Dracula #5

May 1993. £1.25.
40 pages. Full colour & B&W.
Dark Horse Comics International

Edited by Dick Hansom.

Cover by Mike Mignola.
r: cover from Bram Stoker's Dracula (Topps) #04 (Jan 1993).

Contents:

 2 Dracula Introduction text (uncredited) / Contents / Indicia

 3 Bram Stoker's Dracula, part five, w: Roy Thomas; p: Mike Mignola, i: John Nyberg, lettering by John Costanza, colouring by Mark Chiarello.

r: Bram Stoker's Dracula (Topps) #4 (Jan 1993).

20 Bloodlines text feature compiled by Dave Hughes.

22 Vampirella - What Has Gone Before text introduction; illustrated by Mike Kaluta.

23 Vampirella Who Serves the Cause of Chaos?, part two, w: Archie Goodwin; a: Tom Sutton.

r: Vampirella (Warren) #08 (Nov 1970).

30 Transmission Vamp text feature by Adrian Rigelsford.

32 Werewolf! w: Larry Ivie; a: Frank Frazetta, lettering by Ben Oda.

r: Creepy (Warren) #01 (1964).

38 Positive Blood Type reviews of vampire books by Seamus Ryan.

39 Subscribe - Comics for the '90s (half page) in-house advertisement. / Exclusive Fangtastic Offer (half page) advertisement for Studio Three Jewellery Design.

40 Timeless Terror From Dark Horse in-house advertisement

Note: There is more information about the Werewolf strip at DocDave's Frazetta blog.

Mignola's depiction of the beastial Dracula is grotesque and eye-catching, capturing the film's design ethos perfectly, and making the cover really stand out. The cover lines, when placed upon such a strong image, are rather inconsequential - not to mention being extremely difficult to read.

From Jonathan Harker's journal: 2 October

We left London by train and crossed the English channel that night in stormy seas, no doubt from the passage of the Count's ship. He commands the winds, but we still have the advantage. By train, we can reach the Romanian port at Varna in three days. By ship, it will take him at least a week. From Paris, we traveled through the Alps to Buda-Pest. The Count must sail around the Rock of Gibraltar, where we have posted a look-out, and then on to the Black Sea port at Varna where we will meet his ship and burn it into the sea.

Ending with a rather downbeat, and very dark, installment, the strip follows every other adaptation in condensing the journey to Dracula's castle into as brief a space as possible. It is annoying that the colouring is so suddenly dark as the small band rushes to stop Dracula, as it appears to already be night - "We've got to kill him before the sun sets!" seems, therefore, to be a misplaced line. Its closing pages hammer home the differences here than in other adaptations of the novel, with a tearful Mina delivering the killing blow to the vampire.

"We want no proofs. We ask none to believe us. God be thanked that all has not been in vain - the curse has passed away."

Bloodlines further elaborates on the cinematic success of the film, and offers up ten copies of Redemption's videocassette release of >The Vampire Bat in a competition. A less impressive product given coverage is Scarlett, an attempt by DC Comics to attract the horror crowd - Tom Joyner and Keith S. Wilson's opening issue might have had interesting moments, but quickly faltered, though the piece is strangely quiet on the comic's contents.

Vampirella arrives at a scene of worship, with the cult members in full chant. Attacked by the monster she had seen before, Vampirella defends herself - and makes her presence known, drawing the cult members down on her in force. Chained to an altar, it seems that she will be given as a sacrifice to Nuberus, though Tyler steps in to prevent her death. He admits that his real name is Ethan Shroud, warlock of Old Salem, and first leader of the Companions of Chaos, and professes his love for Vapirella, for which she rebuffs him. The real Tyler returns to life to drag Ethan into the limbo from which he has ventured, and the Crimson Chronicles, which the cult used in their ceremonies, burns...

Dragging out the Van Helsing subplot with a single page of plot development is a touch luxuriant, especially when the strips are being dragged out here, but with such accomplished artwork there is little to gripe about. I have a soft spot for the character, having read through stacks of the Warren originals (back when they could be picked up for 50p each), and it is a joy to see them get another chance to shine here.

The 1977 Louis Jourdan-starring Dracula gets coverage in Transmission Vamp, with some amusing observations from Adrian Rigelsford:

With the current tidal wave of interest in all things Dracula-related, it would seem an ideal time to dig up this Count, but, alas, this does not look like it will ever happen. Apart from the odd clip turning up now and again (and a recent screening at the National Film Theatre), the long-requested release of the production on the retail video market seems [as] unlikely as it has for the past ten years or so, with clearance and rights ownership causing endless problems.

