The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World - Judika Illes 2005

Vampirella
Creative Arts

Characters first appeared in 1969, initially published by Warren Magazines.

Vampirella appeared on Earth as a refugee from the doomed planet Drakulon where everyone drinks blood. No need to attack anyone for that blood; rivers on Drakulon flow with blood, like rivers on Earth flow with water. Turn on the tap; you’ve got blood.

She’s not the witch. Her compatriot, however, Mordecai Pendragon the Great, is a formerly successful sorcerer now reduced to laboring as a sideshow magician. When the series began Pendragon served as Vampi’s guide to Earth and mentor in magical training. They met when Vampirella rescued him from the demon Asmodeus. In gratitude, he offered her a job as his assistant in his show, which perhaps serves as the rationale for her increasingly skimpy costumes.

Eventually she learns a lot about magic. Can a vampire be a witch? Maybe. During the evertwisting plot, Vampirella discovered that her mother is Lilith, the Semitic spirit who, according to myth, is the real first woman. (See DIVINE WITCH: Lilith.) Lilith, depending upon which version of her myth is chosen, may be both witch and vampire. (The Vampirella series identifies Lilith as the first vampire.) Because of this genetic history, Vampirella is immune to the traditional banes of vampires such as crosses, sunlight, and Holy Water.

In 1983, Warren Comics ceased operations but, as we know, vampires never die. The company’s assets were purchased and Vampirella was resurrected in 1988. The series is now published by Harris Comics. Vampirella appears in graphic novel form as well as in comic books. A 1996 live-action movie starred Talisa Soto as Vampirella.

The focus of the series has shifted chiefly to erotica and is now intended for mature audiences; however Vampirella is still a vampire, and metaphysics and witchcraft haven’t been entirely abandoned. Pendragon still makes an occasional appearance; every once in a while Vampirella still serves as his assistant at the Worlds End Circus.