(*PAGE EXAMPLES - reply #31*) "Dark Shadows" Returns in October (in new comic form)

Just checked my 'Pending Pre-Orders' from TFAW.com, they FINALLY updated the 'Arrives' date of #4 to 3/14/12.

Anyone keeping track of when each issue has actually come out? Seems like it's atleast 5-6 weeks between each issue, so I guess we should just ignore the dates they give & just expect them to be released about that often.

My comic shop guy said that, since Dynamite is a small press, they can basically do whatever they want.  Which I guess means not having hard and fast release dates ...

Checking back through this topic, the release dates have been:

Issue #1 - November 2nd
Issue #2 - December 21st (7 weeks later)
Issue #3 - January 25th (5 weeks later)
Issue #4 - Apparently March 14th (7 weeks later)

Thanks for that info, Mysterious Benefactor!

There hasn't been too much mentioned about the trade paperback still set to be released on April 4th, but I just noticed it's on sale at Amazon for $11.55 (free shipping if you spent over $25).

I just read the issue, and wow what a bunch of immature cheap horror cheese, and totally out of continuity with the original series.

[spoiler]I thought the Angelique plot would have gone on longer; what the hell was the point in the first place?  I thought both the writing and the drawing declined significantly in quality this issue; from the first page when they actually described Angelique as a "magical, time-lost woman."  Everyone's faces looked horrible.  And I hated the ludicrous and stupid fights between Quentin and Barnabas, and the fact that they don't even bother to explain why now Quentin changes into the werewolf and can even speak and conciously control himself while he does so.  None of the characters held themselves up in a dignified manner in this issue, they were all reduced to a bunch of exaggerated, hysterical, vulgar people with no wit.  Just a bunch of ugly monsters fist-fighting down by the docks.  I think I'll stop buying this series now.    [/spoiler]

Hmmm.... it all sounds reminiscent of the glory days of Joe Certa and Gold Key comics.

I have the current issue on hold at my comics shop, and would like to read to the end of the current arc--I thought it was supposed to continue through to issue 6, but maybe not?

The whole [spoiler]Quentin becoming a wolf thing in the last issue was just DUMB.  I hope it gets explained at some point.  I'm not all that optimistic though. [/spoiler]

Anyhow, Bat, thanks for the review.

Best, Gothick

I was very disappointed in this past issue:  the art was a significant let down, the dialogue didn't feel natural, and the plot twists strange and out of place.  I enjoyed the first three issues, though, so I'll hold out hope ...

[spoiler]they don't even bother to explain why now Quentin changes into the werewolf and can even speak and conciously control himself while he does so.[/spoiler]

That one is quite the head-scratcher.

Hmmm.... it all sounds reminiscent of the glory days of Joe Certa and Gold Key comics.

I have the current issue on hold at my comics shop, and would like to read to the end of the current arc--I thought it was supposed to continue through to issue 6, but maybe not?

Yes, issue #4 perfectly captures the experience of reading the Gold Key comics.  The Angelique arc may have originally been slated to go on for six issues (and they certainly could have done more, you'll see) but it definitely ends here, with the preview blurb for issue 5 describing a different story.   


The issue with Quentin...

[spoiler]Really just throws reality out the window, as apparently Quentin even went all the way into Collinsport, into a public place in werewolf mode as if it was just perfectly normal and natural.  Apparently it's not a curse in the comic, just a fun 'superpower' that Quentin has.  [/spoiler]

The issue with Quentin...

[spoiler]Apparently it's not a curse in the comic, just a fun 'superpower' that Quentin has.  [/spoiler]

God, I think they may have been reading Anne Rice's new novel. (Which I liked, but found largely GOOFY AS ALL GET OUT.) I haven't read the comics yet, I was waiting for the graphic novel to be published, but it's frustrating when authors bend the "reality" of an established series to fit the story they wanted to tell. There was a problem, I thought, with this very issue in the second season of the Big Finish dramas.

Jeez Louise!  I grabbed the new issue today and opened it to see

[spoiler]Quentin in werewolf form talking to Barnabas [/spoiler]

I haven't read the rest yet, but based on the comments here the rest of the issue isn't much better.

Stuart?  If you're reading this...um...why?? LOL.   I can only assume this was some sort of directive by Dynamite to evoke Gold Key nostalgia?  I know you know the characters and feel of the show better than this, so I have to ask you what the deal was there.
   

Wow, I finally sat down to look at issue four and it's ... wall-to-wall schlock is the best phrase I can come up with for it.

If the original issues 4 through 6 were combined into this one final issue that explains at least some of the ways in which the story fails.  I don't know why they hired such a poor artist, and the colorist didn't even bother to check hair colors from earlier issues.

I wonder how long this mag will last.  Fans of the new movie will be puzzled when they check it out and don't find any jokes...

G.

with all the recent hoo-ha over the movie these little rags have fallen off the radar to some extent...

against my better judgement i picked up issue 4 today. these started out with a modicum of promise but have gotten stupider and stupider and stupider by the issue. this one's really hit the nadir.

i won't even attempt to get into the "plot" if that is what one can actually call the action that takes place between these pages. to call this adolescent would be too complimentary. a 10 year old would find them ridiculous.

what i'd like to ask the illustrator is why julia and carolyn and roger and quentin are all wearing the same green pantsuit?

really just pretty worthless junk.

Yep.  I tossed mine in the recycling bin 30 seconds after finishing with it.

I wouldn't put it under the catbox.  I have more respect for my kitty than to subject her to that.

G.

i tend to line the cat box the pages torn out of "the salem branch"...

maybe i'll use this next.

at least the old 'gold key' had a certain naive charm as stupid as they were. these have a pretentiousness and cynicism to them that makes them even more loathsome.