As you might be aware, this past Sunday night I appeared on J.D. Calderon’s YouTube series Indy Comics Explained, mainly to promote my latest book, From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures.
(J.D., by the way, is the writer/creator of the fantasy series The Oswald Chronicles and the anthropomorphic fantasy comic series Tall Tails, both published through his Dream Weaver Press company. He’s also been a friend of mine since we met back in the 1990s’ days of the indie comics explosion.)
Well, don’t worry if you missed it: since it’s on YouTube you can still watch the episode, in which I talk about my time as a professional book editor (and the troubles associated with such work, especially in licensed publishing), my history as a writer and as a self-publisher, the Saga of Pandora Zwieback series, my current work as scripter for Oniric Comics’ Sideral: The Last Earthman, and, if I were offered the chance to write comics for Marvel and/or DC, which characters I’d want to work on. And, of course, I was busy pushing the book I was there to promote, offering some hints as to what you’ll find in From the Stars…a Vampiress.
“Talking to Steve A. Roman” is available for viewing right now at Indy Comics Explained. If you’ve got an hour, click on the link and head on over to check it out.
From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures is a nonfiction book—not a comic—and a history of Vampirella that takes an extensive look at her early days, from the debut of her series in 1969 to the death of Warren Publishing in 1983. I provide an in-depth guide to all her Warren stories, a checklist of all her Warren appearances (plus the publications from Harris Comics and Dynamite Entertainment that reprinted her Warren adventures), an overview of the six novelizations by pulp sci-fi author Ron Goulart that were published in the 1970s by Warner Books, and most important of all, what may be the first time anyone has actually told, in chronological order, the story behind the rise and fall of Hammer Films’ proposed Vampi movie of the 1970s that was meant to star Playboy model Barbara Leigh and horror icon Peter Cushing. It also includes my look at the awful 1996 direct-to-cable-TV movie that was made, starring Talisa Soto and Roger Daltrey; a peek at Peter Cushing’s personal copy of the ’70s Vampirella screenplay; a foreword by Official Vampirella Historian Sean Fernald, a frontispiece by Warren artist Bob Larkin, and photographs from the personal archives of Forrest J Ackerman.
From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures is available right now in print and as a PDF e-book, so visit its product page for ordering information. The print edition can be purchased from us as well as through your usual retail outlets like Amazon, Amazon UK, and Barnes & Noble; the e-book is available through the SWC webstore and DriveThru Fiction.
This book is unofficial and unauthorized. It is not authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by Dynamite Entertainment or any of its licensees. Vampirella is a trademark of Dynamite Entertainment.
