Does the story show any promise?  (Although that doesn't necessarily mean anything, since the first arc showed some promise...)

Yeah, I guess.  The art didn't pain me as much as the last issue, though I think it's the same artist.  And the dialogue wasn't necessarily DREADFUL (I enjoyed the cameos from some Collinwood residents of the dim, dead past), or at least not as dreadful as last time (that voiceover ... yowch!).  Barnabas fleeing with his cane reminded me of Gold Key.

I also picked up the new issue of Buffy, which was MUCH more exciting for me.  Strange, since I was leaping around and singing to the hills when I found out about the comic book last summer.  Sad face.

I've been pondering this a lot ... well, okay, not really, but I thought I'd throw my two cents in.  If I were compiling this list, I'd include these milestone-y episodes:

126.  Matthew vs. all the ghosts.

155.  Elizabeth tells Laura to skedaddle.  She doesn't.  Fighting fire with fire ensues.

248.  Barnabas locks Maggie in a coffin (not for the faint of heart).

405.  THE CURSE!

569.  Tom and Julia get frisky.

748.  Magda gives Quentin a dose of (well-deserved) curse.

955.  Angelique powers up and takes out her frustrations on Quentin and Maggie.

1012. In the murky and disturbing world of Parallel time, Quentin welcomes Barnabas to Collinwood.

1150.  Au revoir, Roxanne.

1202.  Bramwell and Catherine discover the wonders of pre-marital pelvicness. 

I thought I'd try to include representative episodes from the majority of time periods ... I honestly can't believe that the curse episode wasn't included on either of MPI's latest collections, but what can you do.

I'm sure I shall want it.  Sigh.

(Thanks, MB!)

So I was in Target yesterday, and I squee'ed a bit when I saw the new Fan Favorites DVD from MPI.  Because I already own all the episodes, I resisted purchasing it (my fiance helped with this resistance a bit as well).  I was, however, disappointed by what TPTB have deemed "among the most popular in the history of DARK SHADOWS".  According to whom?

Which begs the questions:  fans out there ... if you were compiling this DVD, what episodes would YOU choose to serve as "an ideal introduction to new vewers as well as an enticing overview for veteran DARK SHADOWS devotees"?

I just picked up my copy of Famous Monsters -- totally worth it for me cuz of the awesome caricature of Angelique adorning the Lara Parker interview -- but there's also an amazing full page shot of Depp's Barnabas that only increased my excitement for the movie (if that's possible) ...

Kathy Resch's 1991 Concordance indicates that Laura and Angelique might have been different people, though they did plan to incarnate Angelique somehow.  If I remember correctly, the notes for season 2 report making an homage to the Laura film, as well as "a war of the witches" between Angelique and Laura.

I'm in that small group with you, Midnite.  Fun.  Fun.  Fun.