Innovation's '91 DS Comic, Book 2

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Apparently Willie and David are beginning to have similar nightmares. Though I'd have to check to see who had it first...

It's hard to say. Unlike Book 2, Issue 2, where its cover depicts Barnabas with Joshua's statue and within that issue's story Barnabas does go to Joshua's statue, within Book 2, Issue 3 Willie does not have a nightmare like the one depicted on its cover. One thing that is interesting, though, is that almost near the very end of Book 2, Issue 3 it recreates a scene that opens Hour 4 of the series - and it isn't until some scenes after that in Hour 4 that David has his nightmare. So, considering that the recreated scene in Book 2, Issue 3 takes place near its end and Willie's nightmare is the cover for the issue, one could put forth the hypothesis that Willie's nightmare precedes David's. But it's merely a hypothesis and will remain that way because there's no evidence anywhere within Book 2's story to prove or disprove it...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And here's the inside cover -

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

And once again, don't be fooled by Maggie Thompson's signature and think that Book 2, Issue 3 came out in June 1993 because it didn't actually come out until August...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Subscribers to the comics discovered this letter in the envelope with Book 2, Issue 3:

(Click here for a 1649X2200 version)

Up to this point Ellen Jones was a name that hadn't been associated with Innovation or the DS comics.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And here's the form with the coupon that's referenced in the letter:

(Click here for a 1649X2200 version)

Notice that the graphics for the form include part of the graphics for the cover of the trade paperback. And there will be more about the trade paperback in a future SG post...

"TOTALLY FAITHFUL TO THE DARK SHADOWS SAGA" Uh huh...

"Witness the stories NBC will never show!" When it comes to Barrettstown, hopefully NBC would have had the good sense never to have approved it, much less to have shown it!!

They make it seem like subscribing to the comics using the coupon gives fans a discount. But the truth is the subscription price has always been $14 for 4 issues. And if you break it down that means subscriptions have always been discount 10% off the cover price. 10% off the $2.50 cover price would mean each issue would cost $2.25. $2.25 X 4 = $9 $1.25 X 4 = $5 for shipping and handling. And $9 + $5 = $14. And that even works out for the fans who were willing from the start to subscribe to three four issue books because $14 X 3 = $42. (Though considering it cost Innovation $0.75 to mail each issue, they were only making $0.50 on the handling per issue. And really it wasn't even that vs. the cover price because they'd discounted that $0.25, so they were actually only making $0.25 on the handling per each subscription issue.)

And speaking of pricing, considering the trade paperback was to include more material than had been included in Book 1's actual issues, it's quite interesting that they were only going to charge $9.75 for it - and that price included postage and handling...

And in a future SG post we'll be learning more about the gold foil, embossed cover versions of Book 2, Issue 1...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's what little SG #65 from July 1993 had to say about the trade paperback:

Given Innovation's history, I'm sure no one is surprised it was postponed (especially given that Uncle Roger is pretty certain it never came out - chances are pretty good that it's yet something else that advance purchasers lost their money on - thankfully, I never ordered it). It will be a while before we actually get to SG #66 but I'll tease that I looked to see if it had any info as to why the trade paperback was postponed and the reason is quite interesting. But that's all I say for now...

[Uncle Roger]

Totally faithful. I guess that depends on how you define faithful. 

I think it's almost a certainty that the paperback graphic never came out. If it had, we would have seen copies selling at inflated prices in the dealers room or an EBay. And one of the more enterprising fans would have found a way to pirate it at even higher prices.

What is interesting is that none of Innovation's licensed properties have ever been reprinted since the company folded. Certain ones like Quantum Leap are very much 1990's properties and maybe there simply isn't that level of interest in it today.
But DS, Interview With a Vampire, Nightmare on Elm Street and Child's Play have maintained a higher level of interest. The one exception that I'm aware of is that Bill Mumy was somehow able to get his Lost in Space epic Voyage to the Bottom of the Soul back so he could complete the story. I have no idea what kind of strings needed to be pulled for that to happen. There's probably a very gray area in regards to licensing. Innovation owns the printed material but doesn't own any of the properties. And Innovation owed tons of money to all sorts of people when it folded, so those people might be entitled to something if the books were reprinted.

