Boardindex Page Montage/aka 'Book 1'?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

SG #60 also shared a sketch of this preliminary cover for Issue 3:

We'll see how different it is when I post the real cover...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the front cover of Book 1, Issue 3:

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version)

Notice how Julia in particular is different from the sketch...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And because there are still quite a few things that need to be posted, here's Book 1, Issue 3's first page:

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version)

Note that the entire opening monologue wasn't included in the slideshow - but then, there really wasn't much to it that hadn't already been covered elsewhere in the slideshow - not to mention that apart from the first few lines, it isn't really a very good opening monologue...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the first part of the comics update in SG #61 from August 1992: Part of it references where we currently are in the slideshow and goes beyond to some things we haven't seen in the slideshow yet:

This Issue 3 didn't actually come out until close to the end of October.

[Gothick]

LOL! That opening voiceover sounded like what the result would have been if "Marilyn" Ross had been commissioned to write a 1991 DS book.

It did give me a giggle...

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And just as with Book 1, Issue 2, because the letters column in Book 1, Issue 3 continues to feature reactions to Book1, Issue1 (and not about Book1, Issue 2 - Hmmm...), I'm going to begin posting it now rather than wait for when it comes up in Issue 3. So, here's the first page of the column (twenty-fifth page):

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And here's the second page of the second letters column (twenty-sixth page):

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here are the second and third pages:

(Click here for a 2656X1996 version)

And as usual, there are some bits of dialogue (mostly from the creatures) that wasn't included in the slideshow...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here are the next two pages of the letters column from Book 1, Issue 3. And unlike the letters column from Issue 2, this column from Issue 3 features peaks at panels from that issue.

First up, the third page of the second letters column (the twenty-seventh page):

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And here's the fourth page of the second letters column (the twenty-eighth page):

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

And look - actual snow and cold breath as promised...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And here's the fifth (last) page of the second letters column (the twenty-ninth page):

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

And Issue 4 didn't actually come out until February '93...

[Uncle Roger]

Five pages of letters from readers is a lot, especially when the norm for Marvel or DC at the time was a single page. Maybe two at the most. Only a few of the printed letters came from people who I knew through DS fandom. The rest are still strangers to me.
A few fans (don't remember who anymore) were displeased that Innovation printed their home addresses. This was also standard practice with Marvel and DC. (Warren Comics only printed city and state, as I recall). No idea if Innovation offered the address withheld option to its audience.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And here's the fourth page:

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

And as per usual some bits of dialogue were not included in the slideshow...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

One panel of a set of eyes watching Julia and Barnabas would have been disquieting and effective. This just comes off as overkill. Plus, the artist reveals way too much of the creatures and does it far too soon, ruining any element of surprise whatsoever.[

Exactly, the reveal should have been held until the last panel. I have no idea why they felt the need to give away too much too soon.

As for "monsters" in general, Campiti was very proud to say that the story would feature monsters for those who want to see monsters in their horror. But the thing is, DS was never that type of show so why would DS fans actually be expecting to see monsters? Sure, there was the Leviathan monster during that storyline - BUT we never saw it. And yes, that had much to do with budget and the limitations of special effects at the time - BUT many feel that aspect of the storyline was all the more effective for what we didn't see. Nowadays it seems such things have to not only be seen but to be thrown up in the audience's face for them to be effective. Which does lead me to the possibility I've mentioned before that perhaps the Barrettstown mutants were a ploy to attract/satisfy non-DS fans coming upon the comics. Who knows? But as far as I'm concerned, not only weren't they needed for the story, they actually lessen it.

I don't care much for the character design either. I guess that the artist was trying to make them look intimidating and spooky. But they come off looking like Smurfs on a lost weekend.

Exactly - especially when it comes to how they're often drawn in Issue 3. There's nothing horrific about them when they often come off looking like jokes. Dangling tongues and drool and goofy expressions make them look more like crosses between slobbering dogs and munchkins.

Julia's never been there at night?

Who knows? She does tell Barnabas that her mother took her away from Barrettstown when she was three years old, so she may not recall much of those years - and she also says that as an adult she only visited once, and the panels for that flashback indicate it took place during the day. So given that I'm willing to cut her statement that she'd never been to Barrettstown at night some slack.

[Uncle Roger]

Comic book horror was in the process of evolving into a more sophisticated level, with the Vertigo line of Swamp Thing, Sandman and, a bit later, Lucifer. These comics appealed to an audience that did not normally read comic books. But the DS book totally missed the boat in that regard. The creatures seem more appropriate to a 1962 issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland.