Lucifera

For some reason, the most popular image of Lucifera is this cover, which depicts her in a very Vampirella-esque costume:

The Lucifera [unofficial] home page uses it to introduce her, as does this page if you click on any of the Lucifera links, as does Planet of Sardines--who went on to say that "Obviously Lucifera is a rip-off of Warren's character... who is so much sexier," until I suggested otherwise (scroll down for my comment and Jim's retraction). Jim's point is well-taken, though, that this cover doesn't show Lucifera to best advantage. This cover does make Lucifera look like a Vampirella knockoff. If it were a Vampirella cover, it wouldn't be a particularly good one (and by the way, to the best of my knowledge, it doesn't copy any existing Vampirella cover, unlike some covers of Zora). It isn't a particularly good Lucifera cover, either. Neither is it representative in any way of Lucifera. She never wears that Vampirella knockoff costume--even in this issue!

Turn inside, and you'll only find Lucifera wearing this . . .

. . . except for when she doesn't!

Not only doesn't Lucifera look like Vampirella, she isn't like her in any other way. She's not a vampire, but a demoness/succubus. She frequently visits Hell, and enjoys sending people there to be tormented. Lucifera is also much more sexually explicit than Vampirella, as you'll soon see.

Now here's a cover that's more like it! It's a more striking cover all around than the "Lucirella" cover, and a much more accurate depiction of her, both visually and as a character. It would serve much better as an iconic image of her.

When was the last time you saw Vampirella "disarm" an enemy like this?

You'll never see Vampirella's name chanted by the legions of the damned!

Lucifera reigns in Hell.

And you will never, ever see Vampirella pleasure Satan the way Lucifera does here!

As far as "costumes" go, here is one that she "wears" on more than one cover and in the story itself for a while:




But her "Venus in Furs" look is my favorite:







By some happy coincidence, in my very limited collection of fumetti, I have issues of both Lucifera and Maghella that feature weird, demonic spider-beings. Since I recently posted about Maghella, comparing the two might prove instructive.

Another great Lucifera cover!

For some reason, Lucifera is trying to dislodge a big stone, when she's interrupted by . . . something!

Since it's pawing (clawing?) at her breast, she realizes it might be susceptible to seduction, and proceeds accordingly.

She strips for the still-hidden creature . . .

. . . and continues to tease . . .

. . . until it steps from the shadows, and she sees exactly what she's dealing with!

Still, she plays along . . .

. . . until an opportunity presents itself, and she stabs the spider-thing as it tries to mount her!

Having dispatched the creature, she retrieves her sword . . .

. . . and dislodges the stone, as she'd been trying to do before the spider-demon came along.

Now, on to Maghella!

She's hooked up with some twerpy little creature with an eye in the back of his head. He leaves her alone for just a minute, and the first thing she does is wander into a cave with huge spiders . . .

. . . LOTS of huge spiders, and their Lord . . .

. . . who naturally takes a fancy to Maghella. He orders her to strip . . .

. . . so reluctantly she does, and he sics the spiders on her.

Now that she's bound and helpless, he steps out of the shadows to reveal his hideous demonic form!

Now that he's got Maghella where he wants her, why is he just waving that spider in her face?!?

The twerpy guy shows up in the nick of time. Luckily, that eye in the back of his head shoots laser beams.

He kills the Spider Demon thing, saves the day, and he and Maghella ride off into the sunset.

In short, Lucifera is much more aggressive--in terms of both sexuality and violence--where Maghella is more passive.

Well, there's much more to be said for and about Lucifera, but I hope this serves as a decent introduction!