"I'm very excited about taking over the reins on
Vampirella," says Nancy Collins. "I've really been enjoying myself so
far. In celebration of her 45th anniversary, I'm returning the book's focus to
its horror roots and giving Vampirella a slightly darker edge. Dynamite has been wonderful to work with, and
have given me a great deal of support.
It's been some time since I last wrote for comics, and it feels great to
be back!"
As the debut "Our Lady of Shadows" story arc
begins, supernatural heroine Vampirella is sent by the Vatican to investigate
the kidnapping of a little girl by the Cult of Chaos... only to become the
centerpiece of a ritual invoking Lady Umbra, the sister-bride of Chaos. Of the fateful repercussions, Collins says,
"Vampirella's life is turned completely upside down, and she finds herself
having to team up with the strangest bedfellow imaginable in order to battle
both a demonic threat and an elite Vatican hit-squad."
Nancy A. Collins has spent the last twenty years writing
novels, short stories, and comic books for fans of the supernatural,
paranormal, and fantastical. Her prose
works include Sunglasses After Dark, featuring punk vampire slayer Sonja Blue,
the YA series Vamps, a collection of Weird Western tales called Dead Man's
Hand, and a collection of Southern Gothic stories entitled Knuckles &
Tales. Her comic book work includes
Swamp Thing, Jason vs. Leatherface, Machina Jones, and Predator: Hell Come
A'Walkin.
Artist Patrick Berkenkotter is a staple of Dynamite
Entertainment, having contributed artwork to such titles as Red Sonja, Dark
Shadows/Vampirella, Project: Superpowers, and two Dynamite/Marvel crossovers,
Avengers/Invaders and The Torch. "I
cannot sing Vampirella artist Patrick Berkenkotter's praises loudly of often
enough," says Collins. "His
pencils are spectacular, and he's able to make her sexy, menacing, and bad-ass
all at the same time. I think the fans
are going to be pleased with his work when they pick up Vampirella #1, and I
hope they take me to heart as well."
"My first exposure to Nancy's writing was in the
pages of Swamp Thing, and I've always remembered her run. When Gail (Simone) suggested Nancy to write
one of the anniversary stories in Legends of Red Sonja, it was a great reminder
of how good of a writer Nancy is. As we
were prepping for Vampirella's relaunch, and were discussing potential writers,
Joe (Rybandt, Sr. Editor) commented that since we all liked Nancy's Red Sonja
story, why not approach her. The rest,
as they say, is history. Patrick illustrating
Nancy's story, and Terry Dodson coming on board as the main cover artist really
compliment the series as we go in to Vampirella's 45th Anniversary. I'm confident that fans are going to love
Nancy's take on Vampirella, and be in it for the long haul. It's that damn good." States Dynamite CEO/Publisher Nick Barrucci.
Vampirella #1 will be solicited in Diamond Comic
Distributors' April Previews catalog, the premiere source of merchandise for
the comic book specialty market, and slated for release in June 2014. Comic book fans are encouraged to reserve
copies of Vampirella with their local comic book retailers. Vampirella will also be available for
individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology,
iVerse, and Dark Horse Digital.
