Post by BloodyMonkeyZ on Jul 4, 2013 20:32:35 GMT -6
Dark Shadows is a world that very few horror fans can say they aren't familiar with. The original tv series went for well over 1200 episodes. Over the decades there have been several attempts to bring it to comics, but they rarely succeed. A mini series here or there and then nothing more. Dynamite Entertainment has finally managed to capture the feel of Dark Shadows (something Tim Burton failed to do.)
Stuart Manning writes these characters like he created them. With art for the first story arc by Aaron Campbell. The art doesn't thrill me to be honest. It isn't bad, but I tend to like a bit more of a finished look to comic artwork.
Thankfully they don't try and explain who every character is. They give bare bones as the story progresses, just enough to refresh the memory. The story in this first arc involves the return of Angelique. She is a witch from Barnabus Collins past who had a love for him that was tainted by her deviousness. She manages (from somewhere beyond the living) to orchestrate being brought back to life from a stone statue that had been erected in her memory. But there is a catch. She can't simply remain alive. She has to leech life force from the living, something that doesn't end particularly well for the ones she is leeching from.
The main focus of this story then is Barnabus trying to protect the Collins family from the evil machinations of a resurrected Angelique. There are other plot threads that are going on, just like in the tv series. As a dramatic story, there will always be multiple threads going on. Life is never neatly wrapped up in a pretty little package. Julia is trying to find a way to cure Barnabus. Quentin (the werewolf) is trying to fill the role of protector of the Collins family. The rest of the family doesn't have a very active role in this arc, as Angelique had hijacked them and kept them essentially frozen in their home.
I am eager to read the next story arc, and have quite a few issues to plow through. When Dynamite first released them as single issues, I distinctly recall it being mentioned as a 12 issue maxi series. For something like that, I like to wait until I have all the issues to start reading. I got to issue 14 and realized that somewhere along the way they decided to change to an ongoing series.I am not complaining at all, gives me many more issues to read, which is a good thing. And means there will be many more story arcs reviewed here in the coming weeks.
For the initial story I give it a 4 star review. The art dragging the total rating down.
Stuart Manning writes these characters like he created them. With art for the first story arc by Aaron Campbell. The art doesn't thrill me to be honest. It isn't bad, but I tend to like a bit more of a finished look to comic artwork.
Thankfully they don't try and explain who every character is. They give bare bones as the story progresses, just enough to refresh the memory. The story in this first arc involves the return of Angelique. She is a witch from Barnabus Collins past who had a love for him that was tainted by her deviousness. She manages (from somewhere beyond the living) to orchestrate being brought back to life from a stone statue that had been erected in her memory. But there is a catch. She can't simply remain alive. She has to leech life force from the living, something that doesn't end particularly well for the ones she is leeching from.
The main focus of this story then is Barnabus trying to protect the Collins family from the evil machinations of a resurrected Angelique. There are other plot threads that are going on, just like in the tv series. As a dramatic story, there will always be multiple threads going on. Life is never neatly wrapped up in a pretty little package. Julia is trying to find a way to cure Barnabus. Quentin (the werewolf) is trying to fill the role of protector of the Collins family. The rest of the family doesn't have a very active role in this arc, as Angelique had hijacked them and kept them essentially frozen in their home.
I am eager to read the next story arc, and have quite a few issues to plow through. When Dynamite first released them as single issues, I distinctly recall it being mentioned as a 12 issue maxi series. For something like that, I like to wait until I have all the issues to start reading. I got to issue 14 and realized that somewhere along the way they decided to change to an ongoing series.I am not complaining at all, gives me many more issues to read, which is a good thing. And means there will be many more story arcs reviewed here in the coming weeks.
For the initial story I give it a 4 star review. The art dragging the total rating down.