Sara Frazetta And Bob Freeman Talk Dynamite’s New ‘Vampirella: Dead Flowers’

Welcome to the table,

I didn’t have a ton of friends when I was younger. Somewhere between having a super-religious parent and being “the disabled,” I kind of became the child everyone knew about but no one was really friends with. Most parents who weren’t super religious didn’t want me around because that would involve talking to my parents. Most houses in the older part of the world I grew up in were not exactly accessible to someone who had to rely on crutches or a wheelchair to get around making me a burden at best, and a liability at worst. This unique social situation resulted in me accepting any small morsel of friendship I was offered, even if who was offering it was questionable at best.

One particular summer evening, I found myself at a house with a collection of kids who were a little intense and had a super synced-up pack mentality. The entertainment for the evening was apparently sending me into a closet full of all manner of things to rummage through a box of adult magazines to find “something they were looking for.”

While the human body did not shock me as I had spent a ton of time in hospitals and bodies are just bodies, I realized from the growing snickers behind me that the expectation from the crowd was that I was supposed to have some kind of big reaction to the nudity in these magazines and that reaction and the jokes that could be made at my expense would serve as entertainment to the host and his friends.

I was stressed and anxious and really worried my reaction would not be entertaining or large enough and I would spend the rest of the night being made fun of or tortured in some other way and knowing I didn’t have parents I could call that would actually come to pick me up I knew I was in this situation and had to figure my own way out.

That’s when the master of fantasy art, Frank Frazetta, emerged from the shadows of that closet and saved me from an evening of torture and awkwardness.

Okay to be fair it was not the man himself, I don’t know if he could have fit in there with all the boxes and weird-smelling clothes, but laying in the box of worn and weathered adult magazines, was a beat-up copy of Vampirella #1 and Frank Frazetta’s art conjured a wild idea in my mind that, at least in that moment, seemed the best chance I had to weather the night.

You see, while I did not know much about what was going on in the pages of the other magazines, I sure as hell had an encyclopedic knowledge of the pulp books I had been picking up from the used bookstore and the bold reds and shadowy batwings on the moon behind Drakulon’s favorite Daughter was going to aid me in overcoming the looming threat behind me.

I spun around with Vampirella #1 in my hand and was immediately met with the starts of laughter as what I had picked was a comic book and not a publication full of airbrushed photos of models in various states of undress. I was a young teen and barely understood myself at the time, so trying to explain what was on those glossy pages was not going to be something I would have been able to pull off, much less spoken about like I had any sense.

What I did have, though, was a wealth of stories. I knew monsters and myths and lore and with the confidence of a car salesman (because the only thing I was confident about in those days was my knowledge of sword and sorcery).

I began to explain, from what knowledge I had at the time gained from the elder nerds who hung out in the back of the comic shop painting Warhammer 40k minis and various books, who Frank Frazetta was. I was able to talk about his work on the Tarzan and Conan covers, about The Sea Witch and the Werewolf from the covers of Eerie and Creepy magazines that hung framed in the back of the comic shop. With each example of his work I was able to spin into stories about the heroes and monsters that he brought to life with paint and canvas.

Like Scheherazade, I wove stories with Vampirella in my little ham fist serving as much an avatar as a totemic guardian watching over me as I spun stories to save my own skin.

Her knowing gaze watched the crowd as they hung on every word. Before it was all said and done the group had all fallen asleep. By the time morning came, everyone woke up and played video games, and I was largely ignored until everyone was dropped off at their various homes and I was deposited like dirty laundry at the comic shop where I wandered to the back and joined in the weekly Battle Tech game with the elder nerds and told them how my knowledge of Frazetta had saved me from a rough night.

They were amused, I had survived, and to this day every time I see something with Vampirella on it, I think back to that harrowing night when “the monster” saved a little kid from a bunch of little humans.

Now, a decade or two later, a new Vampirella #1 is coming to shelves from Dynamite. This new comic is called Vampirella: Dead Flowers and is written by Sara Frazetta and Bob Freeman and illustrated by Alberto Locatelli. This brand-new miniseries is said to be steeped in gothic horror, complete with a sinister mansion, a mist-enshrouded graveyard, and a bevy of witches, ghosts, werewolves, and ancient magicks. All of it is enclosed in an amazing assortment of covers from some of comics’ greatest artists, including Lucio Parrillo, Collette Turner, Ergun Gunduz, series artist Alberto Locatelli, and Frazetta Girls‘ very own Sara Frazetta!

I had a chance to sit down with Sara Frazetta and Bob Freeman and talk about this fun new gothic horror title. You can check out the interview below.

Anton: Thank you so much for sitting down with me for this interview. Before we dive into talking about Drakulon’s favorite Daughter, Vampirella, would you please tell our readers a little more about yourselves?

Sara: I’m an ever-changing creative with a lot of ambition. My business, Frazetta Girls, both honors and proliferates my grandfather’s artistic legacy through expanding the world of Frazetta. I love living in my home state of Florida with my partner Joe and two huge German Shepherds, Theo and Bruce.

Bob: Thanks, Anton. It’s great to chat with you again*. I’m a writer and artist, living in rural Indiana with my wife Kim, and our son, Connor. I’ve had a lifelong passion for mythology, folklore, magick, and religion, and have spent the better part of my life exploring the paranormal. Those interests find their way into the things I write and draw.

Anton: Vampirella has been a beloved character for decades. What inspired you to bring this new chapter to her story?

Sara: I want to bring a classic energy back into comics. Traditional storytelling, dark, and alluring. I love the gothic story, Carmilla, which definitely serves as a muse for me in this new chapter of Vampirella.

