Originally, Vampirella believed that she came from the planet Drakulon, an idylic world where blood ran like water. Paradise was lost however when it was revealed that the planet's outer layer was deteriorating, leaving Drakulon unprotected against the blazing fury of its twin suns.

Her survival instinct stimulated by impending doom, Vampirella went against Drakulonium custom, killing the beasts of the planet and drinking their blood to survive. During her rebellion, explorers from Earth landed on Drakulon. The earthlings were barbaric compared to Drakulonium standards, and Vampirella was forced to attack them to protect herself. Realising that these Earthlings were filled with life-giving blood, and they would soon return to a planet full of blood-filled creatures, Vampirella stowed away on the spaceship and travelled to earth, where she became a vampire.

Or did she?

Vampirella later learned that she was the daughter of Lilith, the fist wife of Adam in the Garden of Eden. Strong-willed, Lilith refused Adam's advances, and God sent her to Hell, where she would fornicate with demons, and give birth to over 100 monsters a day. As punishment for refusing Adam, God would kill exactly 100 of Lilith's monstrous offspring every day, leaving some free to roam the earth. Lilith revealed to Vampirella that she was her favourite child, and was meant to act as Lilith's redemption. Vampirella learned that her true purpose was to destroy Lilith's other children, and end their reign of evil on Earth.

Or was it?

Before Vampirella was killed at the hands of Mistress Nyx, the villainess revealed that everything she knew was a lie.

Wizard

I haven't really kept up with Vampirella recently so her true origin is probably known by now. If it is please node it as I would be interested in reading 'bout it.

A comic book character, first published in 1969 by Warren Magazines and written by none other than science fiction legend Forrest J. Ackerman. Warren had always been best known for publishing horror comics, usually in an oversized, black-and-white format similar to Mad Magazine. Vampirella was Warren's first-ever continuing character -- most of their previous stories, in magazines like the classic "Creepy," were short, self-contained, and focused on a different cast for each terror tale, similar to the ones in the old EC Comics of decades past.

Forrey Ackerman wrote the first Vampirella story, but Archie Goodwin took over scripting chores in the next issue and is usually credited toward doing the most to develop the character and her supporting cast. The best known artists in the early years of the series were Tom Sutton and José Gonzales, with covers created by fantasy artist Frank Frazetta.

So who was Vampirella? She was a beautiful brunette from the planet Drakulon, where the rivers flowed with blood instead of water. She was -- surprise, surprise -- a vampire. She could sprout bat wings, she was supernaturally strong and fast, and she drank blood. But she was a good vampire, and when she got stuck on Earth, she made friends with a bunch of Earthlings and went about fighting and killing supernatural monsters, including vampires, werewolves, and even giant octopi! And that's why Vampi was so damn popular -- she was a vampire, and she devoted her life to killing other vampires.

Either that, or horny teenaged guys liked her costume.

See, her costume was almost nonexistent -- a thin, ribbon-like swath of red material that climbed up from her crotch, "covered" her breasts, then attached to a miniature white "Dracula" collar. There was also a little gold bat insignia right over her crotch -- that was the only place where there was enough material to put an insignia, see? Anyway, Vampi should've fallen out of that costume every other step she took -- which would've been great for sales of the book, too. Even more incredibly, no other characters ever commented on how skimpy her uniform was. At some point, someone should've gasped or pointed or complained or offered her a C-note, but noooo... Anyway, Frazetta usually gets credit for creating the costume, though there's some indication that Trina Robbins may have helped with the design, too.

Anyway, Vampirella's book appeared regularly until 1983, when Warren quit the publishing biz. Harris Publications bought the rights to the character, but really didn't do anything with her until 1992, when they started publishing a new Vampi comic, this time in full color. They've also created a new origin for her, explaining the old story away as being a bunch of artificial memories. According to the Harris continuity, Drakulon wasn't another planet -- it was actually part of Hell! Now, rather than destroying vampires because she's a good vampire, Vampi had been given a holy quest to get rid of all Earth's vampires, who were created by her evil mother Lilith. Vampi also discovered she was a new kind of vampire, with no weaknesses to sunlight, crosses, holy water, garlic, or having to count sesame seeds. (All in all, the original origin was better.)

Research:
http://www.vampirella.com/features/who.html
http://www.vampirella.com/features/costume3.html
http://www.toonopedia.com/vampi.htm

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