Vampirella #62 - Warren

Aug. 1977 - I haven't written about the sultry (but dangerous!) Vampirella in a long while, so let's see what's inside this issue, featuring a nice cover by Enrich:

First up is Vampi herself of course, in a story by Bill DuBay and Jose Gonzalez:

This story involves no less than a space alien (I mean, another one) who comes for Vampirella as she lays unconscious in an isolation ward. Meanwhile, two petty thieves are messing around with an ancient tome, and causing all kinds of havoc, like this absolutely priceless panel:

...that is classic. Nicely done, Mr. Gonzalez.

Turns out the monsters are friendly monsters--despite their appearance--and they are here to help Vampi by taking her to a place where she will be accepted. Wow, a happy ending for once!

Next is "U.F.O." by Josep Toutain and Ramon Torrents:

A reporter visits who she thinks is a mad man, claiming he has evidence of aliens. The government is more than skeptical, but this "mad man" turns out to very, very, right.

Next is probably the best piece in the book, "Beautiful Screamer", by Bruce Jones and Leopold Sanchez:

...a classic tale of sex, greed, duplicity, and murder. It reads like a classic EC Shock Suspenstory, complete with twist ending. Sanchez draws the most beautiful evil woman you ever saw.

A change of pace is next, with "Time Ticket", by Gerry Boudreau and Esteban Maroto, turning in his usual breathtaking art job:

A seductive witch offers anyone their heart's content, her price a mere seven minutes of their life. Who could say no to that?

Next is another nice change of pace, a straight ahead creeping monster story called "The Fog" by our pal Nick Cuti with art by Carmine Infantino and Dick Giordano:

...two real eggheads find themselves chased by a malevolent, killer cloud of death, but it turns out their big brains don't really help them much.

Last is "By Treason's Knife" by Boudreau and Sanchez:

...another brutal, EC-esque tale, of double-crossing and treachery on the battlefields of Libya in 1940, complete with uber-grim ending. A tough, terse yarn.

Finished off with eighteen pages of Captain Company ads (Superman and Batman radios---neat-o!), this is a superb issue of Vampirella--diverse stories, all of them very good to great, with fine art all around. A real winner of an issue.

All in Black & White Interview with Angelique Trouvere - 2007

Welcome to our newest interview at All In Black & White For 75 Cents! As I've said before, one of the most fun things doing these blogs is getting the chance to talk to the people who were personally involved with these great comics and magazines.

And one of the nicest people I've "met" online is Angelique Trouvere, who as most of you will remember was famous for her amazing self-made costumes(and her even-more amazing ability to fill them out) and become real-life versions of characters like Vampirella(left), Satana, and Red Sonja.

Even though Angelique had just finished an exhaustively wide-ranging interview with Richard Ardnt over at enjolrasworld, she generously agreed to talk to me:

All In Black and White: Had you seen many comic books before discovering Vampirella?

Angelique Trouvere: As a kid, I read Superman, Superboy, Lois Lane, some Disney & Classics Illustrated. Later, I found EC's, Mad, Conan the Barbarian and underground comics of the late '60's like Cheech Wizard, R. Crumb, Zap, & my fav: the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers--it was funny and had a very cool cat named Fat Freddy's Cat in it.

B/W: What was it like, discovering Vampirella and Warrens for the first time and then being in them so soon afterwards?

AT: Nothing prepared me for my first encounter with Vampirella! The overall look of the comic magazine was breathtaking as well and the stories intriguing but it was Vampi herself(drawn by Jose Gonzales) that captured my imagination and heart.

I started collecting everything I could find on her(I still have 3 of the original Warren 6-foot posters of her). I was into costumes and once I discovered comicCons and their masquerades, I decided to recreate her costume. In my interview at enjolrasworld, I go into detail about my whole Vampi experience and how it brought me to the attention of Warren writers, Gerry Boudreau & Anthony Tollin as well as editor, Bill DuBay. It was so incredibly exciting to be included in the article that Gerry was writing about the 1973 Seuling ComicCon that I appeared at as Vampirella. When I saw it in Vampi #29 I was beside myself with joy!

B/W: Warren Publications was clearly supportive of your efforts, running pics of you in their magazines. Did Marvel ever talk to you, or show you that same kind of interest?
AT: James Warren did not care for me at all and did not support me in any way as far as promoting me in his magazines. It was the efforts of Boudreau & DuBay that allowed me to share in the article in Vampi #29.

