Vampirella Archives 2 [Rilegato]

...because in this volume Warren takes a giant leap forward! With volume 2, Dynamite has corrected everything I had to complain about with volume #1. Each cover is presented in crisp, clear color and the stories are clean and much more enjoyable to read. A huge improvement has been made! Yes, there are still many stories that fail to deliver, but it is not the fault of Dynamite this time. (Warren was always a bit spotty when it came to story quality, but when they succeeded they put it out of the ball park). I believe that Archie Goodwin was, without question, the cornerstone of Warren's success...Period! And this volume proves it. With his return as associate editor and lead author of the Vampirella saga everything turns around. From the very first panel of the very first story of issue #8,"Who Serves the Cause of Chaos?" it is clear that something has changed at Warren. Perhaps I'm partial to these comics because I remember buying these volumes at the corner bookstore when they were first published, but I think not. There was originality and great creative energy at play during this period of publishing history and we are all the better for it.
In this volume, the classic adds have been almost entirely removed and although I miss them, it's fine with me. All the other features such as the Scarlet Letters and Vampi's Flames do enough to keep the flavor of the original magazines. (I for one have always really enjoy reading the letters pages.)
Great covers are reproduced exactly as the originals were and Frank Frazetta does a fantastic cover for #11 while the wonderful Sanjulian makes his very first appearance on #12. Inside the issues, great artists such as Wally Wood, Tom Sutton and Jerry Grandenetti do some fantastic art and it is pure joy to have them in an archive volume such as this. (Grandenetti's wonderful "Jack the Ripper Strikes Again" in issue #9 has a few misplace pages. It would have been nice if Dynamite repaired this glitch.)
One of my favorite stories "The Soft, Sweet Lips of Hell" is presented for the first time in issue #10. Neal Adams illustration alway shines and he makes this tale a classic one....which, I'm sure, is why Warren reprinted it so many times in issues to come.
With issue #12 and the lead story "Death's Dark Angel", Archie Goodwin comes in with guns blazing! Jose Gonzales takes over for Tom Sutton as illustrator of the Vampirella saga and he delivers a beautiful and classic splash title page! Now the real fun begins and Vampirella's image takes a giant leap forward. I am a huge fan of Tom Sutton's work, but no one has ever created a more classic image of Vampirella than Jose. Also in this issue Wally Wood presents one of his greatest tales "To Kill a God" and Jeff Jones illustrates a stunning if not unusual "Quest".
In issue #13, Jose M. Bea, makes a memorable debut of "The Silver Thief and the Pharaoh's Daughter" and last but not least, one of my personal favorites of the Spanish artists, Esteban Maroto is introduced with "Wolf Hunt" in issue #14. I have to admit that I'm not a fan of much that is being published these days, and you can take that for what it is, but I stand on my opinions about the best of the work presented here. This volume is a must have!

Truly a remarkable volume, starts right off with a re-telling of the origins and introduces Dr. Van Helsing and weirdly explains how she lost her wings. The 21 pager is drawn by tom Sutton and set the template for Jose Gonzales who single handedly brought new meaning and life to the character. The earlier efforts were silly and campy, these efforts are really what Vampirella in her warren years is all about. And stories by Jeff Jones and a host of other excellent artists really show Warren at its best. Three excellent covers are by Sanjulian, who along with Enrich did the best Vampirella cover in the Warren era. Ken Kelly, Boris Vallejo and Frazetta each do a cover and there is a lame cover by Bill Hughes.
Up until now the character was a sideline to her own magazine, now she is center stage and there is no one like her in comics.

I have Creepy Archives & Eerie Archives, which I like, but I was blown away by Vampirella Volume 2 ! A much better deal with 370 pages & 7 issues, over the 250 pages & 5 issues of the other titles. This is the transition period from Tom Sutton doing decent art on Vampirella, to Jose Gonzales making the strip a work of art & the character his own. I disagree w/ other reviewer that there is little Vampirella in this collection. She has one story in six out of the seven issues. She rarely dominated the book, & on average, had one story per issue throughout her run, (except for specials & reprint issues).

The other stories in each issue are horror, like Creepy & Eerie, but much sexier. This collection features rare work by Barry Smith, Neal Adams, Dave Cockrum, Frank Brunner, Mike Ploog, Ken Barr, Billy Graham & Jeff Jones. If your mouth isn't watering, you're not a fan of great comic art. Not enough? You get at least 3 of Wally Wood's best b&w stories, a taste of Esteban Maroto (who will be featured heavily later) & early Ralph Reese. And of course, classic covers from Frazetta, Sanjulian & Vallejo.

I will be buying the next 3 or 4 of these archives, because I have the odd Warren issue btwn #20 and #40, & they are to me, the peak of Vampirella--with color too! I feel lucky to have gotten this new from Amazon for half price. Not sure about being worth $50, but if you can find for $25, these are the deal of the year!