Piranha Party: VAMPIRELLA

Showing posts with label VAMPIRELLA. Show all posts

GOGOS, VAMPI STAR IN HERITAGE AUCTION

Posted by 1001web

Heritage Auctions has released the catalog for its next Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction, to be held May 10-11 in Dallas and online. While there are no monster movie magazines included this time, I'd say there are several items that will be of interest to MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD readers.

Basil Gogos is renowned and beloved for his FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND cover art. The original cover painting for FM #14 of Vincent Price in THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM is up for sale. It measures 8” x 11.5” and is done in acrylics on illustration board. Based on the catalog photo, the painting still looks beautiful after fifty years!

Serious VAMPIRELLA collectors as well as the more casual Vampi fans may want to check out the paintings of Drakulon’s favorite daughter by Enrique Torres (Enric). One is an oil on canvas recreation of Jose Gonzalez’s famous life-sized poster. There is also a slightly smaller pencil illustration of the same picture. The original cover art for VAMPIRELLA #110 is offered, featuring Vampi with Balazaar. In two other gorgeous works of art, Enric paints Vampi from behind, looking over her shoulder at the viewer, as she confronts a panther and a giant, furry monster. Enric painted covers for other Warren magazines, as well. His artwork for CREEPY #115 of an alien carrying a nearly-nude human woman is a striking example.

There are also a couple of copies of VAMPIRELLA #1 in very nice condition up for bid, also. They are CGC-graded and sealed, which is a great selling point, I suppose. I prefer to read my Warren mags instead of sealing them up.

When Orsatti Productions was planning a full-length animated feature of DRACULA in 1975, they commissioned character designs from the great Frank Frazetta. His Dracula and Van Helsing studies are offered in this auction. They are head shots done in watercolor and pencil and the Dracula picture is particularly creepy. If you have Frazetta’s LEGACY book, check out page 112 to see a copy.

Three more of the R. Crumb Monster Card messages from the 1965 Topps series are in this auction. Unlike previous catalogs, this time the catalog writer includes some decent descriptive information about the artwork. The pieces, all 3.5” x 4.75”, lack the photos with the punch line which made these cards funny. Apparently the drawings were placed in an album with black paper pages and have some black residue with small glue stains. Bummer! There is a huge selection of Crumb artwork in this auction and I am wondering if a good portion of it is from his personal collection.

There are at least 29 lots of pulp magazines, including several issues of the classic WEIRD TALES. A number of STRANGE TALES copies from the early 1930s contain stories by fantastic authors Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, August Derleth, and Hugh B. Cave. HORROR STORIES, EERIE, and SPICY ADVENTURE are also represented.

Check out Heritage Auctions’ web site, HA.com, for more information and images. Just to be clear, I am not an employee of the auction house and none of the items mentioned are mine. I enjoy looking at this stuff and making plans for when I hit the Lotto! And I think it is of interest to other readers of MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD.

Read More → GOGOS, VAMPI STAR IN HERITAGE AUCTION

VAMPI AND CRUMB ON THE AUCTION BLOCK

Posted by 1001web

Last month, it was reported here at MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD of a piece of original art for sale from the Robert Crumb monster card series he created for Topps in the 1960s. The artwork was included in the February Heritage Comics & Comic Art Auction in New York. The piece, "I Love Your Beautiful Eyes," sold for $1912! That price includes the commission. Inflation is not dead in the comic/monster art world! Two similar drawings sold last year for $776 and $1135. The number of bidders for the Crumb drawing also increased, with fifteen individuals bidding for the monster card original.

Also auctioned were two Vampirella paintings by Enrique Torres-Prat, better known to readers of Warren's VAMPIRELLA as "Enric", which commanded prices of $1314 and $1434. Both were listed in "good" condition in the catalogue and both are beautiful.

And you thought there was a recession going on!

Read More → VAMPI AND CRUMB ON THE AUCTION BLOCK

NO CAPTAIN (CO.) FROM CASTILLE

Posted by 1001web

Jim Warren set his sights on Spain for an untapped combination of market, budget, and talent that had yet to be seen in the world of monster 'zines. He hired a stable of artists to draw for his comic magazines that was virtually uparalleled in the day.