As for Marvel, Tony Isabella told me during our talks for the interview that he did try to get Marvel to do some sort of pictorial of me as Satana but no dice. As far as I know, the only coverage I ever got from Marvel was either in the letters column of one of their Conan magazines when they used a picture of me as Satana & my friend, Kris Lundy as the 1st appearance of Red Sonja, or in The Savage Sword of Conan #29(?) that carried the whole "Red Sonja & the Wizard Show" drawn by Frank Thorne and had added mini bios & pics of each of the Sonjas.

B/W: Judging by most of your costumes, you seemed drawn to the tougher comic book heroines, like Vampi and Red Sonja, as opposed to, say, Supergirl or the Invisible Girl--more "traditional"(and passive) female comic book characters. Was that how you saw yourself?

AT: Definitely! I also preferred more challenging costumes to recreate. When I met artist, George Perez at a masquerade, he told me that a friend had told him that I refused to recreate the Scarlet Witch--which he was drawing at the time--because her costume was too simple.

Perez said that upon hearing that he decided that one day he would create a challenging costume that I would have to make and he did! It was Princess Kori (aka: Starfire) of the Teen Titans and I had that costume on my "to do" list but my life got side tracked and I sadly never got to do it.

B/W: How were you able to successfully fend off what had to be hordes of...er, overly-excited comic book fanboys at conventions?

AT: Really never had any problems with fanboys--maybe it was the sword...?

B/W: Have you always been comfortable performing, or was it something you slowly got used to?

AT: Always :) I've been a ham since I was a baby!

B/W: What did you enjoy more, the making of the costumes or the performing in them?

AT: While I enjoy the challenge of making a costume, performing is a lot easier.

B/W: I'm sure constructing costumes yourself took an enormous amount of patience and concentration. Did you enjoy that process, or was it just a means to getting to perform in them, which was the fun part?

AT: It's hard to say. Sometimes a costume would develop a glitch that would cause no end of headaches to complete. Others were great fun because I was making them with a friend. Sometimes I would be very focused on the project and found it very exciting when I completed a section. Blackadder & Queenie were like that because I had never attempted to do such a complex historically accurate pair of costumes before. I was always amazed to see each part was working out and the better it looked, the more excited I got.

As for the performing part, many times, I wasn't sure what exactly I would do until I was in costume and ready to head down to the masquerade. Although I had a general idea of what I'd like to do--it depended on the character of course.

Red Sonja was a sword-wielding warrioress and Daggit was so cute, all I had to do was walk out(on all fours), sit & twirl those ears to entertain the audience. When I became part of Kris Curling's "Doctors in the House" comedy group, then performance became more emphasized.

In fact, Kris & his co authors wrote a special piece just for me as the daggit. It was based on the early Wild Kingdom TV show and featured some hysterical slapstick between a very frustrated Jim Fowler and a wild "Bush Daggit". In one scene I was pulled across stage riding a skateboard to escape Jim! (It was called "Hunting the Wild Bush Daggit")

B/W: If you were still making and dressing up in costumes today, are there any contemporary heroines you'd try? Lara Croft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spider-Woman?

AT: Most of the current heroines are not that interesting costume-wise. I think I've gotten a bit burned out. But that doesn't mean I can't be inspired again someday. One of the last ones I did some years back was Elvira because she's fun to do.

B/W: Have you kept up with many of the people you met in comics?

AT: Thanks to both the internet and my interview, I have been in touch a lot more of my old comic con friends.

B/W: What's a Library Technician? Do the people you work with have any idea there are pictures of you (almost)dressed as Vampirella and Red Sonja around, in print? :)

AT: "Librarians: the original search engine." :) A Library Technician is another word for Library Assistant or Associate--which means that I can do many of the specialized services that librarians can offer like catalogue books, locate books & articles, request same from other libraries, etc. But I don't have a Masters degree in Library Science which expands the abilities of the librarian.

As for my coworkers knowing about my other life: only the really cool ones know.


It was soooo much fun talking to Angelique, her enthusiasm for the comics and her love for what she was doing is contagious, even all these years later. I thank her very much for taking the time to talk to me, she's a real sweetheart. Thanks Angelique!
_________________________________________________________

So with this interview with the awesome Angelique, we're ending what I'll oh-so-trendily call "Season One" of All In Black & White For 75 Cents. When I first started the blog, I had a few hundred b/w mags and I knew over time I'd go through them all. I've bought some more over time, as well(and had some sent to me) but I knew I wanted to hit a pause at some point, and that's where we're at now.

