Jose Gonzales Vampirella Art Edition—this thing is gigantic!

 

The book came in today in a gigantic box. I was confused about what it could be, until I realized it must be the Vampirella book. I knew it was big, but this was ridiculous!! Inside the box was a somewhat smaller box packed in with crumpled paper, and inside that the book. It's way bigger than I imagined!! I'm posting Earl Grey's video about it at the top partly so people (if anybody ever stumbles across this page again) can see what a massive tome it is. 

It's a real logistics problem figuring out how to look at it. I settled on supporting it on my thighs and holding it upright with both hands. I have to lean back a bit to be able to take in the full spread. But damn, this thing is gorgeous!! It didn't feel like I was holding a book on my lap, but like I was inside it, and it might close and crush me at any moment. 

The intro tells the story about that fateful day when a certain Spaniard named Josep Toutain walked into Jim Warren's office carrying a large portfolio loaded with the work of the artists of his agency, called Selecciones Illustradas (usually just abbreviated SI).

To set the stage, Warren publishing had been struggling for a while. I believe it was the end of the 60's or the early 70s, and times were tough. They were reduced to publishing mostly reprints of older material rather than commissioning new stories. Jim and his friend Forest Ackerman, who had created Famous Monsters of Filmland for him, their first magazine, had recently seen the movie Barbarella, and they decided it would be a good idea to create a new magazine and a new host for it, a sexy and beautiful vampire named Vampirella. They had already published a couple of issues, but there were problems. Ackerman had written I believe the first issue, and an artist named Tom Sutton had drawn the lead story. It wasn't quite what Warren had in mind, it was too campy and silly, and the art was comical. He wanted something much more elegant and dark, with a sort of Hammer Horror feel to it. 

Well, exactly what he was looking for had just come in the door, but he didn't know it. Jim was hungry and about to leave the office for lunch when this brash Spaniard walked in clutching his portfolio and announced himself. Jim almost brushed him off, but the guy was a good talker, and in moments had captured his attention with his story. 

Toutain was the creator of the agency, and had a number of incredible Spanish artists working for him. He was already selling their work to publications in France and the UK, but wanted to expand into America. He had already tried Marvel and DC comics. Jim asked it either had shown any interest, and Toutain cannily said they hadn't decided yet, but he had high hopes. Then he opened the portfolio. 

Apparently the first artist represented was Jose Gonzales, and he was exactly the illustrator Warren needed for Vampirella. He knew it immediately. And as he looked through the other artists, he began to realize these guys were all perfect for large format black and white horror comics. It was as if they had been born for it. 

At the time the artists were mostly if not all American, and not very well suited to drawing horror comics. Several of them were really cartoonists, and the rest were mostly superhero artists. But here was a group of amazing artists (illustrators really) with that undeniable European elegance and style that he needed. Jim forgot about lunch and started making plans. He essentially replaced all his artists with the Spaniards whose work was in that portfolio. They all remained in Spain, working at the SI office, and shipped their work by air mail.