Continuing Visions of Lorelei, an artistic celebration of the recent publication of Lorelei: Sects and the City, a Mature Readers graphic novel that reintroduces the soul-stealing succubus.
Today we reach the end of our 13-day event with a contribution penciled by Uriel Caton, artist of JSA Annual 2000, The Ex-Mutants, and The Outer Space Babes, and co-creator of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback (which sort of brings us full circle, since this artistic celebration was based on the similarly themed 13 Days of Pan-demonium, which you can still enjoy over at the Pandora Zwieback Web site).
Nineteen ninety-six found me in the midst of reviving the just-canceled original Lorelei series (which ran from 1993 to 1995), at new indie publishing house Power Comics. The publisher was a big fan of my writing and wanted to see Lori’s origin story pick up where I’d left off. We agreed on a two-pronged approach: he’d reprint the six SWC issues, starting with #1 (but skipping #0), while also releasing the unpublished seventh issue as the introductory Lorelei Returns! Special. That led to me suggesting we run a prologue in the special, during which Lori would introduce herself to new readers and tell The Story So Far. Now all we needed was someone to draw that intro…
Enter: Uriel Caton, with whom I’d worked on the first issue of Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa. I asked Uriel if he could pitch in, penciling four pages of Lori speaking directly to the reader, and ending with her changing into her costume to begin the story recap. Backing him up on inks would be “Chainsaw” Chuck Majewski, who’d been scheduled to work with artist Holly Golightly on Heartstopper #3 before its cancellation.
Now, Uriel has always been talented when it comes to drawing pretty girls, but teamed up with Chuck’s inks, the results were even more stunning than I’d expected—as you can see here. It’s just too bad that a) the reproduction levels of the finished comic were crap, washing out most of Chuck’s details; and b) Power Comics folded up just after the special was published, which put a quick end to Lori’s triumphant return. Still, it’s a fantastic piece that finally gets the proper presentation it always deserved.
* * *
And so that’s it—13 amazing drawings by 14 supertalented artists. I hope you enjoyed seeing them, and learning about their backgrounds. Now all that’s left is for you to order your own copy of Lorelei: Sects and the City—“Visions of Lorelei” is a sales-promotion gimmick, after all—so you can read Lori’s first complete graphic novel adventure.
Lorelei: Sects and the City features a cover painting by Esteban Maroto (Zatanna), a script by me, art by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0), Steve Geiger (Web of Spider-Man), Neil Vokes (Fright Night), and Ernie Colon (Vlad the Impaler), and pin-ups by Louis Small Jr. (Vampirella). It’s old-school horror, where the monsters are scary, the villains are wicked, and the women (even the evil ones) are stunningly beautiful. Order it today!
