Vampirella: Death and Destruction
Issue #1 Preview Ash Can (April 1996)
Regular Cover - Billy Tucci (3,500 copies) $5.00
Blue Glove Cover - Billy Tucci $free?
The Dying of the Light [Artists - Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti / Writers - Tom Sniegoski, Christopher Golden]
Nine sample pages in black and white from the imminent issue 1.
Standard fare for an Ash Can, but let us look at the "Blue Glove" variant ...
It has been said that there was a mistake in the colouring of the print run and a few issues were printed with Vampirella wearing blue gloves instead of red ones. When the mistake was noticed it was corrected and the print run continued ...
I believe this is a myth and that the Blue Gloves were deliberate. If you look at the back covers (see below) the Regular and Blue Gloves issues are different. The Blue Glove variant has a message for retailers. I believe the Blue Glove variant was a freebie for retailers and Harris deliberately mis-coloured the gloves to differentiate between the normal (sold for $5.00) ash can and the retailers freebie!
I'm sure there are many people who (like me) got a copy of the Blue Glove variant after they had got a copy of the regular ash can and never even took it out of the protective bag, so failing to notice the different back cover. And so the myth came into being ...
Issue #1 (July 1996)
Regular cover - Billy Tucci $2.95
Signed (Conner, Palmiotti, Sniegoski) Regular cover - Billy Tucci (2,000 copies) $?
Signed (Tucci) Regular cover - Billy Tucci (1,500 copies) $?
Limited Edition cover - Mark Beachum (1,500 copies) $5.95
Satin cover - Gold Bat Logo (1,000 copies) $24.95
Signed (Conner, Palmiotti) Satin cover - Gold Bat Logo (1,000 copies) $?
Satin Blood Drive cover - Gold Bat Logo (100 copies) $?
Signed (Conner) Satin Blood Drive cover - Gold Bat Logo $?
The Dying of the Light [Artists - Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti / Writers - Tom Sniegoski, Christopher Golden]
(continued from Vengeance of Vampirella #25) Mistress Nyx stands over the corpse of her latest victim, Adam van Helsing, as a bound Vampirella watches in horror. Enraged, Vampirella breaks free of her chains and attacks Mistress Nyx. A timely intervention from the Danse Macabre enables Vampirella and her friends to escape.
Returning to the Danse Macabre's headquarters they are attacked by more of Mistress Nyx' demons, whom they defeat.
Elsewhere, Hemorrhage and Mistress Nyx are seeking out Vampirella's friends and destroy Kathleen and Passion. After they leave the scene the bodies of Kathleen and Passion merge to make a new Passion who joins forces with Vampirella who vows bloody retribution.
Vengeance of Vampirella #25 ended with a cliff hanger, and Death and Destruction just seems to throw you right over the cliff! Straight into the action and then a helter skelter ride to the momentary pause before the next issue.
Lots of variant covers ... :-(
Note: The Limited Edition Mark Beachum cover was only made available to Scarlet Legion members.
Issue #2 (August 1996)
Regular Cover - Adam Hughes $2.95
The Nature of the Beast [Artists - Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti / Writers - Tom Sniegoski, Christopher Golden]
Mistress Nyx and Hemorrhage continue to track down and kill Vampirella's acquaintances and friends, destroying Hunter and Walker. At the same time Vampirella, Passion and the Danse Macabre are busy slaughtering Mistress Nyx' demon soldiers . Mustering their troops and waiting for reinforcements, Vampirella and company are suddenly attacked by Hemorrhage and a massive demon horde.
The pace continues at breakneck speed. You just know this is going to be one heck of a mini series, but, at least, you know that somehow Vampirella will win the day ... though it looks as if a few people will pay the price en route!
Perhaps this is a good opportunity to clear out some of the redundant characters floating around in the "Vampirella-verse"!
Issue #3 (September 1996)
Regular Cover - Joe Jusko $2.95
Entropy [Artists - Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti / Writers - Tom Sniegoski, Christopher Golden]
The battle between the forces of light and darkness is in progress. The Danse Macabre suffer badly, but Passion, Pendragon and Pantha cut a swathe through the demon throng.
Realising that Mistress Nyx' forces are too strong, Vampirella sends her remaining friends away and takes on Mistress Nyx herself.
... and dies in the process.
WTF? Vampirella dead? Can this be the end of the series/ title/ character?
This has to be the shock ending of all shock endings, yet it isn't a bad idea to make your hero vulnerable otherwise it can get a bit boring winning all the time.
The question hanging in the air is "how will Vampirella survive being killed"?
The Sniegoski, Golden, Conner and Palmiotti team have excelled in this series. Both the story and the art smack you in the face - page after page after page.
Issue #1, 2 and 3 Signed Set (September 1996)
Issue 1 cover - William Tucci (250 copies) $?
Issue 2 cover - Adam Hughes (250 copies) $?
Issue 3 cover - Joe Jusko (250 copies) $?
- The Dying of the Light [Artists - Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti / Writers - Tom Sniegoski, Christopher Golden] (from Vampirella: Death and Destruction #1)
- The Nature of the Beast [Artists - Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti / Writers - Tom Sniegoski, Christopher Golden] (from Vampirella: Death and Destruction #2)
- Entropy [Artists - Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti / Writers - Tom Sniegoski, Christopher Golden] (from Vampirella: Death and Destruction #3)
This is a set of all three regular issues signed by Tom Sniegoski, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner. Limited to 250 sets each issue is individually numbered.
If you get hold of these issues, the key thing is to make sure that you get the same number on all three issues.
Death and Destruction Graphic Novel (December 1996)
Regular Cover - Julie Bell $14.95
- Chapter 1: The End! [Artists - Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti / Writers - Tom Sniegoski, Christopher Golden] (from Vengeance of Vampirella #25)
- Chapter 2: The Dying of the Light [Artists - Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti / Writers - Tom Sniegoski, Christopher Golden] (from Death and Destruction #1)
- Chapter 3: The Nature of the Beast [Artists - Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti / Writers - Tom Sniegoski, Christopher Golden] (from Death and Destruction #2)
- Chapter 4: Entropy [Artists - Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti / Writers - Tom Sniegoski, Christopher Golden] (from Death and Destruction #3)
This Graphic Novel (or Trade Paperback) covers one of the most significant and pivotal Vampirella story arcs of the 1990's, and is probably the best way to experience the story.
It can be very frustrating having to wait for the release of the next issue to continue the story arc. Having the full story collected in one book (so you can read it all in one go) is probably a very good thing.
The problem is that the story ends with one heck of a cliff-hanger.