Ross Novels / Gold Key Comics

what was the gist of the gold key comics?did they consistently portray barnabas as the evil character he was early on on the show or did they try and work in the guilt-ridden,romantic side of his character?

what other characters from the show appeared in the comic?

In the Gold Key books, Barnabas is presented as being the victim of Angelique's curse.  However, in the earlier books, he was often portrayed as a monstrous creature, with always-visible fangs and bulging eyes.  As the series progressed, he was depicted as a surprisingly athletic hero, running everywhere, and waxing romantic while retiring to his coffin.  In a few of the issues, he is described as being free of Angelique's curse, but ultimately his affliction returns.  All of this is presented without any explanation.

Other characters from the TV series who appeared in the Gold Key comics are Quentin, Angelique (with red hair), Dr. Hoffman, Stokes, Liz, Roger, and Willie (in the first issue only).  I think Trask and Vicki are mentioned in the first issue.  As with the Ross novels, many new, oddly-named characters were introduced, such as Damon Coldclaw and Granny Bumpers (who is NOT, thankfully, a geriatric stripper).

I'd love to see a trade paperback collection of all the Gold Key stories.  They really need to be seen to be believed.

What got me about the Gold Key comics was that, with some very rare exceptions, Barnabas was always wearing his cape-coat.  Middle of the day, inside the house having tea, summer time, going for a swim, you-name-it, he always had it on.  Even when he travelled to the past, he pranced around in that cape-coat (with his 20th century tie peaking out).  It seemed he had a Linus-and-blanket like obsession with it.

Gerard

i'm glad this was brought up because i got a few books at a yard sale
and was disappointed in the stories! sometimes i have the mind of a teenage girl
MB  and they don't appeal to me (johny depp now )

jennifer
and gerard think i saw someone swimming up in maine with a coat and cape
on this summer Could it be?but then again the ocean there is Brrrr... no wonder
none of those Collins' swam!

jenniferand gerard think i saw someone swimming up in maine with a coat and cape
on this summer Could it be?but then again the ocean there is Brrrr... no wonder
none of those Collins' swam!

<lol>  Just imagining how heavy one of those (presumably) wool coat and cape combos would be when wet.  Talk about a great upper body workout.  I guess that's why Barnabas is so good at strangling and beating people. 

"Willie and Julia are being especially defiant.  I had best do an extra twenty laps."

I guess that's why Barnabas is so good at strangling and beating people. 

"Willie and Julia are being especially defiant.  I had best do an extra twenty laps."

 

<lol>  Just imagining how heavy one of those (presumably) wool coat and cape combos would be when wet.  Talk about a great upper body workout.  I guess that's why Barnabas is so good at strangling and beating people. 

"Willie and Julia are being especially defiant.  I had best do an extra twenty laps."

 
hey that could be a great Years workout CN to shed these holiday pounds


jennifer

Cassandra appeared very briefly in issue one of the Gold Key comics.

One of the DS fans did an M. A.thesis on the Dan/"Marilyn" Ross books back in the Eighties and wrote an article about the paperbacks which I read.  (Frankly, I was stunned to think of any academic worthy of the name signing off on such a thing, but since then, we've had cartloads of scholarly books published on the postmodern polsemy of Xena and Gabrielle, etc.).   IIRC, Dan only ever received the script for episode 1 of DS.  In the very first book, the first few pages are fairly close to some of the narrative of episode 1.  I don't think he ever watched the show because he was too busy.  The article mentioned him typing the final chapters of one of the books in the back seat of his station wagon while his wife drove them to the publishers because he was so close to the deadline.

To call them "pulp" fiction would be a kindness.  One of my friends used to read them on the beach, a convenience because they have those big barrels in which you could toss the completed, sand-encrusted paperbacks once you were done.

They're worth having for the cover photos. The early issues of the comics had some nice photos.  Apart from that, I can't imagine anyone wanting to have them around the house.

Some of the other characters did turn up in the Ross books, notably Quentin, of course.  The appearance of the characters was often wildly at variance with how they appeared on the show.  Quentin, I think, spent a lot of the books as a mendicant hippie adopting various outlandish disguises.  Chris Jennings appeared in one book as a cold-blooded, calculating fiend. Angelique showed up as an olive skinned beauty from the West Indies, and Dr. Hoffman had an entertaining cameo in a couple of the very last books.  Dan Ross also got the job of writing up the original screenplay of hoDS in novel form (it included several scenes that were deleted prior to filming), and his depictions of Julia and Professor Stokes were influenced, I think, by his work on that.

G.

Dan Ross also got the job of writing up the original screenplay of hoDS in novel form (it included several scenes that were deleted prior to filming), and his depictions of Julia and Professor Stokes were influenced, I think, by his work on that.

Recently, I re-read the HoDS novelization, and I was struck by how easy it is to tell where the source material leaves off and Ross' embellishments pick up.  The characters, particularly Stokes, Julia, and Roger, suddenly begin speaking and acting out of character.  I found myself thinking, "Stokes would NEVER say that!"  

J-C

<lol>  Just imagining how heavy one of those (presumably) wool coat and cape combos would be when wet.  Talk about a great upper body workout.  I guess that's why Barnabas is so good at strangling and beating people. 

"Willie and Julia are being especially defiant.  I had best do an extra twenty laps."

 
hey that could be a great Years workout CN to shed these holiday pounds

Ugh!  My New Year's Resolution:  lose 50 to 70 pounds "IN THE PLACES WHERE!"

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But Jean-Claude, you're so cuddly and cute exactly as you are!

And that's not YOUR drink, Cinderella!

Paul-ette

But Jean-Claude, you're so cuddly and cute exactly as you are!

Well, aren't you sweet!  However, such an exterior does not exactly go with my personality, which is of the "cranky old man" variety.    I wouldn't want to be accused of false advertising!

J-C

Hell, I've been a cranky old man since about age 15!

And now I am a middle aged New England Luddite curmudgeon who stays home with his cat most Sat. nights.... watching Dark Shadows, of course!

And now I am a middle aged New England Luddite curmudgeon who stays home with his cat most Sat. nights.... watching Dark Shadows, of course!

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. 

And now I am a middle aged New England Luddite curmudgeon who stays home with his cat most Sat. nights.... watching Dark Shadows, of course!

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. 

ditto!!

jennifer

 

Hell, I've been a cranky old man since about age 15!

And now I am a middle aged New England Luddite curmudgeon who stays home with his cat most Sat. nights.... watching Dark Shadows, of course!

<LOL>

Yes, Saturday nights aren't what they used to be, although I don't think they ever were what they used to be in my case.     Usually, my Saturday nights consist of watching movies on my DVD player or <gasp!> doing homework!

J-C