Similarly Named Works: If Warren had got ten cents for each copycat use of her name, they wouldn't have gone bankrupt. It seems to be the obvious choice as a generic name for any female (and cute) vampire (or bat), from the German children book "Ella Vampirella" over Angela Carter's screenplay to a long forgotten French pornstar. 1st Prize goes to biologist Mr. Zopf for naming a protoplasm-sucking amoeba Vampyrella, albeit with y. In 1885. Damn you, Timelords!
The Comic:
Approval of God: Dynamite Publishing issues include at least one alternative cover featuring a Cosplay model dressed as Vampirella.
Creator's Oddball: Vampirella's iconic outfit was created by Trina Robbins, one of the most notable feminists in comics. She apparently doesn't like to talk about it, not because it's an Old Shame or anything, but because every interviewer ONLY wants to talk to her about her work on Vampirella and Wonder Woman and none of her other contributions to comics.
Outlived Its Creator: Being a long-runner comic that debuted in 1969 and has had several overhauls since then, Vampirella has outlived its creator Forrest J. Ackerman, who died in 2008. Trina Robbins, who designed Vampirella's appearance including her iconic suit, followed in 2024. Vampirella comics and spinoffs set in the same universe are still regularly published by its current owner Dynamite Comics.
Variant Cover: Harris was already guilty, but Dynamite managed a up to eleven with 84 covers of the 50 Year Anniversary #1. Yes, 84. Here's a link.
The Film:
Ashcan Copy: A film based on the Vampirella comics had been in Development Hell for decades under different companies. Roger Corman's company had at some point acquired the rights from the previous property owners but ultimately only made the 1996 film because they only had six months left before the license expired, requiring them to quickly rush something into production. After an incredibly Troubled Production, the final result was a miscast, critically panned film that the director Jim Wynorski later regretted making at all.
Old Shame: Jim Wynorski, no stranger to directing exploitation films, says that the 1996 Vampirella is the only movie he regrets making due to it basically being an Ashcan Copy that was only made because Roger Corman's company was close to losing the rights to the character, casting decisions he disagreed with (he would have preferred Julie Strain as Vampirella instead of Talisa Soto) and the Troubled Production that included wage strikes, on-set theft, crew members being too tired to work because they went out gambling the night before, and constant heat due to filming in the middle of summer in Las Vegas.
Troubled Production: The 1996 movie, according to the director: "What went wrong??? Wrong choice for the star, massive union problems in Vegas, studio interference, theft, accidents, 112 degree heat, you name it, we had it happen. But at least I got to see Soupy Sales perform."
