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Review:
Dark Shadows Comic Strip Book |
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It's a pleasant surprise to see an original Dark Shadows comic strip where, for once, the renditions of the main character, Barnabas, resemble the actor who portrayed him. In the foreword we get an interesting insight into how Kenneth created the illustrations - he would pose for reference photographs as Barnabas dressed in an inverness coat, using his wife and father-in-law as models for other characters. Some of these pictures have been reproduced together with the illustrations drawn from them. He would also use reference photos from the series to help reproduce Jonathan Frid's likeness and, although you can recognise these sources in the final artwork, I think it's a perfectly reasonable practice in the circumstances, and the end result is good. Compare it (if you ever get the chance) with the appalling drawings of Barnabas and other characters in the Gold Key comics!
The strip ran seven days a week, with a special colour edition on Sundays. Unfortunately, the colour versions have only been reproduced in black and white, so it is not possible to judge how they would have originally looked. Apparently Kenneth tried to colour the first Sunday strips himself, but was not happy with the result; from there on the colour was added by the publishers. The basic storyline was much the same as the series but featured only Barnabas, Carolyn, and Elizabeth as the regular characters at Collinwood. There are other variances from the TV series: Barnabas 'lives' in a old stone cottage on the estate (there is no mention of the Old House), Elizabeth's late husband is referred to as 'Michael' Stoddard (rather than Paul) and in one story Carolyn has acquired a dog called 'Big Boy'. In another strip, Barnabas is shown holding up a bible to ward off a creature of evil - surely vampires cannot hold such religious items! Generally, the storyline is much simplified compared to the TV version. Angelique puts in an appearance in one of the stories but comes across as a much more sympathetic character than on screen. The likenesses of the other regulars are not as detailed as that of Barnabas but, apparently this was due to time constraints in getting daily editions completed. The storylines themselves are rather basic, with a regular supernatural foe, or paranormal happening which Barnabas has to solve (usually to save himself or the family from harm). Due to the nature of the strip certain scenes appear to be repeated (this would have been where the story was re-capped for the next day's edition) which does make it little disconcerting when read as a whole - perhaps it would have been helpful to have some indication of where each day's strip began. No-one appears to know who wrote the stories, but I have to say that this is no great loss. The book is best viewed as a showcase for the artist's talent (he claims that the Dark Shadows strip is his favourite piece of work) with his striking use of light and shade which does give the strip a certain atmosphere. Apart from Kenneth Bruce Bald's colour cover art, it also has some extras, such as a print of his alternative cover (unfortunately only reproduced in black and white) and also a listing of the Gold Key comics, which features a synopsis for each edition. All
in all, it is an interesting addition to the Dark Shadows collection
- not least because it gives people like myself, who would not have
been able to see the strip at the time, a chance to view it now
in a complete form. It's just a shame that the only colour material
is the artwork is on the cover. |
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In
the spring of 1971, just as the Dark Shadows television series
was ending its 5 year run on ABC TV, the Newspaper Enterprise Association
began a syndicated comic strip, based on the series, which appeared
in various daily newspapers across the USA. Drawn by Kenneth Bruce
Bald (under the name of 'K. Bruce'), the strip was to run for a
year until March 1972. This new book from Pomegranate Press has
collected all of the stories into one volume, with a foreword by
the artist himself.