It would turn up on the fifth of April, 1993 on BBC Two, while this issue was still on the shelves. As amusing as it would be to imagine the BBC broadcasting the show deliberately, it is an odd coincidence.

Positive Blood Type (the puns, they keep coming) tackles Anne Billson's Suckers, Poppy Z. Brite's Lost Souls, and The Ultimate Dracula anthology from Dell, with remarkable restraint. Laying off the awful vampire puns altogether would have endeared me more, as it reeks of trashy US horror magazines of the seventies, not one of which retains anything remotely close to charm. Of the books listed, The Ultimate Dracula, with a P.J. Farmer story, sounds the most interesting.

#04

Dracula

#06

Dracula #4

23 Mar 1993 - 14 Apr 1993. £1.25.
36 pages. Full colour & B&W contents.
Dark Horse Comics International.

Edited by Dick Hansom.

Cover by Mike Mignola.
r: Bram Stoker's Dracula (Topps) #?

Contents:

 2 Dracula Introduction text by Dick Hansom (? uncredited) / Contents / Indicia

 3 Bram Stoker's Dracula, part four, w: Roy Thomas; p: Mike Mignola, i: John Nyberg, lettering by John Costanza, colouring by Mark Chiarello.

r: Bram Stoker's Dracula (Topps) #04 (Jan 1993).

17 Bloodlines text feature compiled by Dave Hughes; photographs by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

19 Vampirella Who Serves the Cause of Chaos? w: Archie Goodwin; a: Tom Sutton.

r: Vampirella (Warren) #08 (Nov 1970).

33 Inside Coppola's Dracula Untitled, part four, text feature by Gary Gerani & Dave Hughes; photographs by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

34 Salem's Slot review of Salem's Lot (1978) by Seamus Ryan; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

35 Subscribe - Comics for the '90s

36 The Galaxy's Greatest Heroes Return in... Classic Star Wars in-house advertisement

The hunt for Dracula begins, and, while Mina sees Renfield, the boxes of Dracula's home soil are purified so that they cannot be used by him. After venting his anger on Renfield for betraying him, Dracula visits Mina - who he convinces to drink of his blood. Knowing that the link between Mina and Dracula can be used to his advantage, Helsing hypnotises Mina.

Some of the colouring decisions make the art too dark in places, with reproduction struggling to cope with the almost-hidden figures on the first page, for example, though for the most part this is an artistic choice which sells the stylized mood. The page which doesn't quite work is when Mina is hypnotised, as the various blues blend into one another. For an adaptation which has, overall, been so strong, this isn't really a problem.

Bloodlines sets its sights on Academy Award nominations for the film, announcing that Bram Stoker's Dracula snagged a nomination in every category of the second Chainsaw Awards, run by Fangoria. The feature's brief, yet tantalising, coverage of Anne Rice's UK promotional tour doesn't state whether the interviews which weren't cancelled were for print or television - small details.

Night blankets a remote area of the rocky mountains, and, softly, silently snow has begun to fall. A cutting wind sends the flakes of white dancing and driving across the rugged landscape to pelt and sting a figure strangely out of place in these surroundings, a girl of unearthly beauty wandering through a winter night. A girl lost in a world not her own...

Vampirella suits the black and white presentation, though it has to be asked - was the finances stretched so tight that some colour could not have been added? After finding herself stranded on a mountain after a plane crash, Vampirella is rescued by Tyler Westron, who takes her to the safety of his retreat for the nervous rich. Vampirella discovers that Tyler is well aware of her alien origins, as she has talked while under sedation, and worse - he has had to amputate her wings. Telling her that he only wishes to aid her, Tyler convinces Vampirella to be patient.

And far from the isolated winter lodge, other events are forming that will in time touch the girl of Drakulon, for as the half-light of dusk settles gloomily over a graveyard in rural Michigan...

Conrad Van Helsing exhumes Kurt's corpse, and, seeing that it is drained of blood, puts a stake through the heart of his dead brother.

Vampirella may not be the most original series ever written, but the effect of so many influences upon this plot assists in creating a larger canvas upon which to paint her adventures. A cult which worships ancient gods, the isolated "hospital" where events play out, a staking in a modern cemetery, a strange monster kept caged in the basement - all of the elements are familiar, yet when woven together in this manner build into something greater than the pieces themselves.

It isn't perfect, however. There are panels which don't work, especially those in which close-ups of major characters don't look like those characters, and the ending trails off, when it should end on a more dramatic note.

No matter the film, reading of the rush to get a completed product in the can in time for its release date, and as Inside Coppola's Dracula makes clear, Bram Stoker's Dracula. had quite a few challenges to overcome. Most interesting of the comments, is mention of the deleted scenes:

Certain elements were lessened or dropped, others amplified. Early test screenings suggested that a little blood goes a long way. Some very sexy scenes were deleted altogether.