Bob: That was all Sara. We had been working together on another project when the Vampirella gig came up and she invited me along for the ride. I was both thrilled and honored. I’ve been a Vampirella fan since the early 70s and getting a chance to add to her legacy has been a dream come true.

Anton: Sara, having grown up with a deep connection to pop culture, art, and the work of your grandfather, how did this influence your writing process for Vampirella: Dead Flowers?

Sara: These influences excite me. They’re literally personal. How lucky is that? Conceptualizing Vampirella: Dead Flowers was so energizing, the process was natural. There’s nothing better than pursuing an idea with such strong foundation and purpose.

Anton: Bob, with your expertise in the occult, comics, and the publishing space, how did you come to collaborate with Sara to weave a compelling tale that incorporates gothic horror elements while maintaining the iconic Vampirella weird fiction feel?

Bob: Sara and I were of the same mind from day one. We wanted to approach the story as a gothic. I was a fan of gothic romances and Dark Shadows as a child, and Sara loved True Blood. We took the mid-70s era Vampirella as a bit of inspiration, but really it all came out of us wanting to do something different and memorable. Writing this with Sara was such a pleasure. Our brainstorming sessions were the stuff of legend. I wish we’d recorded them. We both get rather excitable when those creative energies are flowing.

Anton: Aside from Vampirella herself, can you share with us some details about any new and intriguing characters that we may encounter and what roles they may play in this story?

Sara: Vampirella involves herself with the opposition… but no spoilers!

Bob: It’s a full cast of strange and wonderful, and sometimes terrifying, individuals. We are playing with all the tropes of gothic fiction, though some get turned on their heads a bit. We have ghosts, demons, sorcerers, witches, werewolves, and, of course, vampires to play with. But none of those things matter if there isn’t some heart and humanity to the tale, and I think we captured that beautifully.

Anton: Now, the primary setting is said to be Rookhaven, a large manor on a sprawling estate, this seems to be a very goth set piece in tone but I’m not one to make assumptions, what kind of atmosphere should readers expect going into this tale?

Sara: You’re right to make assumptions. It’s goth. Through and through!

Bob: Oh, this is most assuredly a gothic, in tone and atmosphere, but it blends that Victorian-era charm with a more mid-20th-century sensibility.

Anton: Sara, working on a title with such a well-known legacy, what elements of the lore and character did you most want to highlight in this chapter of the Vampirella mythos?

Sara: Vampirella is enigmatic. She’s the desire of both men and women. I lead with this character feature in mind. I didn’t want to change a thing!

Anton: With Vampirella: Dead Flowers said to be echoing the classic Warren magazine era books, were there aspects of that era that you knew you wanted to capture in terms of your storytelling tone and style?

Sara: Absolutely. What works about Frazetta is the enduring style. No one can replicate what Frazetta created. It’s an entire world, an ethos, and ego, and Vampirella lives within it. This new conceptualization relies on the classic era from which Vampirella was born on a foundational level. It’s not about making Vampirella modern. It’s about bringing her original form back to life.

Bob: I grew up reading Vampirella in the Jose Gonzalez years, so that look and feel was always in my mind. I am thankful that Dynamite paired us with the wonderful Alberto Locatelli, because his artwork, while very modern in approach, still was able to embrace the lifeblood of what we were imagining in our heads.

Anton: I’m sure you were also considering those fresh to the franchise as well, were there any contemporary touches that you tried to weave in to speak to newer readers?

Bob: Vampirella is timeless. In Dead Flowers, we explore the commonality we all share — that we are born and we die. I think this story is one that will appeal to old fans and new ones, because it’s different. We’ve reimagined Vampirella somewhat, but we were careful to honor her legacy even as we looked to show a different side of her.

Anton: Sara, not only are you a talented storyteller, artist, influencer, and voice in the pop culture conversation but on top of all that you’re a co-founder of the Frazetta Girls organization and you’ve been involved in various aspects of continuing your family’s legacy for years now. How does your role as a writer for Vampirella contribute to this legacy, and what significance does it hold for you personally?

Sara: Publishing Vampirella: Dead Flowers is a great representation of my grandfather’s legacy. This is exactly what I seek out of any artistic pursuit related to the world of Frazetta. Working on projects like this really connect me to my grandfather. I obviously think about what he’d like, what he wouldn’t like it. I’d love to make him proud.

Anton: Before we wrap up I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you both again for taking the time to sit with me, it really has been a pleasure. Where can our readers find you and continue to follow your work across the various social platforms and digital landscapes?

Sara: @sarafrazetta / @frazettagirls / frazettagirls.com

Bob: You can find me on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram as “occultdetective”, and my website is the same, occultdetective.com

Anton: As we wrap, what do you hope readers take away from Vampirella: Dead Flowers, and what are you most excited for fans to look forward to in this exciting new addition to the Vampirella mythos?

Sara: It’s a new expression of the same idea. It’s classic Frazetta. It’s sexy, confident, iconic Vampirella. Readers will absolutely love this, I’m sure of

Bob: In many ways, this story is about family. We hope it strikes a chord with readers because we would love to revisit this world. In a sense, it felt like coming home. I sure would like to spend more time there.

Until next time, be kind to the weird kid, they always have the coolest stories.

*Bob Freeman and I worked on a comic anthology together for Cullen Bunn. Bob is a delightful human who has also consulted with me on some various occult happenings. At some point down the line we may have to team up and investigate some happenings in this world or the next… stay tuned for that.