I'm going to take a two-week break from posting here, but when we come back on Monday, December 10, we'll kick off a two-week extravaganza where we'll be talking about nothing but first issues and/or magazines that have never been discussed before here on the blog. I've got some cool stuff, some long overdue stuff, and some just plain weird stuff on tap and it oughta be a lot of fun. (I also want to work on the format a little bit--a few more graphics, and maybe a little more in-depth examinations of certain important issues.)

So thanks for checking out my humble little blog, and please stay tuned, the best is yet to come. See you December 10!

Vampirella Aurora Model Kit Ad

This ad ran in approximately five million comics in the seventies, and only over time have I come to notice some its...stranger elements.

First up, a few years ago, I finally noticed the unbelievably odd line in panel 3 "Don't worry, this is New York. No one will help her." Holy crap, what an odd line to put in an ad for a kid's toy!

Secondly, this has to be the only time I can think of where another comic book company's character appeared in a DC or Marvel book--loooong before Superman met Spidey--and of all characters, it was the decidedly adult b/w magazine star Vampirella!

(This had to be one of those weird moments in publishing where Jim Warren couldn't run an ad for Vampirella in a DC comic, but a company licensing the character from Warren could. Weird, like the moment when Charlton almost ended up with the rights to publish the Super Friends comic)

Third, this is just a really grim ad. Frankenstein killed people, sure, but this is one of the rare times I can think of where he's portrayed as being flat-out evil, kidnapping an innocent woman off the street! Why do I think that the guys who make the Saw movies had this model kit?

Vampirella Sticker Ad - Warren

This ad jumped out at me, and not for the obvious reason(s).

No, it's because the Warren marketing department really outdid themselves with the ad copy.

"9 Inches of Pulchritude!" is great, "An Asset to Any Window" is even better, but my favorite is "For Car! Cycle! Home! School!"--yeah, can you imagine how well a sticker like this would go over at school, slapped on your notebook or on your locker? You'd have an easier time carrying a knife.

Vampirella #61 - Warren

I love this cover by Enrich--the confident pose is sexy as hell. Sure, it's not scary, but we can always do that next month, right?

First up is "An Eye For An Eye" by Bill DuBay and Jose Gonzales. The evil Queen of Hearts starts extracting revenge on her enemies, first by plucking out Vampi's eyes(!!) and next...Pendragon's heart! Superbly expressive art by Gonzales.

Second is "Skimpole's Monsters" by DuBay and Ramon Torrents, about a woman who cheats on her puppeteer husband(oh, not that old plot again) which leads to death. Goes on a little long, and is a little dialogue heavy, but not bad.

Next is "Brother Hawk" by Nicola Cuti, Carmine Infantino, and Alex Nino. A mystical tale of two Indian brothers on a spiritual quest. Interesting combo of Infantino and Nino, and the story is sparsely told and effective.

Fourth is "The Enchanting Tale of Thistlewhite the Bold" by DuBay and Russ Heath. A slightly less serious tale of an ex-knight whose wife is taken from him, and he finds out in the end that's not so bad, really. Fun tale a great ending, and exquisite art by Heath--his demons were scary, his faces expressive, and his women voluptuous. One of my favorite Warren stories.

Last is "Companions to the Sun" by Bruce Jones and Leopold Sanchez. A classic set-up--two guys stranded in the desert--involving a perfect odd couple--an earthman and an alien, whose spaceship has crashed! Downbeat tale, but well done.

A very good issue, with a real nice mix of stories and art.

Vampirella The Movie Ad - Warren

This full-page ad ran on the inside back covers of Warren's Nov. 1975 issues; I think they got a little ahead of themselves with the phrase "Now in production."

This reminds me of the approximately seventy-five thousand times Stan Lee would write in his "Stan's Soapbox" column something like "The Spider-Man movie will be out next year; it'll be the smash hit of summer 1982! Excelsior!" Uh-huh.

Of course, much later, a Vampirella movie did get made, but the less said about that, the better.

Vampirella #21 - Warren

This was the issue of Vampirella that Joe Jusko remembered so fondly buying as a kid, so when I saw it(with its awesome cover by Enrich) available on ebay for just a couple of bucks I couldn't resist. I mean--sexy babe, creepy skull; what's not to like?

