Lola Beth

Cathy Christian

Leslie Culton

Maria Di Angelis

Tracy Kahn

Diana Knight

Sascha Knopf

Barbara Leigh

Masuimi Max

Avery Misuraca

Caroline Munro

Arban Ornelas

Persephone

Carolyn Renee Smith

Patricia Rosario (Pantha)

Kitana Baker

Heidi Saha

Talisa Soto

Brinke Stevens

Julie Strain

Angelique Trouvere

Cristiva Turner

Unknown model

Avery, or as she is sometimes known, Countess Vladimira, is a kind of 'unofficial' official Vampirella model.

The reason she is 'unofficially official' is that she was the model for Joe Quesada when he drew the cover for Vengeance of Vampirella #1 (cool cover) and Harris have used her for the second annual Vampirella Blood Drive (put on by Comic Book Extravaganza--NYC 1996)  and she was invited to the Harris table to sign autographs and take photos with fans.  

Avery's next costumed appearance was the Big Apple Comic Con (NYC 1997) as part of a costume contest. She didn't win, but the Vampirella fans loved her.

Without doubt (to my mind) she makes an excellent model for our heroine from Drakulon and is welcome.

My favourite photo of Avery is the one on the left (with Scarlet Letters  Vampirella historian Sean Fernald).

Below is one of the Vampi photos from her web site (see below for more details).

I just had the great fortune of meeting Avery again at the Fright Vision con in Cleveland.  I thought this would be a good chance to see what is going on with her career now, and what plans she has for the future.  So Avery,  What's up??

Terry: Tell us how you came about being Vampirella the first time?

Avery: I was checking out a comic book store in mid-town Manhatten. There happened to be a poster of Vampirella displayed. The owner of the store told me I looked like Vampy and should contact Harris Publishers. I thought about it for a while and said to myself why not.  I gave them a call and they told me that they had a model already but that I could still send in photos if I wanted to.  I decided to drop them off in person . By the time I got home, there was a message on my answering machine to give them a call back which I did. They asked me to be the East Coast Vampirella being that they had a model in California.

Terry:  Which came first to you, Vampirella or your Countess Vladimira persona?

Avery: Vampirella.

Terry: Did Vampirella influence your decision to become the Countess?

Avery:  Yes, I enjoyed being Vampy so much I decided to create my own persona 

Terry: Tell us about the blood drives you attended as Vampirella, and any other cons you appeared in.

Avery: I did I blood drive in Manhattan at a Fred Green comic show, and I also appeared at The Chiller Horror Expo and Fangoria Horror Con.

Terry:  You have very beautiful features,  a natural as Vampirella.  What is in your heritage to contribute to this?

Avery:  I am Latin and Italian.

Avery:  I was at a bar with a girlfriend in the East Village in New York.  My girlfriend spotted a friend of her's from high school whom she hadn't seen in ages. His name was Nelson and he was with Joe Quesada. Joe was complaining that a model he was supposed to work with hadn't shown up. He said that the project was for Harris and that it was for an issue for Vampirella.  I couldn't believe my ears. I told him I had just been hired by Harris and that I had the costume at home. He said he didn't need it. So, at 2 o'clock in the morning I am in some guy’s apartment I just met in my bra and g-string.

Terry:  There is no doubt to me that the same model was used for another great cover, Vengeance #25.  Yet you were never given credit for this one.  Was it you?

Avery:  To my knowledge my likeness was only used for issue 0.

Terry:  Where did you get your Vampi costume?

Avery:  A woman in Hoboken designed it for me.

Terry:  Have you appeared as Vampirella  or had any Vampi connections not previously mentioned?  

Avery:  No, I haven’t.

Terry:  I have heard of using carpet tape, and even fishing line to avoid "accidents"  at the cons while wearing very skimpy costumes.  What are your secrets?

Avery:  I use gluestick.

Terry:  What is the strangest  question  or request you have gotten at a con ?  And leave me out of this one!!

Avery:  It has to be to beat a patron.

Terry:  I recently bought a video with you in it as the Countess.  Would you tell the fans a little about it?

Avery:  I was the Fangoria convention when Unknown Productions asked me to appear in their film Vampire Nights. I went to LA to film for them for a few days?

Terry:  Any other videos  you have appeared in?

Avery:  Troma's Terror Firmer and Vault Of Terror which I hosted.

Avery:  Music video's Vasaria and Kid Rock.

Terry:  Any favorites,  or unusual meetings? 

Avery:  I met my idol Vampira this fall at Cult Movie Magazine in Hollywood.   She was really great.

Terry:  What current projects do you have going on now?

Avery:  I work with The Coffin Case Company which produces coffin shaped guitar cases. I am most likely going to be working with Gloow a women wrestling organization on the East coast.

Terry:  And what future plans do you have for the Countess?

Avery:  I would love to have my own tv show; maybe a Halloween special every year. I also have a new comic book publisher. The first book is due out this Spring.

Terry:  How can the fans keep up with your career or get in touch with you?

Avery:  Fans can contact and view my web site www.vladimira.com (see my link at the bottom of this page - Mike)

Left - Avery displays the Vampirella costume.  looks a bit skimpy, doesn't it?

Below - Terry Sanders (the photographer for several of the photos on this page) posing with Avery.

Avery Misuraca fans can read an interview in Scarlet Letters #19

Countess Vladimira's web site: (click on picture to the right)

This web site is a massive tribute to Avery with tons of snippets, news, pics, videos and stuff.  It's a great site, tastefully done and with lots (and I mean lots) for the fans.  I really love the videos and the news stories .... but it is best seen with high bandwidth.