Saturday, August 2, 2008

Vampirella 18


An average issue of Vampi behind a terrific Enrich cover featuring Vampi and Dracula, one of his best covers he ever did for this magazine. The frontis for this issue is "Vampi's Feary Tales: Nymphs" by Luis Garcia (art) and Kevin Pagan (story).

First is Vampi's story, entitled "Dracula Still Lives!" by Jose Gonzalez (art) and T. Casey Brennan (story). Continuing from the Dracula appearance in Vampirella 16, Dracula is once again brought to life when another man sits inside his coffin. He summons the conjuress, a powerful woman he had originally summoned when he was on Drakulon. Vampi meanwhile heads after Dracula into a mirror world where she decides to spare his life. Conrad, believing she is going to turn his son into a vampire seeks to destroy the mirror, trapping her in there forever, but Vampi is able to make it out okay.

Next is a segment of Tomb of the Gods, "Kali" by Esteban Maroto (story & art). As usual, this Tomb of the Gods segment is rather incomprehensible. It surrounds a young woman, Kali, who is set to be a sacrifice by her tribe, but instead is given powers and returns to her tribe where she is attacked and killed for real.

After that is "Song of a Sad-Eyed Sorceress" by Luis Garcia (art) and Don McGregor (story). McGregor's story is somewhat better than usual, helped tremendously by Garcia's extremely good art, but still contains his usual political nonsense. It surrounds a young woman who summons a sorceress after being dumped by a man she was seeing. The sorceress takes over her body, changes form and takes out revenge on the man by transforming into a giant snake and killing him. Only the sorceress decides to retain her body and won't give it back after the deed is done.


Up next is "Won't Get Fooled Again" by Auraleon (art) and Doug Moench (story). A rather complicated story featuring a woman and lover cooking up a complicated scheme where her husband will believe that she got married by a ghost and kill a rich old man she was having an affair with who shares the name of the ghost, but isn't actually one. As it ends up, the husband does kill the old man and is arrested, but the ghost is real and kills the two lovers.

The issue wraps up with "The Dorian Gray Syndrome" by Felix Mas (art) and Don Glut (story). A newspaper reporter seeks information on a young man who appears to have the same powers as the Dorian Gray of the well known Oscar Wilde story where a painting of the man ages in his place. Only it is revealed here that the painting was actually redone by the man himself, and he appears eternally young because he is a vampire! By stabbing the painting however, our hero miraculously is able to save herself and kill him.

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