The inside covers are filled with a two-page sequence called "Mind-Benders!" by Bill DuBay, about a woman caught under the spell of one of the first hallucinatory drugs and how it drove her mad...or maybe just allowed her to see things we can't?

The Vampirella story is "Slitherers of the Sand!" by Chad Archer and Jose Gonzalez. Vampirella and her pals("The Vampi Gang") find themselves stranded in the desert, where tensions mount and she must defend her friends against Coujnt Dracula, even though she has fallen in love with him! Will she choose her friends over the only other person who truly understands her?

Next is "The Tomb of the Gods" by Esteban Maroto, about a warrior named Altik who gives up everything to become a legend. Maroto didn't make small points in his stories.

Third is "Paranoia" by Steve Skeates and Luis Garcia, about a man unsure who or what--if anything--is out to get him. Garcia's art works perfectly with this claustrophobic tale set entirely in one man's mind.

Next is a text piece called "Puppy Love!"(a "Vampirella Short-Short Shocker!") featuring some spot illustrations by Rich Buckler, and then last is "The Vampiress Stalks The Castle This Night" by Don McGregor and Felix Mas, a really unusual tale of a couple who stop at a creepy castle and are stalked by a female vampire.

That setting is, of course, pretty typical, by Mas' art is full of unusual angles, design work, and heavy lights and darks. Cartoony yet still very weird:
...not that there's anything wrong with McGregor's story, its just that Mas really gives it a very different feel. Nicely done, and a solid issue overall!

Vampirella #20 - Warren

This is one creepy cover, courtesy Luis Dominguez! I think the absence of any real cover copy only makes it that much more weird, something you didn't see much.

"Vampi's Feary Tales" on the inside front cover is about "The Matrimonial Murderer", and is by Doug Moench and Auraleon.

First up is Vampi in "When Wakes the Dead" by T.Casey Brennan and Jose Gonzalez. Part of a story from the previous issue, we find our heroine back in time and dealing with the actual Dracula...who she falls in love with!

Second is "Gender Bender", art and story by Estaban Maroto, so you know you're in for a head-tripping couple of pages. And this story is no exception, taking place as it does inside the human psyche! Break out Pink Floyd's The Wall and start reading.

Third is "Love Is No Game" by Steve Skeates and Luis Garcia, a really nasty tale of a woman in love with the wrong man. The really wrong man.

Next is "Eye Opener!" by Moench and Auraleon, about a guy who visits a haunted house, populated by a really weird old lady and her comely daughter. Be careful, buddy...

Last is "Vengeance, Brother...Vengeance!" by Greg Potter and Luis Dominguez, a really imaginative tale set in Medeval times, about an intrepid knight sneaking his way into the castle of the evil Jenwral(the creepy guy pictured on the cover) in an attempt to avenge someone who's not dead! The dark humor tone of this story and the sort of thick-headed knight reminded me a bit of Ash in Army of Darkness!

A very good issue, with each tale being a fun read, and all of them very different from each other. A real keeper.

Vampirella #41 - Warren

Since we ran a Vampi ad yesterday I thought it made perfect sense to examine the (financial)savior of Warren today.

I don't have that many issues of Vampirella--at least, compared to what I have of Creepy and Eerie--and I think that's because as a kid, those sexy Vampi covers(like this one, by Enrich) sorta scared me off...and maybe they still do today? Hmm, this requires some more thought...

Anyway, after a nice pencil pin-up by Jose Gonzalez, we have "The Malignant Morticians!"(great title) by Flaxman Loew and Leopold Sanchez. Vampi and her pal Pendragon are in the charming little town of Sinkville, where Pendy discovers his uncle's ring buried inside a can of dog food. Do the local mortician and the dog food manufacturer have an unsavory relationship?(as a dog owner, I have to say....eww. Thank God Johnny gets dry food!) Nice cartoonish work by Sanchez, whose use of mood and chiaroscuro(I've always wanted to get that word in here one of these days!)are reminiscent of Gene Colan's work. A fun story with a very EC-esque ending(how many times have I said that?)

Next is Dracula in "Rainy Night in Georgia"(which was a hit for Vicki Lawrence, I believe), about a rape victim running away from her attacker stumbles upon a traveling circus which contains as one of its members the Lord of the Undead. Nie, melancholy ending, where we find ourselves sort feeling for poor Drac. Story by Gerry Boudreau and nice moody art by Estaban Maroto.

