Thanks for the further info, MB. The whole period of the early to mid 1990s was hellishly busy for me. It was also when I had my first few brushes with DS fandom. I really needed something that wasn't academic in my life.

With all the caveats you mention, thus far I think this comic book series was about 5000 percent superior to the "Gold Key" books.

Thanks again to yourself and Midnite for your work on this.  I am enjoying it.

cheers, G.

Happy to help, Josette!

I think I saw a scan on a website somewhere, at some point, of the panel of Barnabas and Willie that's the central image on this latest page. I remember it being captioned something like "ever wonder what Barnabas looked like when Willie first opened the coffin?"  I don't think I ever saw this particular book, though. I am enjoying this feature about it.

I was teaching in Middletown, Connecticut, I think from the Fall of 1992 through the Spring of 1994. I'll have to look for info on when the Innovation comics started up. Maybe in the Fall of 1991?

Best, Gothick

I'm not seeing any artifacting on my screen.

Thanks!

G.

He's addressing Willie--the lineal descendant of Ben Loomis. I don't think the two were related in the 1991 series but again, I never paid much attention to that.

I think this dialogue is a quote from DRACULA--either the original Stoker novel or one of the film versions.

G.

I forgot to mention that since Willie (in the 1991 show) looks just like Ben, Barnabas thinks he is the latter, not realizing that two centuries have passed. That's why Barnabas calls Willie "old friend" before he attacks him.

I'm fascinated that the sound a person makes when being fed upon by a vampire is "urk."

G.

Interesting. I'm guessing that the main draw of what MPI is offering is some kind of lower rate. But does that even figure in given all the incentives Amazon offers its Prime customers?

G.

I'm sure I'm the only puppy around here who finds today's panel from the comic book distinctly homoerotic. Right? Oh, Barnie-boo, you BEAST.

I thought I had seen the first few issues of this book. But I have no memory at all of this issue or story.  I remember when it came out I was living in New Haven CT and commuting regularly to teach in Middletown, a neighboring burg. And there was a comic book store somewhere in town, close to the bus terminal I think. I'd stop in and pick up an issue of the Innovation comic occasionally just to have something DS related to peruse on the ride home.

The letters page of the comic was maybe my favorite part of it. Because people would write in and some would share their memories of the 1960s show. The one I remember best was this person who sent in their excerpt from a diary they were keeping way back when, and the entry had to do with an episode aired sometime in January 1971. These episodes (from the final phase of 1840) had yet to be released on home video in the early 1990s, and had never been seen on TV since the original airing.

The fan wrote in their diary about how delighted they were to observe that Angelique's poppet was a Barbie-doll covered with some kind of cheap modeling clay. And as she was incanting furiously and stabbing the poppet with a needle, the clay started to fall off the doll and suddenly Barbie, stark naked alas, had a cameo appearance on DS.

I was smiling riding the bus home that evening.

cheers, G.

This interesting article about a mention of "Dark Shadow" in an early 70s "Jack Chick" tract was posted on social media today. I don't know if the special update "confirmation" featuring a very rare contribution from "a certain Mysterious Benefactor (tm)" is recent or not.

http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2016/10/the-unsavory-jack-chickdark-shadows.html

The second part of the article is a bit disturbing. These old tracts seem so campy and funny now, but we have to bear in mind that the people who produced them were often very disturbed, malignant individuals. This is shown in the second part of the article. Also, it's known that the tracts did inflict psychological damage on untold numbers of young readers.

G.