VAMPIRELLA PREVIEW, Harris, October 1997 Mark Millar and Grant Morrison were the natural choice for writers when we decided to launch the Vampirella monthly series. From the straightforward superhero action of the Justice League of America to the gothic horror of Swamp Thing, their range is unparalleled. After finalizing the outline for the first year, they sat down with us to answer some questions about the new Vampirella Monthly: First question. Grant, how did you and Mark initially get together? GRANT: How did we get together? This kid interviewed me for a magazine. He actually brought his 18 year old friend along for protection because he thought I was a notorious "gay" writer. MARK: But we did hit it off instantly. Yeah, I bet you guys did. Getting back to business ? you've had a great year, Grant ? JLA is a huge success, and you're more in demand than ever. What lured you to writing Vampirella? GRANT: Vampirella is so cool. I came to write Vampi basically because it's the same stuff I've been getting into: weird sex in the 90s with a twist to it. Vampirella seems perfect for that. As a kid I got into Vampirella because if you were scared to buy skin books, you would go and buy Vampirella. There was a weird little sex shop in Glasgow that sold Vampi, so it was a serious education for me going out and buying it. I assume Mark has a similar take on the character, and that's why you two got together on the project? GRANT: No, I did it so Mark would do half the work! Anyway, let's get this clear. This is absolutely not a one-shot. You are both writing Vampirella as a MONTHLY SERIES, correct? GRANT: Absolutely. Vampirella works much better as a serial character. In a monthly series, the reader comes back every month and will get the same character. You can do a good Vampirella miniseries, but to make the character really work, you need a monthly series to make everything coherent and sustainable. MARK: Yeah. As a reader, I always felt ripped-off by a series of number one issues. People like to have something out there every month with sub-plots and a supporting cast they can really get their teeth into. If you'll pardon the expression. Like Dixie Fattoni? Introducing a sixteen year old vampire hunter as Vampirella's companion seemed like a pretty bold move ? why did you do it? MARK: We both agreed that Vampirella needs someone to talk to. I hate writing first-person narrative and captions. It's always nicer to explain things through dialogue. Captions are so eighties. A good supporting cast in a monthly book is essential. Even though the book is monthly, it's written in three issue story arcs, how's that's going to work? GRANT: You're going to get a big chunk of the story in each [story] arc ? but threads will link each arc together in one larger, more complex storyline. The shorter pieces of the story allows new readers to jump right in, but the larger storyline holds their interest. Plot threads introduced in early issues will become much more important in the story in later arcs. One of the criticisms of Vampirella has been that she's not a fleshed-out character (so to speak). How are you two going to make us see Vampirella as a more developed character? GRANT: What we're going to do is give Vampirella a real motivation ? she's going to become a lot more proactive. Vampirella's not going to just show up when a story is taking place, she'll MAKE the story happen. Is this why Vampirella's become much tougher? MARK: Absolutely. Now she has a mission. We're talking about a woman who went to Hell, and was raised from the dead with an agenda to kill as many f***ing vampires as possible in the shortest period of time. The dangers in the new comic are worse than ever. Vampirella must be tough or she's liable to be eaten up as a vampire snack before the first issue even begins. Speaking of dangers, Von Kreist is such a cool new villain. I think he's the most evil s.o.b. Vampirella has ever encountered. GRANT: Von Kreist is the ultimate baddie. For a while now, villains have become far too sympathetic. It's become PC that every villain has his own motivation and point of view ? F*** that! MARK: Normally, a writer tries to add a level of realism or sympathy when creating a villain. We decided to write a good, old-fashioned bastard instead. GRANT: Yeah, we wanted an evil bastard that we would all cheer when he dies. MARK: Von Kreist's got some good stuff coming up. What are your plans for the year? MARK: Where do I start? Vampirella realizes vampires have become very organized. On an international level. In fact, they've started taking over the Mafia and Triad operations in every major city and they're building up to a very big event which happens?later on. We also have a very interesting explanation why Vampirella, a supposed vampire, isn't affected by garlic, crucifixes, holy water, and so on. No writer has ever done anything like this before. I think people will be surprised. Are you planning to bring other characters such as Pantha and Mistress Nyx into the series? GRANT: That's part of the long term plan to form Vampirella's world. To do that we're going to involve Pantha and Nyx in what Vampirella's doing. Our main plan for these characters will work toward the goal of an integrated, cohesive Harris universe. How do you two come up with the ideas for Vampirella? GRANT: We tend to meet up somewhere, go out, and get drunk. Start having a laugh and do this writing stuff. I'll say Vampi does this on page one, and then Mark will say to add this plot twist, and as [we] go back and forth between us, we end up with a plot. MARK: I'm shocked [at] how businesslike Americans are when they're putting together a comic. We just write dialogue notes on the back of the beer mats and bus receipts and try to translate them when we get home. Well this is reassuring. And the writing on the beer mats explains why your scripts look like ancient hieroglyphics. By the way, you do realize that you would have lost World War II without us right? MARK: I'll field this one. It wasn't American troops who saved our asses. It was Captain America, the Invaders, and the Justice Society of America. Get your facts right, fanboy. Last question: why do you english guys insist on calling soccer "football"? MARK: We call soccer "football" because we invented the bloody game. Nobody in the rest of the world calls it "soccer". American football's for fags. It's just a kind of ladies version of Rugby where the players wear helmets and padding. GRANT: Wear that crap here in Scotland and people will kill you.