Talk about blasts from the past! While cleaning up my studio the other day, I came across a stack of small-press minicomics I’d collected over the years. And who did I find posing on the back cover of one of them? Lorelei—not only in her iconic blouse-and-tights costume, but in her original, 1988-era costume!
Yeah, I’m not all that impressed by that original costume, either. 😀 Opera gloves and leather boots and fishnet stockings with frilly garters, combined with a minimal one-piece swimsuit? In retrospect, it’s like something the demented lovechild of Howard (Black Kiss) Chaykin and Marc (Witchblade) Silvestri would have designed! What was I thinking?
It’s a good thing, then, that the above illustration is by artist Jim Gillespie, who actually made that costume look halfway decent! Jim had written me in 1989 to ask if it was all right if he did a pinup of Lori and submitted it to Brad Foster’s Goodies, a p*rny minicomic series that had quite a successful run. When I saw the final result…wow, was I impressed!
Speaking of amazing interpretations of Lori by talented artists, have you taken a look at the Visions of Lorelei art gallery? It’s a celebration of Lorelei’s 25 years as SWC’s first leading lady of horror, and features pinups by such luminaries as Frank Thorne (Red Sonja), Gray Morrow (Zatanna), Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Joseph Michael Linsner (Dawn/Vampirella), and Jim Balent (Catwoman). Just follow the “Gallery” link and scroll down to check out the fantastic pieces! (And don’t forget to take a look at the “13 Days of Pan-demonium” gallery—a celebration of our teen Goth adventuress, Pandora Zwieback—while you’re at it.)
