Comic of the Month

Vampirella: the Crimson Chronicles Maximum
by Various

With the recent passing of artist Jose Gonzalez I've picked a Vampirella book. The character he's best known for.

This large, phone book style, inexpensive collection features all her earliest adventures. Stories written by the likes of Archie Goodwin, Steve Englehart, and Len Wein amongst others. There are a handful of artists on this book but Jose Gonzalez does the bulk of the work and it is beautiful. Stunning comics work that is sexy and detailed. If I had a scanner...

The short of it is Vampirella escapes her dying homeworld of Drakulon to Earth. She encounters a doctor who creates a synthetic blood that would allow her to not feed on humans. But the doctor is caught up in a cult and book it worships called the Crimson Chronicles. As she goes on her mission to understand and destroy the cult she encounters an aging magician named Pendragon as well as the last of the Van Helsing family. Including Adam who is attracted to her.

The stories are surprisingly entertaining. Battles with Dracula, meeting Pendragons family, voodou and more. Honestly, this is the collection that amde me like the character. The only other Vampi stories I read were by stars Grant Morrison, Mark Millar and Amanda Conner.

It's big, cheap, and really pretty. Get it from a site that specializes in comcis. Amazon doesn't have it but Midtown comics does.