Third is "The House on the Sea" by the always-great Jim Stenstrum and art by Auraleon. A group of sailors stumble upon a giant, creepy house...right in the middle of the ocean! They enter and meet its inhabitants, an odd group of people who might be ghosts. Really inventive setting and ultra-detailed work by Auraleon, whose work here looks almost like woodcuts, which work with the sea-faring setting perfectly.

Next is "The Wickford Witches" by Boudreau and Jose Ortiz, about a reverend who is killed and the townspeople are suspected of the crime, and of using the Dark Arts. Very abrupt ending which frustrated the heck out of when I first read it but is now growing on me...

Last is "Goodbye My Love Goodbye", story and art by Fernando Fernandez, about a robot woman duplicate named Human Sonja, who acts as a companion for a man named Nicholas. But of course, humanity can't be duplicated, not exactly, at least.

The sequential storytelling by Fernandez is a little weak--each page seems to consist of beautifully drawn images, to be sure:
...but I found they don't really flow together to tell a story. Nevertheless, its a fine story with a nice hook, and it is wonderful to look at.

Top it off with some Captain Company ads and you've got a fine issue of Vampirella!

Vampirella Ad - Warren

This was Vampi's debut in a Warren mag--a two-page spread advertising her new magazine.

As Jim explained in The Warren Companion, the company was floundering, having lost a lot of its creative talent and deeply in debt. Creepy and Eerie were half-reprints, and something needed to be done to turn it around.

Luckily, Vampirella came along at exactly the right moment. The mag was a smash and it helped Warren rebuild and come back stronger than ever. Thanks Vampi!

Vampirella #49 - Warren

Another issue of Vampirella, another fine, sexy/spooky cover, this time by Enrich.

After a frontspiece by Ramon Torrents and a letters page is a fun survey called "Vampi's Vault", featuring questions like "Do you like down-beat stories wherein the protagonist is destroyed?"(er, yes...no...sometimes!) and "What stimulates your imagination most about Vampirella?"(do we really need to answer that?).

The opening Vampi story is called "The Blood Red Queen of Hearts" by Bill DuBay and Estaban Maroto, about a mysterious, mostly-naked lady who wants to become the Queen of Chaos, and she figures the best way to do that is to bring The Big C the still-beating heart of Vampirella! Contains a rare scene of Vampi putting clothes on. The story is cool and bloody and exciting, and, wow, does Maroto draw some sexy women("What stimulates your imagination most about Vampirella?").

Next is "The Thing in Jane's Closet" by Budd Lewis and Torrents, about a woman who is convinced there's something in her bedroom closet. No one believes her, of course, even the psychiatrist hired to help her...good story with a fun, creepy ending.

Third is "Then One Foggy Christmas Eve" by Gerry Boudreau and Joaquin Blasquez, about a series of unsettling, sentinent Christmas presents and their plans for the world. Yes, you read that right.

Fourth is "Jewel in the Mouth of A Snake" by Jose Bea, a goofy tale about a legend of a giant jewel that lives in the mouth of a monstrous snake. EC-esque in its approach and humor, and a classic kick-in-the-pants ending.

Next is the color feature, "The Succubus Stone"(great title!) by Boudreau, Steve Clement, and Torrents, with color by Shelly Berne. It's about a police detective investigating a mysterious death and how it leads him to a house of women run by the even more mysterious "Madame Govay." Considering the horror/fantasy element is placed squarely in the middle of a dry, realistic setting, it can't be a conicidence that the detective's name is Matheson.

The last story is Poe's "The Oblong Box", adapted by Rich Margopoulos and Isidro Mones. Mones turns in a nice, sometimes cartoony art job on Poe's classic tale of the overseas traveller with the curious coffin-like box he brings on board.

This issue comes with no less than eighteen(!) pages of mouth-watering, allowance-busting Captain Company stuff, like EC reprints, Warren back issues, Pirates of the Caribbean model kits(Pirates of the Caribbean? that'll never sell!), superhero pins, paperback books, and even a full-page of Mego dolls! I wonder if I send the form in with a check I'll get anything...

Vampirella #44 - Warren

What else could follow Creepy and Eerie but Vampirella?

First off, I love this cover by Sanjulian--it's goofy yet ghoulish, tells a story all on its own, and, most bravely, doesn't feature the very thing that guarantees a sale--the pneumatic Vampi! It takes real guts to not do a standard T&A cover in favor of something more subtle, like this.

