As I’ve pointed out here before, Kiss/Vampirella writer Chris Sebela doesn’t seem to have much respect for Vampirella fans. That was on display again today in the Writer’s Commentary for issue #4 that Dynamite released through Bleeding Cool. Check out this quote:
I did my best to keep Vampirella out of her traditional suit. Sue me. It didn’t feel like it belonged in this iteration of her. She’s trying to blend, to study humanity and the monsters who walk among us, why would she call attention to herself with the navel-plunging neckline with her butt hanging out?
Yeah, and I bet if you write another Vampirella story, you won’t feel like it belongs there either. Or if you write another, or another after that. The truth is, Chris Sebela just has something against the costume which is pretty clear from this statement. I know Dynamite is perfectly fine with not using the costume, but can’t we at least get a writer who doesn’t openly disdain it? Afterall, she wore it for 40 years and it’s always going to be the image people think of when you mention Vampirella. It’s an integral part of the character even if it doesn’t appear within the pages of the modern comics.
I think it makes him a weak writer to not be able to write a vampirella/ kiss crossover without having vampirella in costume! Paul Stanley wears a costume cut down to his groin,,,,,, just saying!!!!!
Yeah, and he wears that in real life! Vampirella is a comic book character!
If you can’t get the original costume in a KISS/Vampirella crossover than you are either a complete idiot or just trying to eliminate the costume from Vampirella and the history of it all together. What else would make Vampirella fit in with KISS more than that costume? I guess we need to understand. Chris Sebela comes from a lifestyle and political perspective where his type of bigotry is acceptable….and that type of person is generally angry and spiteful enough to only care about themselves and hurting those he see’s as his enemies. There is no way he would ever deem it necessary to please a white heterosexual male audience. He would rather destroy Vampirella than have a straight white male get the original Vampirella. Now if he wrote Batman…Batman would be dressed only in a loin-cloth and come out as gay in the first issue. But I’ll give him credit, he has everyone at my LCS discussing the horrible work he has done with Vampirella. So if any publicity is good publicity than he accomplished what he wanted. Now even people that don’t read Vampirella think he is a ass.
I agree, when I first read that this series was coming out I thought for sure it would feature the real costume. How wrong I was. Honestly, I think he (and other writers, editors, etc) just say these things as an excuse to not use it. “oh, it just doesn’t fit with this story.” We were told that the costume changes in the current and former Vampirella series were story driven. While that may be technically true, I question which came first – the story or the desire to introduce a new costume. If it was the latter, saying it was story driven is a bit dubious.