So... More deleted scenes than there was on the two-disc DVD release?

As a lifelong Stephen King fan, Salem's Lot always felt like a poor adaptation, whether in its film edit or as a mini-series. Seamus Ryan provides a brief recap of its development, first as a film, then as the eventual mini-series it became, and its sequel. There isn't enough to convince me to give it another chance, and I'm not sure why it is included. Had there been more a involved history of the book and its adaptation it might have been a really useful primer, though without a wealth of detail it merely points to the video's existence.

Stealth marketing at work.

03

Dracula

#05

Total Carnage #2

May 1993. Cover price £1.50.
48 pages. Colour & B&W.
Dark Horse International

Edited by Dick Hansom.

Cover by John Bolton.
r: Army of Darkness (Dark Horse) #01 (Nov 1992)

Contents:

 2 Forbidden Planet advertisement.

 3 Total Carnage contents. / Indicia

 4 Batman Vs Predator, part two, What Has Gone Before recap; painting by Arthur Suydam.

r: cover from Batman Versus Predator (DC / Dark Horse) #03 (Feb 1992).

 5 Batman Vs Predator, part two, w: Dave Gibbons; p: Andy Kubert, i: Adam Kubert, lettering by Adam Kubert, colouring by Sherilyn van Valkenburgh.

r: Batman Versus Predator (DC / Dark Horse) #01 (Dec 1991).

15 Action Stations text feature by Dave Hughes.

17 Army of Darkness, part two, What Has Gone Before recap; painting by John Bolton.

18 Army of Darkness w: John Bolton (uncredited), from the screenplay by Sam Raimi & Ivan Raimi. a: John Bolton; lettering by John Costanza.

r: Army of Darkness (Dark Horse) #01 (Nov 1992).

26 Raimi Knights text feature by Seamus A. Ryan.

28 Mask, part two, What Has Gone Before recap; illustration by Doug Mahnke.

29 The Mask Who's Laughing Now? w: John Arcudi; a: Doug Mahnke, lettering by Pat Brosseau.

r: Mayhem (Dar Horse) #01 (May 1989).

35 Killing Games text feature by Dave Hughes.

36 Grendel, part two, What Has Gone Before recap; illustration by Patrick McEown & Matt Wagner.

37 Grendel War Child [chapter] w: Matt Wagner; p: Patrick McEown, i: Matt Wagner, lettering by Kurt Hathaway, colouring by Bernie Mireault.

r: Grendel: War Child (Dark Horse) #01 (Aug 1992).

47 Subscribe! Comics for the '90s in-house advertisement.

48 Timeless Terror from Dark Horse in-house advertisement for Dracula #06.

A John Bolton cover can improve any title. Inside, Batman Vs Predator improves, with clearer reproduction assisting the story, though there are still spots where the darkness of the strip causes problems. Some oddities in colouring, with the oval logo on Batman's chest briefly appearing red, is exactly the kind of minor annoyance which can jolt me out of the story, but isn't enough to spoil the mood which has been building - the final-panel appearance of the Predator is a great way to conclude.

Dave Hughes' Action Station covers National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 rather positively, and there's a reference to Isobar as well, for those who like tormenting themselves with the prospect of one day actually seeing the film. Point Break snags the first Video of the Month title, with James Cameron's aborted Spider-Man adaptation getting passing mention - it is almost as if the feature existed for the sole purpose of teasing people with films which were never made.

The quote - in boxout - from Columbia TriStar president J. Edward Shugrue made me smile, and justifies the existence of the feature by itself. Comedy gold.

Army of Darkness finally gets moving, with Ash getting his hand on his chainsaw - then using it to great effect. Maintaining Bruce Campbell's likeness remarkably well, the artwork throughout is fantastic, and easily better than the official film poster - as pointed out in the following article... Seamus A. Ryan covers the evolution of the Evil Dead series from its 16mm origins through to Army of Darkness' release, though the breakneck pace of the article sips over much of the juicy detail.

The Mask, suffering the worst case of Witzelsucht ever seen, is a joy. There's more violence in the handful of pages here than in the rest of the issue combined, yet the underlying humour ought to be able to override any objections. Hughes' second feature, on the relative merits of the Batman Returns versus Predator 2 games, is little more than a free plug for the Predator game, and lacks even rudimentary side-by-side analysis.

Grendel suffers the most from being chopped into segments, and there's not a great deal of progression from where it left off in the first issue. It is slightly mystifying that use wasn't made of the shorter material which ran in Dark Horse Presents, which would have fitted the format perfectly, and which (for the most part) were filled with solid storytelling and great art.

#01

Total Carnage

#03