And before we even get to the stories, we get a beauty of a frontspiece by Neal Adams. You know the one--the giant eyeball creature, looming over our heroine, looking like he's about to grab her:

(click the eye to see the whole piece...if you dare!)

We kick off with the Vampirella story "Blood for the Dancing Sorcerer" by Bill DuBay, Gerry Boudreau, and Jose Gonzalez, about the title sorcerer and his cult that thinks it needs blood to survive...Vampirella's blood!

One of the constant things I love about these Vampi stories is how rarely people comment on this woman who dresses, you know, like Vampirella, even when they're just standing around. The closest we get here is when Vampi confronts the cult and yells "Freeze, everyone!" and the head poobah says "The woman! She certainly has no lack of audacity!" You said it, pal.

Next up is "Love Strip" by Boudreau, Victory Mora, and Luis Garcia, whose photo-realistic style works well telling this story of a cartoonist who has been reincarnated many times and is now going mad. It's longer than most Warren stories(eighteen pages) but the extra space is used well to demonstrate this guy's slow descent into madness.

Third is "Troll" by Bruce Bezaire and Ramon Torrents, a goofy tale of an actual troll who lives under a bridge peacefully until he runs afoul of a trucker who don't like no trolls. The final tale stars the recurring character Pantha, and is called "Changing", by Budd Lewis and Auraleon.

I'm not too familiar with Pantha--it must be tough being the other sexy babe in Vampirella--but its not a bad story. Pantha joins an archaeological dig that quickly turns violent--from both natural and unnatural causes--and then you get to see what everyone was so willing to kill and/or die for.

And there's, as usual, the Captain Company stuff, including the ultra-rare Heidi magazine, produced by Warren all about sorta-famous genre fan Heidi Saha. It features the then-fourteen-year-old Heidi on the cover in a leopard-skin bikini.

As a Warren fan/collector, I'd love to find this rarity, but I wonder what laws I'd be breaking by buying it.

Vampirella #27 - Warren

Another mag that just arrived the other day, and our first Vampirella post! Who better to celebrate Valentine's Day with than Vampirella?

Growing up, I was never one much for Vampi, since I knew that any magazine with covers like these would probably not pass muster in my parent's house. Plus as a young boy, I think pictures of a woman who looked like her intimidated the hell outta me.

Now that I'm more mature (hollow laugh), I've come to appreciate the level of talent, craftsmanship, and fun that Warren brought to arguably its most famous creation. After a great spooky cover by Enrich (hey, where's a Vampirella: Cover to Cover hardcover?) this issue starts with "Wolf Hunt" by Joe Wehrle and the great Estaban Maroto. This is exactly the kind of story that would've kept me from getting this as a kid: the main female protagonist is nude during the entire story.

Next by Don McGregor and Luis Garcia is "Welcome to the Witches' Coven", a spooky tale about a cult of, you guessed it, witches. "Quavering Shadows", by Doug Moench and Jose Bea takes place in both modern day and medeival times, and features probably the wordiest Moench story ever. Next is "The Frog Prince", a humorous tale written and drawn by Bill DuBay, who was the Warren EIC at the time. While it's a nice break from all the doom and gloom, DuBay's art is...let's move on.

The color feature in this issue was a story starring Vampi herself by Jose Toutain and Jose Gonzalez. A nice little story, but stories like these always made me wonder why no one ever commented on how Vampirella was dressed. There's even a little kid in the story, and one look at Vampi would push any young boy into Instant Puberty.

"Cilia" by Nicola Cuti and Felix Mas, is an old-fashioned ghost story, complete with lost freighter. Jeff Jones writes and draws "Quest", a really nice moody morality tale. Jones' art is just beautiful, and each panel is a perfect balance of black and white.

After that of course are all those great Captain Company ads, so that must mean we've reached the end of the...hey, wait a minute! There's one more story, tucked in the back of the issue, written and drawn by Wally Wood! "War of the Wizards" is a classic Woody-style tale of barbarians, naked women, and wizards, all with tongue firmly in cheek. This is one of the best stories in the issue...why its buried amid ads for Vampirella t-shirts and monster make-up kits is beyond me.

One last fun feature is on the inside covers, front and back, is a game board for the "Capture" game, complete with player pieces and a spinner that you cut out yourself. How many issues of Vampirella #27 got mangled by kids eager to play the game I do not know. Luckily my copy is complete.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to go get my scissors...