Posted in: Comics, Dynamite | Tagged: christopher priest, dynamite, vampirella

Christopher Priest Writes Vampirella: Year One for Dynamite

Christopher Priest, who has been writing Vampirella for the last three years as one of the most politically incisive, racially challenging, a woke carving up of America that the kind of people who would usually be offended on Fox News and/or YouTube have missed, because it's just Vampirella, is going further back. A new series with Ergün Gündüz and Giovanni Timpano drawing different periods of time, will be Vampirella: Year One.

Vampirella is the vampire superheroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and Trina Robbins in 1969 as a host character for the anthology horror magazine Vampirella. Writer-editor Archie Goodwin later developed the character from horror-story hostesses, to a horror-drama leading character. The magazine was published continuously until 1983, when Warren Publishing folded and its assets were bought by Harris Publications, later purchased by Dynamite Entertainment, who have published Vampirella comic books in one shape or form since.

" In July 2019, the boundary-breaking and acclaimed Christopher Priest kicked off Vampirella's 50th anniversary celebration. Now, three years later the next chapter begins – by going back to the beginning! Vampirella: Year One debuts this summer.

This limited event series is not only an exploration of the Daughter of Drakulon's earliest days, but also a follow up to the explosive conclusion of Vampirella / Dracula: Unholy. Our vampiress is now wanted for murder, with every demon, vampire, whack-job zealout, reporter, and law enforcement officer on Earth hunting for her. As she takes refuge hidden away, Vampirella begins to recall and question how and why she came to this planet in the first place.

Priest shared, "I'm actually a bit surprised this hasn't been done before. There are vast areas of Vampirella's life, especially her childhood on Drakulon, which remain largely unexplored. Half our series will be a kind of 'pilot' episode to gauge interest in artist Ergün Gündüz's amazing reinterpretation of Drakulon and the new history we created during our 'Interstellar' story arc in Vampirella #18-21."

"The remaining issues will take an odd turn on the E.T. story, examining the plight of many refugees who come to America seeking asylum and freedom. Vampirella leaves Drakulon on a mission of mercy, unaware that, due to the crude state of Earth technology, it will be a one-way trip."

"Stranded in a strange land, Vampi is a literal illegal alien, immigrant and lost soul in 1969 New York City–a far more dangerous city than it is today. Vampirella does not understand our language, our culture, our politics. We land her squarely back in the pages of her original Warren Publishing book, with cameos from some of the original cast. The book is a lot of fun while also exploring important themes of who we are as Americans and how to live up to our core values."

Artist Giovanni Timpano returns to illustrate the present-set framing sequences. For the core tale, Priest is reunited with Ergün Gündüz after the pair started the whole run back on Free Comic Book Day 2019. Letterer Willie Schubert continues to contribute as well. Together, the creative team is overhauling and expanding the classic origin story from Forrest J. Ackerman and Tom Sutton that originally amounted to just a handful of pages.

Dynamite invites readers to travel to the scenic, exotic sites of Drakulon, and then back in time to 1960s New York City, where Vampi finds herself grappling with depression and intense loneliness as she attempts to build a new life. Through the series she will meet her first friends like the fan-favorites Pantha and Pendragon, as well as her first enemies. She'll also be navigating the turn of the decade amidst one of America's most turbulent periods. Grab your go-go boots, Afro Sheen, and love beads!"

Love beads… oh sorry, got it now, got confused for a little bit.

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