Comics
Free To Be As Racy As She Wants To Be: Cult Character ‘Vampirella’ Bought By Dynamite Publishing
Talk about cult icons in comics, ‘VAMPIRELLA’ has been steaming up the covers of comic book covers since her first appearance all the way back in 1969 in Warren Publishing’s “VAMPIRELLA #1”, and has stood alongside such comic great as ‘UNCLE CREEPY’ and ‘COUSIN EERIE’. It has been a long, winding, tumultuous, and kinky journey for the scantily clad lady of the night, and today it was announced that the rights to the character would again be changing hands, this time to “THE BOYS” publisher Dynamite. Read on for the details.
Here’s An Excerpt From Bleeding Cool News Who Broke The Story,
“New York publisher Dynamite Entertainment has bought the character Vampirella, lock stock and two smoking canines, from Harris Publications. Oh, and bought Harris as well.
Created by Forrest J Ackerman in the late sixties as a new horror magazine lead, a kind of superheroine vampire for Warren Publications, developed with Archie Goodwin and Frank Frazetta , Vampirella revived the horror comic. Over time her skimpy red costume got skimpier and skimpier, though with the bankruptcy of Warren in the eighties the character was lost.
The character was revived by Harris in 1991, attracting creators from Warren Ellis to Mark Millar to Alanm Moore to Grant Morrison to Amanda Conner to Joe Quesada to Kurt Busiek to Jeph Loeb to Adam Hughes. In 2007, Fangoria claimed that they had purchased the character from Harris, something Harris denied and they continued to publish Vampirella books.”
Additionally Here Is A Press Release From Dynamite Themselves,
” March 17, 2010 – Before Twilight. Before True Blood. Before Buffy. Before Blade. There was…Vampirella! Leading comic book publisher, Dynamite Entertainment, is proud to announce it has acquired the Vampirella property from Harris Publications. Vampirella will become part of Dynamite’s thriving comic book line-up, which includes Project Superpowers, The Boys, Green Hornet, The Lone Ranger, Zorro, Army of Darkness, Red Sonja and more.
Vampirella debuted in 1969 in a black & white magazine titled simply VAMPIRELLA. With a stunning cover by legendary artist, Frank Frazetta, Vampirella #1 quickly made publishing history with its depiction of a vampire heroine, and its success prompted comics giants DC and Marvel to launch horror titles of their own. Vampirella appeared in this magazine format throughout the 1970’s. Many of these classic stories were illustrated by the legendary artist Jose Gonzalez and have remained quite popular with comics fans to the present day. After a brief publishing hiatus, Vampirella returned in 1992 and quickly regained her reigning status as the queen of all female comics characters! In continuous publication since her early 90s comeback, Vampirella has been written by top talents including Alan Moore, Mark Millar, Grant Morrision, James Robinson, Jeph Loeb, Warren Ellis, and illustrated by fan favorite artists such as Joe Quesada, J. Scott Campbell, Michael Turner, Jae Lee, Adam Hughes, Mark Texeira, Joe Jusko, Arthur Suydam, and many more! A Vampirella feature film premiered on Showtime Networks in 1996, and the character continues to appear on numerous items of licensed merchandise.
Nick Barrucci, president of Dynamite Entertainment said, “Vampirella is one of the most well-known and longest-running comic characters in the history of the business. Outside of Marvel and DC characters, very few comics characters that debuted in the 60’s still resonate with fans today. Our acquisition of this iconic brand is another step in Dynamite’s exciting growth and builds on the ongoing success of our line.”
“I am incredibly pleased to be passing the stewardship of Vampirella on to Dynamite,” said Stanley Harris, president of Harris Publications. “Dynamite has proven to be one of the premiere publishers in the comic book industry, and Vampirella couldn’t be in better and more caring hands!”
You can read the full report over at Bleeding Cool News. All I can say on this one is that it is a great deal for both parties. Dynamite continues to snag some top-notch names to add to their already impressive library, and ‘VAMPIRELLA’ gets the freedom to show even more of herself to mouth-breathing creepers everywhere. Gotta say this is a win-win. What say you?
Comics
‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’ – IDW Dark’s Next Horror Comic Will Make You Question Reality
Five friends. Four houses. One perfect life. Bloody Disgusting is excited to exclusively announce You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, a brand new horror comic from IDW Dark.
From Eisner-Nominated writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and rising horror artist Heather Vaughan, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is described as a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality, and reveal that this crafted world is more of a nightmare than the idealistic dream they were expecting.”
Phoebe Joplin has never questioned the world her parents built: a secluded community where she and her friends were raised to be smarter, stronger, and better than anyone else. No distractions. No dangers. No secrets. Until the night of their graduation.
When one of them dies under impossible circumstances, Phee starts to pull at the edges of her perfect life—and what she finds is something far more terrifying than she ever imagined.
Because this place isn’t a sanctuary. It’s a cage. And no one who discovers the truth ever leaves it alive.
Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, Star Trek: The Last Starship) co-write the upcoming IDW Dark horror comic, featuring art by Heather Vaughan.
Jackson Lanzing said in a statement to Bloody Disgusting, “You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is in many ways a spiritual successor to our last creator-owned horror, The Principles of Necromancy – a dive into the promise and consequence of playing god with the blood of innocents. But the Hivemind book this reminds me of most is Clayface: One Bad Day. This is a deeply human story with intensely raw emotions – five best friends and their five mysterious parents, tearing one another apart for the promise of some impossible glory that’s waiting just beyond their darkest actions. We’re thrilled to be bringing this story to life with our long-time partner in crime, editor Heather Antos, at IDW Dark – and we’re particularly excited to give our Clayface fans a new, brutal and emotional horror made just for them.”
Adds Collin Kelly, “We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next. YNLTPA is about growing up with the limitless potential of the future… and realizing how much it’s a lie we’ve been fed to keep us under the yoke of the past. Bringing this brutal experience to life is our artist and co-creator, Heather Vaughan, who brings an incredible amount of humanity to our cast. But it’s in our youthful leads that Heather’s art really shines – you are going to fall in love with these young people, even as they go through the worst experience of their lives. What we’ve all crafted together is going to be tragic, painful, but above all else, sincere – with a future so uncertain, there’s only one thing we can trust: you’ll never leave this place alive.”
“Some horror stories are about monsters in the dark. YNLTPA is about realizing the monsters raised you,” previews Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “Working with Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly on this series has been a dream in the darkest possible way. They’ve built a story that’s layered, brutal, and deeply emotional, and every issue gives artist Heather Vaughan opportunities to push the art into places that feel both haunting and deeply personal. Some horror comics will keep you up at night…this is one that will stick with you for years to come.”
The first issue of You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive goes on sale October 14, 2026! Make sure to pre-order at your local comic shop by September to guarantee a copy.
Exclusively check out the various covers for Issue #1 down below.
IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW DARK features comics like A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, Smile: For the Camera, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Twilight Zone, Event Horizon: Dark Descent & Event Horizon: Inferno, and more.
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