According to Wikipedia, David Campiti left Innovation in 1993, about a year before the company imploded. He seems to have continued to work in the comics industry in a variety of different jobs. None of it very high profile.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Totally faithful. I guess that depends on how you define faithful. 

True. I do think for the most part the comics are faithful to the characters (especially with this current Book 2). But staying faithful to the '91 Series' storyline is when things often go astray...

I think it's almost a certainty that the paperback graphic never came out. If it had, we would have seen copies selling at inflated prices in the dealers room or an EBay. And one of the more enterprising fans would have found a way to pirate it at even higher prices.

After reading the reason for the delay given in SG #66, I have my own theory of why the trade paperback quite possibly never came out. But I'll hold off until we get to sharing that part of SG #66...

What is interesting is that none of Innovation's licensed properties have ever been reprinted since the company folded. Certain ones like Quantum Leap are very much 1990's properties and maybe there simply isn't that level of interest in it today.
But DS, Interview With a Vampire, Nightmare on Elm Street and Child's Play have maintained a higher level of interest. The one exception that I'm aware of is that Bill Mumy was somehow able to get his Lost in Space epic Voyage to the Bottom of the Soul back so he could complete the story. I have no idea what kind of strings needed to be pulled for that to happen. There's probably a very gray area in regards to licensing. Innovation owns the printed material but doesn't own any of the properties. And Innovation owed tons of money to all sorts of people when it folded, so those people might be entitled to something if the books were reprinted.

All of that is quite interesting.

According to Wikipedia, David Campiti left Innovation in 1993, about a year before the company imploded. He seems to have continued to work in the comics industry in a variety of different jobs. None of it very high profile.

Yes, it's interesting that he left Innovation but he still remained closely involved in all the DS projects he'd started while he was there.

Considering Campiti founded Innovation, what would really be interesting would be the reason(s) why he left. But I've never seen anything reported on that front...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the first page of Book 2, Issue 3:

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

Note the missing dialogue (particularly Vicki's "voiceover," which is nearly nonexistent) and the panels (which depict Barnabas' attack on Nathan) that weren't included in the slideshow.

Would DC have allowed the attack on Nathan to have played on the series in the way it does in the comic? Given his aversion to a male on male attack actually being shown, well, unless the attack resulted in death, it's probably doubtful. Nathan doesn't die in the attack. And just look at the way he stares at Barnabas. And then there's the line from Page 2 that appears in today's slideshow:

Book Two/Issue Three/Page 2 - Barnabas: '--HE IS MINE,
NOW!'

Quite possibly all enough to give DC agita. 

[Uncle Roger]

Wikipedia says that Campiti resigned to from his own company called Glass House Graphics, which appears to be an international agency for artists in various media. The company is still active.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I knew Campiti formed Glass House Graphics because that's mentioned in SG. But did he need to resign from Innovation to do it, especially considering he remained active in all of his Innovation projects? Maybe there would have been a conflict of interest if he had remained with Innovation while also representing many of its artists and making their artwork available to the public? But perhaps there wouldn't have been a conflict because while he was still at Innovation and before he formed Glass House Graphics he seemed to already be representing the artists and making their artwork available to the public - or at least pointing people into the direction where they could purchase the artwork. Who knows? It just seems like there may be more to his resignation than meets the eye. But perhaps I'm just reading more into it than there was...

[Uncle Roger]

I tried researching the downfall of Innovation Comics and just kept getting directed to the same Wikipedia articles. The internet was around in the 1993/94 period but was still in its early stages, so documentation of what happened is sparse at best.
This is all theory on my part. And should be regarded as such.

Innovation Comics came out of nowhere and, in a relatively short time, became the fourth best selling comic publisher in the market. Behind Marvel, DC and Dark Horse. And, just as quickly, the company was filing for bankruptcy. So what happened? Quite a bit.

