere 2 panels per page, with some nice artwork by Jones. The story features a hunter pursuing a woman, who is attacked by another man, then flees using some elephants. She is attacked by a saber tooth tiger, but the hunter arrives, seemingly to save her, but in reality to kill her. Reminds me of "Yellow Heat", my favorite Warren story.

Last is "War of the Wizards" which is from Vampirella #10. The story is both written and drawn by Wally Wood. It's about a pair of rival wizards who use a soldier in their fight between each other. The soldier is able to defeat both wizards, and is revealed to be a wizard himself. As usual, Wood's art is quite good, and the story, while not having a horror theme, is pretty good too.

Vampirella 62

Enrich provides the cover for this issue of Vampirella.

First is "Starpatch, Quark & Mother Blitz" by Jose Gonzalez (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story continues from the previous issue's story, where Vampirella had her eyes stolen by the Blood Red Queen of Hearts. Suddenly a group of aliens arrive, those listed in the title, and save her, giving her her eyes back. They also restore Pendragon's heart, which had been stolen by the Queen.

Next is "U.F.O." by Ramon Torrents (art) and Josep Toutain (story). Toutain was the head of Seleciones Illustrada, the art agency that managed the majority of the spanish artists that worked for Warren. This story was meant to appear in the magazine "Yesterday, Today... Tomorrow" but since that magazine was never published, it ended up here. This story is about a man who searches for U.F.O.s with a newspaper reporter and finds them in a winter landscape. They go to the Air Force, which doesn't believe them, discreding them. In the epilogue it ends up that the aliens are real, as they attack humanity.

Third is "Beautiful Screamer" by Leopold Sanchez (art) and Bruce Jones (story). Some very nice art by Sanchez on this story. It features a handyman and a maid who are after an old man's money, trying to get put in his will. They convince him to do so by tricking him into thinking he's dreaming when he actually is drugged. When it is revealed that the old man has a nephew, they rush to poison him before they are removed from the will. The handyman however only dreams that he switched the old man's wine with poison, and both him and the maid end up drinking the poison by mistake instead of the old man.

Fourth is "Time Ticket" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Gerry Boudreau (story). This story features a sorceress who is able to grant anyone's wish as long as they give her 7 minutes of her life. Multiple people in this story ask her for the wish, but each time disastrous results happen. An interesting concept, although not the strongest ending.

Fifth is "Fog" by Carmine Infantino & Dick Giordano (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). This story features a dangerous fog that chases a couple. They are able to escape from it, but it adapts by turning into a liquid, and getting at them that way.

Last is "By Treason's Knife", written by Gerry Boudreau. While the art is credited to Leopold Sanchez, this art looks to me to be done by Jose Ortiz. The story takes place in World War 2, where a soldier is recruited by his commanding officer to go on a secret mission to kill Rommel, getting close to him by betraying his allies. He betrays his allies, but the commanding officer set him up, as the gun he's been given has no bullets and he fails to kill Rommel, dying instead.

Creepy 90

Enrich provides the cover for this issue of Creepy, one of his few Creepy covers.

First is "Warrior on the Edge of Forever" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story was originally intended for the war special of the prior issue. Its about a man who has dreams of prior lives as a soldier in important wars and conflicts. This story features photos of Warren production assistant Bill Mohalley as a dictator.

Second is "The Wash Out" by Leo Duranona (art) and Bruce Jones (story). A man and an android head out to a planet to find a woman. The man has a lot of disrespect for the android, although they do end up having sex with each other. Eventually they find the woman, who ends up being an android trying to pose as a human, and she's killed by them. Our protagonist ends up being an android after all, the android companion was actually a human all along, and he ends up shorting out his circuits when he drinks some coffee.

Third is "The Search" by Carmine Infantino & Gonzalo Mayo (art) and Roger McKenzie (story). This story is about a town's search for a vampire that has been killing many of its occupants. The story is told from a person who lost his lover to a vampire. It ends up that our narrator is the vampire, and he ends up getting killed by his own father.

Fourth is "Please... Save the Children" by Martin Salvador (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story tells of a child killer whose daughter ended up dying after she ran away after being spanked. This causes him to go out and start killing children of parents who he perceives as treating them badly. Even though his father is the President of the US, this doesn't stop the prison from executing him.

Fifth is "The Sacrifice" by Auraleon (art) and Jose Toutain (story). This story tells of a tribe which feels the need to sacrifice its most beautiful virgin each year to its God. Even though the sacrifice this time is the chief's daughter, they go ahead with it anyway. The God they worship ends up being a giant computer. A short story at only four pages long.

Last is "Dollie" by Leopold Sanchez (art) and Roger McKenzie (story). This story was originally intended for the previous Christmas special. It features children being given horrific gifts by Santa Claus that cause havoc, such as a rifle that a boy uses to shoot his parents, not knowing it was real and a chemistry set that blows up the entire house. Another girl is given a doll that acts like a vampire. When the mother tears off its head, her daughter's head falls off. It ends up that it isn't Santa, but rather Satan that is giving out these gifts.

Vampirella 71

Here's another issue of Vampirella featuring a photograph of Barbara Leigh, as Vampirella.

First up is "The Case of the Connected Clows and the Collector!" by Jose Gonzalez (art) and Bill Dubay (story). Vampi is in Hollywood with Pantha, working on shooting for a movie. Meanwhile movie stars have been dissappearing including one working on the movie. It ends up that a crazed man at the production studio has been kidnapping them and he does so to Vampi, who is able to escape. A parallel storyline featuring Pantha and her encounter with siamese twins with domineering sexual habits also takes place. In contrast to the recent Vampi stories I've been reviewing, this is a pretty good story, with terrific art by Gonzalez.

"Trial of the Sorceress" is next, by Esteban Maroto (art) and Maroto & Bill Dubay (story). It features a woman accused of being a sorceress by multiple men. She is found guilty and is tortured. At the end it seems that one of the accusers set her up for defying him, but she ends up being an actual sorceress and takes her revenge.

"Night of the Chicken" is third, by Jess Jodloman (art) and Michael Fleisher (story). This is a bizarre story about an old man who feeds real humans to his chickens. The story features multiple women dressing up in a strange chicken outfit. In the end the old man ends up getting eaten by his own chicken. Quite an odd story, but very good art.

Fourth is "Machu Picchu" by Luis Bermejo (art) and Josep Toutain & Nicola Cuti (story). This story was originally intended to be for an additional Warren magazine, 'Yesterday, Today... Tomorrow', but the magazine was never published, so it ended up here in Vampirella. The story features a treasure hunter at an Incan temple to tries to take the treasure there, and instead encounters astronauts, who tell him that its uranium! He doesn't listen to them and is killed along with the woman who has been helping them.

Last is "Australopithicus" by Leo Duranona (art) and Bruce Jones (story). This story features two storylines, one taking place with prehistoric man and one taking place with a man in modern times being forced to do things he doesn't want to do. The storylines converge at the end, with disastrous results for our main character. Very good art by Duranona in the prehistoric part of the story.