6 minutes ago, EricMontreal22 said:

The DS comic books had some decent art but I think were a mess story wise. However, I'm thrilled with the new complete collection of the newspaper comic strip, with art by the great Ken Bald. Its writer is uncredited but I'm pretty sure it was written by Elliot Caplin, who was Al Capp's brother (and apparently a much nicer guy.) I'm a big fan of the old soap opera comic strips and Caplin co-created one of the very best, The Heart of Juliet Jones (which had stunning art by Stan Drake) which I actually just finished a complete re-read of (the final decade--the 1990s--are a mess, as Drake had retired from it and Caplin's stories become disconnected and bizarre and I don't even know what newspapers covered it.) Juliet Jones actually had a soap opera pilot in the 1950s that you can find on Youtube. But Caplin wrote DOZENS of strips (including the short lived but surprisingly edgy 1950s OTHER soap opera comic he did, Adam Aames) the boxing soap Big Ben Bolt, taking over some of his brother's non Lil Abner comics, etc, etc. And he never took credit. (I could go on and on about the fascinating parallels between the soap opera comic strips and the TV soaps during each era, but I'll save that for some time I really want to bore everyone here.)

So yeah, I recommend the comic strip collection over the comic books. The only issue, and it's a big one, is they were only allowed to use a small handful of characters (so no Quentin, my fave, though it seems if it had continued he might have appeared.)

I wrote a bit about those in the DS thread early this year when I got the '90s version of the comic strip reprints (I didn't even know there was a new one - is that version also a B&W version of the color Sunday strips). I'd love to read your thoughts on what I said at the time (my story ranking, anyway). I enjoyed them overall - they ended on a strong note, intentionally or not.

I didn't realize the people doing the animated show had a mixed reputation, but I guess that's inevitable.

Did you ever read the Gold Key comics? I have a few but rarely go through them.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by DRW50

I am familiar with both the gorgeously painted Innovation comics from the '90s (which were based on the '91 revival because they inexplicably only had the rights to that, but they wove in classic actors like Lara Parker in new roles with her blessing) and the Dynamite Comics run from the 2010s, which followed on from 1971 and stayed in strict continuity with the original series. Both had their merits, though the Innovation books were more about the stunning visuals than great writing. (Innovation also did some very strong or at least interesting stuff with Lost in Space, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc. The LIS book was great.) I'm not sure either run got an ending.

DS' original series and stories are mostly continued today via the very active Big Finish audio drama range (famous for doing Doctor Who audios). I have no idea if those are any good. I'm familiar with Big Finish's Who work but I haven't listened to their DS stuff, which mixed DW personnel with classic DS actors. A strange mix I've never really been able to get comfortable with, because both franchises were huge but separate parts of my childhood. Maybe someday I will. I know DRW has enjoyed some of them.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by Vee

Interesting.

17 minutes ago, Vee said:

DS' original series and stories are mostly continued today via the very active Big Finish audio drama range (famous for doing Doctor Who audios). I have no idea if those are any good. I'm familiar with Big Finish's Who work but I haven't listened to their DS stuff, which mixed DW personnel with classic DS actors. A strange mix I've never really been able to get comfortable with, because both franchises were huge but separate parts of my childhood. Maybe someday I will. I know DRW has enjoyed some of them.

I've probably just listened to about 5 or 6, some better than others. They are darker than the show, inevitably, which should be draining but works more in the audio format. I don't know how the audios without actors I know are (if they even still make them that would have to be the norm now). I listened to one with Lisa Richards which gave her more of a chance than her TV work ever did (even if it was depressing and confusing - serial killers, she had killed Chris while she was a werewolf, etc.), and several with Lara Parker, who was excellent. One was part of a series where she had to become evil again to save Collinwood and there was a very vivid nightmare/hallucination she had where she was in an alternate version of the mansion with some kind of big Satanic statues or creatures on display.