It comes as no surprise then, that the fifth issue of the Spanish language version of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, entitled, FAMOSOS MONSTERS DEL CINE (August 1975), contains advertising for other licensed Warren publications.

First published in 1971,VAMPUS was the first of three Spanish versions of CREEPY. Running for 77 issues, it contained an assortment of reprints from CREEPY, EERIE, and VAMPIRELLA, along with a letters page, a fan page with fan art that had been sent in to the magazine, text stories with illustrations by Auraleon (as did at least one issue of FAMOSOS MONSTERS DEL CINE), and an occasional non-fiction piece on monster movies a'la FAMOUS MONSTERS.

Another weirdly-titled Spanish/Warren product was entitled RUFUS, the Spanish version of EERIE. Believed to have begun publishing as early as 1973, RUFUS ran for 56 issues. It contained stories from both EERIE and VAMPIRELLA (with Vampi's images removed). David Horne reports that later editions even included material from Skywald (PSYCHO, NIGHTMARE) and DC Comics (!).

Cover art from U.S. CREEPY #66.

VAMPIRELLA was yet another Warren publication that found its way to "revistas" in Spain. This series, first published in 1974, ran for 38 issues. It also included stories from the other Warren comic 'zines, as well as illustrated short stories and articles about monster movies. All three revistas used Warren cover art and all had two or more issues that were called "Yearbooks".

Cover art from U.S. VAMPIRELLA #29.

Again according to Horne, a company calling itself "Moebius" sold some monster-related merchandise in various issues of these magazines. There were also ads for the 6-foot Jack Davis Frankenstein poster (see below) and the 6-foot Jose Gonzalez Vampirella poster. The Warren mail-order business CAPTAIN COMPANY was absent from the Spanish publications. How lucky for them! If you thought we had it bad, could you imagine the wait that the Spanish Monster Kids would have had to endure?!

Read More → NO CAPTAIN (CO.) FROM CASTILLE

KEN KELLY'S VAMPIRELLA 2012 CALENDAR

Posted by 1001web

Ken Kelly is no stranger to fans of fantasy and genre art. He has been creating images of lost worlds, outer realms, and barbarian warriors for a long time. Now, as a partner in C2K2 Productions, he has created his first calendar in 20 years, the 2012 VAMPIRELLA calendar.

Here's the skinny from the Dynamite Entertainment web page:

"On sale now! Fantasy art legend Ken Kelly and Vampirella have teamed up for a year long event which kicks off now! Dynamite Entertainment and C2K2 Productions present an all new calendar of our favorite femme fatale. Featuring the art of Ken Kelly depicting the heroine in never before seen art in 12 exquisite oil paintings. This is Ken Kelly's first calendar in more than 20 years and he chose Vampirella as his muse for his revival. This wall calendar measures 12"X12" and features incredible reproductions of Ken's art.C2K2 Productions is also offering autographed copies of the calendar courtesy of Ken Kelly. Follow the link to their website for more info! About Ken:Born in 1946 in New London, Connecticut, Ken Kelly practically came into our world with a pencil in his hand. He started drawing at the fragile age of two and has not stopped since. Under the guidance of Frazetta, Ken was able to fine-tune his skill even further. Frazetta stressed how important it was to put feeling into creating a painting and to let the action on the canvas come from the imagination. Ken took those words to heart and has lived by them ever since."

Read More → KEN KELLY'S VAMPIRELLA 2012 CALENDAR

VAMPI SAYS: "AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!"

Posted by 1001web

[Image of Julie Strain from the 2001 VAMPIRELLA CALENDAR]

Read More → VAMPI SAYS: "AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!"

VAMPI CALENDAR: DECEMBER 1977 . . . AND 2011

Posted by 1001web

Well, this is the last installment of the Warren Calendar for 1977/2011. Maybe one of you youngsters can repost it come January, 2045. Unless the Elixir of Life is finally discovered, it's unlikely I'll be around to do it!