Innovation's '91 DS Comic, Book 2

[Uncle Roger]

I did recall hearing about Jonathan Frid and Louis Edmonds being proposed as character models for the book. I don't remember where I heard it first but the word gracious was not attached to either refusal. I have no idea what E. Silas Smith looked like but it sounds like the editor had somewhat of a man crush on him.
Time has shown that DCP is not the best judge of what is or isn't canon.
I seem to remember that there was some kind of screw up with Tina "Pinky" Perrotta's name as well. Is it addressed in the next issue's letter column?

And how does one embroider an envelope?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I did recall hearing about Jonathan Frid and Louis Edmonds being proposed as character models for the book. I don't remember where I heard it first but the word gracious was not attached to either refusal.

I don't know about Louis Edmonds, but back when the offer would have been made to Jonathan Frid he was still very much in the mood that he wanted nothing to do with DS. And Pierson had only himself to blame...

I have no idea what E. Silas Smith looked like

Check out this post:

Here's the first page of the second article (twenty-eighth page)

I seem to remember that there was some kind of screw up with Tina "Pinky" Perrotta's name as well. Is it addressed in the next issue's letter column?

I haven't checked out Book 2, Issue 3 yet. But if there is anything about it, we'll certainly be seeing it...

And how does one embroider an envelope?

Excellent question.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's interesting that, unlike Action Kits International's first Ben Cross Barnabas model set, which is featured in Book 1, Issues 2 & 3, their second Ben Cross model set -

- isn't featured in any Book 2 issues. However, that's less of a surprise once one realizes that, with the exception of Book 2, Issue 1, which features the ads for the posters and the watches, none of the other Book 2 issues feature ads for any DS merchandise. Instead Innovation used its pages at the ends of the issues to promote its own merchandise. Though whether or not that was because companies like Abbelare Inc. and  Action Kits International chose not to place any more ads or Innovation chose to promote its own merchandise, who knows?

But be that as it may be, the above material regarding the second Ben Cross model comes from SG #64 from April 1993...

And you may recall that Innovation's ad for the first model was shared in "Boardindex Page Montage/aka 'Book 1'?" in reply #273 on page 19 and more info about that model was in SG # 60 and shared in that same topic's reply #393 on page 27...

[Uncle Roger]

Maybe the companies that made the DS products wanted to promote their merchandise in something that came out on a more timely basis.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   You might be on to something. 

[Uncle Roger]

I wonder if the word was out in the industry that Innovation was on shaky ground before the general public did. It would make sense that companies would pull their ads if they knew that the company's days were numbered. Or, from a business standpoint, why pay for ads in a magazine that wasn't going to see print.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the beginning of what SG #64 had to say about the comics generally:

There will be more about the Trade Paperback in a future post. Will it actually come out in July? What do you think? 

I always get a good chuckle whenever Campiti insists things like "Careful and thorough attention is given to detail and continuity between books but also within what was shown in the 13 broadcast hours." OK, there does seem to be continuity between the books - but when it come to sticking to what was shown in the series, it's a ridiculous claim, as has been pointed out numerous times...

And unfortunately the text of the Previews blurb didn't scan clearly (but then, I needed a magnifying glass to read it from SG), so what it says is:

DARK SHADOWS BOOK TWO #2
by Maggie Thompson & Jose Pimentel
The  mind-reading   mysterious  stranger  known
as Nathan   takes  a job  with  the Grimm  sisters
next door, but begins to uncover a terrible family
secret  spanning  generations.   But Willie Loomis
and he have poked into Barnabas Collins's affairs
once too  often -- and  the vampire  strikes back!
Cover  painted by  Hector  Gomez.

How will Barnabas strike back? We're not too far away from finding out.

And continuing on with SG #64's report:

I also always get a good chuckle when Campiti makes claims that are clearly false. I keep all my issues in the envelopes they were mailed in and the postmark for Book 2, Issue 2 clearly says May 17. So, unless everyone else received their issues almost two months before I did...

I have no memory of Innovation doing a special QVC version of the comics. But if they did, details of it will surely show up in a future issue of SG...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I wonder if the word was out in the industry that Innovation was on shaky ground before the general public did. It would make sense that companies would pull their ads if they knew that the company's days were numbered. Or, from a business standpoint, why pay for ads in a magazine that wasn't going to see print.

Those are also excellent questions. And also situations that were quite potentially possible...

[Uncle Roger]

I had no idea that QVC had a comic book segment.

The Shadowgram blurb is both interesting and frustrating.

The Innovation comics are the only Dark Shadows comics that have never been reprinted in trade paperback form. I wonder why.

