Zora (vampire)
Zora (Italian: Zora la Vampira) is an Italian comic book erotic character from the 1970s. Zora la Vampira ("Zora the vampiress") is one of many such characters from the Italian fumetti tradition. Other figures from the same era, and with similarly violent or erotic preoccupations, include Maghella, Lucifera, Biancaneve, Vartan, Jacula, Sukia, and Yra.{{cite book|last=Gianni Bono|title=Guida al fumetto italiano|publisher=Epierre, 2003}}{{cite book | title=Drawn and Dangerous: Italian Comics of the 1970s and 1980s | first=Simone | last=Castaldi | publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi | date=2010 | isbn=978-1604737776 | page=18}}
History
The first comic book was published in 1972.{{cite web|title=Zora la Vampira|url=http://www.comicvine.com/zora-la-vampira/29-56618/|website=www.comicvine.com}}{{cite web|title=Zora la Vampira: Vampires vs. Mummies|url=http://groovyageofhorror.blogspot.com/2005/07/zora-la-vampira-vampires-vs-mummies-pt.html|website=groovyageofhorror.blogspot.com}} Zora la vampira was published from 1972 to 1985 and featured a blond female protagonist who, on some covers, resembles French actress Catherine Deneuve. The series was published by Edifumetto. The cartoonists were Renzo Barbieri and Giuseppe Pederiali as writers and Birago Balzano as artist.{{cite web | url=http://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/balzano_birago.htm | title=Birago Balzano | website=Lambiek Comiclopedia}} Emanuele Taglietti{{cite book |title=Sex and Horror: The Art of Emanuele Taglietti |date=2015 |publisher=Korero Press |isbn=9780957664944 |pages=144–155}} and Alessandro Biffignandi{{cite book |title=Sex and Horror: The Art of Alessandro Biffignandi |date=2016 |publisher=Korero Press |isbn=9780993337406 |pages=116–153}} painted the majority of the covers for the series.
Together with the original series, stories of Zora were published also in the comic magazines Orror, I Notturni and Fasma. The series was also published with some success in France, where new stories were produced even after the closing of the series in Italy. A new 13 episodes miniseries of Zora, renamed as "Lady Vampyre", was published in 2001; cartoonists were Paolo Puccini and Daniele Statella.
Plot
The character's real name is Zora Pabst, a 19th-century aristocrat who has been possessed by the spirit of Dracula. She travels her way around the world and even into outer space, satisfying her sexual desires and her lust for blood.{{cite book |title=Sex and Horror: The Art of Emanuele Taglietti |date=2015 |publisher=Korero Press |isbn=9780957664944}} Her adventures are a mixture of horror, eroticism, and pornography.
Legacy
A film inspired by the character, also named Zora la Vampira, was released in 2000, directed by the Manetti Brothers.{{cite book|last=Paolo Mereghetti|title=Il Mereghetti|date=2010 |publisher=B.C. Dalai Editore, 2010|isbn=978-8860736260}}
References
{{reflist}}
Category:Italian comics titles
Category:Comics characters introduced in 1972
Category:Fictional characters from the 19th century
Category:Works set in the 19th century
Category:Italian comics characters
Category:Italian comics adapted into films
Category:Female characters in comics
Category:Comics based on Dracula
Category:Comics about spirit possession
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