Comics went through a huge resurgence in the early part of the 1990's. Comics were hot. People who normally didn't purchase comics were buying multiple copies of everything in sight with the idea that they would become as valuable as Action #1. That didn't happen. Those buyers left the market and sales reflected that. Diehard comic readers, like myself, got frustrated by the erratic publishing schedule of the independent publishers. Distribution was often erratic as well. Now, the irregular schedule might have been okay with self contained stories but not with serialized ones. If issue #1 came out in February and #2 which was supposed to be out the following month but doesn't actually come out until October, that sends out a bad message. It shows that, for whatever reason, the publisher is unreliable. The story loses momentum and the reader loses interest. This was particularly true with the Barrettstown saga. It was very difficult to keep track of what was going on. The pacing of the story dragged. It didn't need four issues.

Innovation was big on having painted artwork in all of their comics, rather than the traditional pen and ink art. It worked for some of their books but not all. I am not an artist or a painter, so I have no idea how long it took to complete the art for a single book. But I would not be surprised if it contributed to further delays.

Which brings us to 1993. If the company went belly up in 1994, the writing had to be on the wall for a while. The creators, printers and investors were probably asking for their money for some time. And who would know the situation better than the man in charge? Again, pure speculation on my part.  But by resigning his position and becoming a consultant might have lessened his legal obligations to Innovation's creditors. I don't think that Campiti ever filed for personal bankruptcy

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Sadly, your pure speculation is pretty much the same as mine. But even though there's circumstantial evidence to support it, who knows? Circumstantial evidence isn't always correct. The truth could be very different and completely lacking in any motivations that might put the resignation in a less than stellar light...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's very nice to see lit candles at the Old House again:

Numerous lit candles at the Old House were a part of almost every scene on the series. They always made the scenes very atmospheric. But when it comes to Book 2 we haven't seen so much as even one lit candle in a panel since the scene depicted on Page 13 of Issue 2 - and before that we hadn't seen them since Page 2/3 in Issue 1. Unlike E. Silas Smith, who included them in numerous panels for Book 1, apparently Jose Pementel didn't like including them in his drawings for Book 2.

[Uncle Roger]

Another point that I meant to mention: what makes a good Dark Shadows story does not necessarily make a good comic book story. Both the Innovation and Dynamite books feature a higher amount of blood than either version of the television incarnation. Which is fine if what you're doing is a pure horror book. But the comics never really captured the romance and the unique tone of Dark Shadows in general. Jonathan Frid best described it as a dark Brigadoon.
And, lastly, a lot of the Innovation material comes off as somewhat of a vanity project. I was never all that invested in the idea that Josette's music box was supposed to be created as Angelique's way of cursing the Collins family indefinitely. While I have always been intrigued by Julia's past, her link to Barrettstown was not what I was expecting. So Julia is descended from a family of witches that may be connected to Angelique. That struck me as a cheap gimmick and robbed Julia of what made her character unique. Her humanity. An origin for Angelique? Potentially interesting. Her mother? Not so much.
It just seems like Campiti and company were giving readers what they wanted them to have, not what the readers actually were interested in. I know that I have mentioned this before but I wanted to see some kind of resolution to the NBC cliffhanger.  If Innovation had been on any kind of schedule (a big if), they wouldn't have gotten around to addressing that until 1994 or 1995. By which point, no one would have remembered and possibly not care.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Considering Book 1 featured the '91 Series' tag line, "A Love Story Beyond Time," it came up with very little romance on its own. Most of the romance in Book 1 was simply recreations of scenes from the series. And as much as I prefer Book 2, so far romance in it is practically nonexistent. Up to this point Vicki and Barnabas haven't kissed once. Vicki has actually spent more quality time with Willie than she has with Barnabas. And the last time we saw Vicki with Barnabas he was ordering her to go home. But I haven't reread all of Book 2, Issue 3 or any of Issue 4, so romance might be forthcoming...