I think that it was always understood that Lara's notes for the potential comic book formed the basis for what eventually became Angelique's Descent.  But which Angelique was she supposed to have been writing about: the original version or the NBC incarnation. I thought that Innovation didn't have the rights to the original series. Plus, there's the publishing schedule. If the books were actually published on a timely basis (a big if, at that), it was going to be quite some time before they addressed and resolved the NBC cliffhanger.  If they ever actually planned to do so.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The Innovation comics are the only Dark Shadows comics that have never been reprinted in trade paperback form. I wonder why.

I don't honestly recall what the ultimate fate of the trade paperback was/is. But if you are correct that these comics have never been reprinted that way (and I have no reason to doubt you), it's going to be fascinating to eventually discover in SG why that is. The info I'll be sharing in an upcoming post certainly made the trade paperback sound like it was going to be quite interesting...

I think that it was always understood that Lara's notes for the potential comic book formed the basis for what eventually became Angelique's Descent.  But which Angelique was she supposed to have been writing about: the original version or the NBC incarnation.

It was going to be about the Angelique of the '91 Series - and it was going to be told through the eyes of her mother, who Book 1 strongly hinted is Julia's Aunt Lara (the only good thing to come out of that awful Barrettstown story). But alas...

I thought that Innovation didn't have the rights to the original series. Plus, there's the publishing schedule. If the books were actually published on a timely basis (a big if, at that), it was going to be quite some time before they addressed and resolved the NBC cliffhanger.  If they ever actually planned to do so.

You are correct in that Innovation didn't have the rights to the original series.

They did plan to resolve the cliffhanger and to begin new story partly based on the plans the '91 Series' writers had for a second season (see: SHADOWS IN THE '90S: The Dark Shadows Concordance 1991). Though in one way they did plan to depart radically from what the writers had planned. I don't think that's come up yet in anything I've shared from SG, but it will...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Though in one way they did plan to depart radically from what the writers had planned. I don't think that's come up yet in anything I've shared from SG, but it will...

I checked older posts and it did come up, though not as clearly explained as it will be. But for what it's worth, anyone interested now should check out reply #484 on page 33 of "Boardindex Page Montage/aka 'Book 1'?"

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the twenty-second page:

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

Note the two panels, their dialogue, and other bits of dialogue that weren't included in the slideshow...

And as I'd alluded to soon after I'd posted the cover for Book 2, Issue 2, notice how different Joshua's statue is on the cover compared to the comic's interior art:

The cover version even has a resemblance to Stefan Gierasch, something the interior version doesn't really. And more differences will show up on Page 23...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

BTW, if, when it comes to the entries in today's slideshow, you're as confused as Vicki as to why Barnabas is sending her away -

Book Two/Issue Two/Page 23 - Barnabas: 'I MUST ASK YOU
TO RETURN HOME WITHOUT ME. THERE IS DANGER FOR
YOU HERE, BUT I SHALL TAKE CARE OF IT.'


Book Two/Issue Two/Page 23 - Vicki: 'BUT---*'

- don't feel bad. Even though a panel and its dialogue were skipped, the skipped panel/dialogue doesn't offer any specific reason for Barnabas' actions. Given what we will see shortly, presumably Barnabas is experiencing some adverse reaction after seeing his father's statue (and how appropriate is it that this situation is being showcased during Father's Day Weekend?). But that's mostly left up to the reader to deduce...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And more differences will show up on Page 23...

And the biggest of them is, of course, the pedestal:

Interior art:

Cover:

One would think either the artists themselves or at least the editors would be sure the artists are on the same page when it comes to continuity between the covers and the interiors. But apparently one would be wrong. 

Of course, it might have been the case that Hector Gomez, who drew the covers for Book 2, was given only a brief notion of what the actual scene in the interior would entail because the scripts weren't finished when he drew his covers, whereas Jose Pimentel, who drew the interior art, worked from finished scripts. We've seen in the SG reports that many times the covers were done a few weeks or even longer before the interior art was done. But that's no excuse. For the sake of continuity, something Campiti trumpeted constantly, the cover artists should have been as aware of story points as the interior artists were. That's one reason why it might have been best if only one artist had been used for both covers and interiors, as was the case for Book 1 with E. Silas Smith.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Because the comics promote the MPI VHS tapes of the '91 Series, I shared info from SG #62. I forgot to share an update from SG #63:

It was actually a slip-up that MPI would be releasing "13 new DS tapes" because at the time SG #63 was published there hadn't been an announcement for the "Dark Shadows Resurrected" behind the scenes tape, so it's funny and prophetic that there actually did end up being 13 tapes released by MPI for the '91 Series. Though, as was mentioned before, it would be years before the DSR tape was actually released, despite several promised releasings of it coming and going. And it would be even more years before a soundtrack for the '91 Series would be released. And as one might recall, many '91 Series fans, while being extremely pleased that it came out, were fairly puzzled if not angered that it suddenly came out without any prior publicity that it was going to be released. Check out:

Official Dark Shadows Resurrected Soundtrack!!!