Nightmares Illustrated 021 Is It Still January?

by Wayne Edwards (Jan 14, 2012)

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Top Five Picks…Buy These Right Now.

1. Vampirella vs. Dracula #1 (Dynamite).

2. Artifacts #13 (Image).

3. Monocyte #2 (IDW).

4. Ghost Rider Cycle Of Vengeance #1 (Marvel).

5. OMAC #5 (DC).

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Dark Shadows: The Complete Series Volume Three (Hermes Press). “Dark Shadows was a great soap opera.” Is there such a thing? I’m not sure. When I was six years old, my summer babysitter used to watch it in the afternoons (that is my memory, anyway). I don’t recall seeing the show itself at the time. Instead, I remember Barbara’s wide-eyed stare fixed on the set. I did eventually see the show (some episodes are on Netflix streaming right now) and it is fairly silly. Still, I can see the appeal, and I can therefore see why, in 1968, Gold Key decided to start a comic book series of the show. The comic ran for 35 issues from 1968 to 1976. Hermes Press is tenderly remastering and reprinting every issue in a five volume series.

I just finished reading Volume Three which collects issues 15-21. These comics are very much like others from the same period insofar as they are very simply drawn with the action being described by superficial dialogue. In fact, speaking of dialogue, I noticed that every sentence of dialogue ends with either an ellipses, a question mark, or a slammer (!). Not one single period in any of the dialogue. At first that’s a hoot but after a while it wears on you. Is every character screaming every single sentence? The content is aimed at a wide audience so there is nothing remotely racy here, folks, not even to the level of Creepy or Eerie. The main character is always Barnabus Collins (the vampire in the series) and there are common appearances of Quentin Collins (the werewolf). Apart from that, there is some minor conflict – the occasional ghost, say – that propels Barnabus forward and each story tends to be self-contained. I read all these and enjoyed them, but the historical context of the series is what makes it most interesting for me. These books are also a little pricey at $49.99 per volume. They are definitely only for collectors and not for casual readers. I am still going to mention each one as it comes out because I think there are a few people like me out there who might be willing to plunk half a C-note on them. For everybody else, the main audience of this column, my best advice is to read a couple of issues in the store before you commit the cash. There is a good chance you’ll be setting the book back down.

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The Spawn Compendium (Image) is a black and white reprint collection of issues #1-49 of one of the best horror comics of all time. Wait a minute, did I say black and white? Oh my god why why why, you might be asking, why would Image bother to reprint these issues in black and frickin’ white. Now that is a good question, especially since they haven’t always made the original color versions very easy to get. Let’s think about this for a little while. What is the best thing about Spawn? Going right to the heart of it: Todd McFarlane’s artwork. The stories are good, but seriously, folks, what sets the book apart is the art. Is it the coloring? Nope, although the coloring is sometimes a great enhancement. It is the original, underlying, fundamental creation of the art that is most impressive, and that is all black and white. Maybe this isn’t such a crazy idea after all.

Still, this seems a lot like Marvel’s Essential and DC’s Showcase lines, cheap-o b&w reprints of comics that originally were presented in glorious 4-color speckling. The Compendium series does have better paper (heavier, slick, opaque) so the resulting product is of higher quality. Higher quality is good news but Image does hit you up for that ($59.99). There is a little bit more to the story. The publisher claims that Todd McFarlane’s “hyper-detailed artwork comes to life like never before” when presented in austere black and white. So, if you are an art student, this might be the way to go. And, as usual, collectors…if the press run is fairly short then this’ll be one to hold. Still. But still. Black and white only and no full-color alternative in the Compendium series? Hmm. There is the Spawn Origins series of collections which is up to Volume 14 now (March) and somewhere in the eighties, issue wise. Those are in color and they are $14.99 each. I guess that covers it. But here is what annoys me about Spawn collections. We are up to issue #215 (at this writing) and collections series don’t ever go above issue #116 (that was the Spawn Collected Edition series, volume 6, #97-116). There are spotty collections in the hundreds covering a handful of issues here and there. How about the entire series presented consecutively in collected volumes all the way to the current issues? Too hard to do? Four Compendium volumes would just about catch us up to 2011. Ah well. A man can dream.

So, anyway, to buy or not to buy…probably for most people; not to buy. It is too expensive and specialized for people who want to read the stories. And this column is mainly for horror comics readers, as I always say. Spawn is a great book that I still read every month. Stick with that. The b&w Compendium? Grab that only if you are a specialist.

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Buy These Too…

Lady Death Origins Volume 2 (Boundless). The Origins series from Boundless covers Lady Death from the Avatar era, circa 2005. Now, that wasn’t all that long ago, so we might want to quibble with the “origins” label. When we are done with the quibbling we will notice the beautiful artwork and buy it anyway. Volume 1 collects the “Blacklands” series and the three-issue “Sacrilege” mini. Highly recommended.

The Walking Dead Volume 15 (Image). I see the appeal of this book. I don’t read it religiously, but I do catch it now and then. Volume 15 collects issues #85-90. It is a good buy unless you are holding out for the possibility of a second Compendium volume.

Hawken #2 (IDW). A surprising and delightful discovery. It is well crafted western horror in fine lined black and white.

Godzilla Legends #3-4 (IDW). The third issue focuses on Titanosaurus and the fourth is Hedorah. Each issue is better than the last. It is a shame there are only five in the mini. Get them all.

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