3 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I wrote a bit about those in the DS thread early this year when I got the '90s version of the comic strip reprints (I didn't even know there was a new one - is that version also a B&W version of the color Sunday strips). I'd love to read your thoughts on what I said at the time (my story ranking, anyway). I enjoyed them overall - they ended on a strong note, intentionally or not.

I didn't realize the people doing the animated show had a mixed reputation, but I guess that's inevitable.

Did you ever read the Gold Key comics? I have a few but rarely go through them.

OH to be clear when I said I didn't think the comic BOOKS had good writing I did mean the Gold Key ones. I don't know the more recent ones (I should.)

I'll go look at your post in the DS thread in a bit--thanks for the heads up. This is the recent reprint (from Hermes Press who do a number of comic strip reprints, I have some of their Brenda Starr, but also a ton of DS stuff I see.) It is really great quality, with the Sundays in full colour, and came out in 2024. https://hermes-press.myshopify.com/en-ca/products/dark-shadows-the-complete-newspaper-strips-pre-order

I don't know much about the people doing the animated show at all, and I realize I was wrong (as is often true.) The showrunner for this animated version is NOT the showrunner of Discovery of Witches, but rather a writer on that show, Lisa Holdsworth (who is credited with three of the 25 episodes as script writer but since they had a writer's room, unlike many UK series, she probably contributed other stuff.) She also created last year's UK teen dance school drama Dreamers, which I know NOTHING about. So I can't judge--I was just mixed on Discovery of Witches. However, they did do some things right on that show, and certainly it was very much unafraid to be a very soap opera take on the supernatural (vampires and witches in fact) AND involved time travel plots, so maybe a good fit? I do think it's a good sign that the series is looking outside western animation for its writer (which may sound weird coming from a big animation fan like myself) and someone who is know for soapy, supernatural, drama, and not, say, comedy or superheroes.

11 minutes ago, EricMontreal22 said:

OH to be clear when I said I didn't think the comic BOOKS had good writing I did mean the Gold Key ones. I don't know the more recent ones (I should.)

I'll go look at your post in the DS thread in a bit--thanks for the heads up. This is the recent reprint (from Hermes Press who do a number of comic strip reprints, I have some of their Brenda Starr, but also a ton of DS stuff I see.) It is really great quality, with the Sundays in full colour, and came out in 2024. https://hermes-press.myshopify.com/en-ca/products/dark-shadows-the-complete-newspaper-strips-pre-order

Thanks! If I ever get the money I will look for that one. The '90s Pomegranate Press version does have some unique content, including a foreword by Bald and some personal photos of himself and his wife (who was the model for the Egyptian goddess - he modeled for Barnabas). They also mentioned that he only drew the first one or two Sunday strips then let someone else take over as he didn't like how they came out.

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks! If I ever get the money I will look for that one. The '90s Pomegranate Press version does have some unique content, including a foreword by Bald and some personal photos of himself and his wife (who was the model for the Egyptian goddess - he modeled for Barnabas). They also mentioned that he only drew the first one or two Sunday strips then let someone else take over as he didn't like how they came out.

Ah interesting! The more I research these serial comic strips, the less something like that surprises me. Ghosting (especially of art but writing too) was extremely common. Often just because an artist would fall behind or get sick--it really was a full time job (though up to the 1970s anyway, if you had a successful comic strip you made a very good income, much better than for comic books which is why all of these comic book people dreamed of having a strip.) That said I'm not sure I would have noticed myself! There is some bonus material but that foreword would have been nice though I'm sure it was a rights issue. This video from Hermes Press shows the book--it's pricey but it actually surprised me at just how cheap it is compared to most similar comic strip archival collections (including many that do the Sundays in B&W.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_fSzMXV3ik

I remember the last Innovation DS arc/'book' ("A Motion and a Spirit") was supposed to be focused on Sarah Collins' ghost helping another young ghost or something, and Maggie Evans' mystic powers. The art was, as always, beautiful. I once had the first and only issue of that arc as a physical copy - Innovation went out of business before they could continue - but even the very well-resourced comics sites on the online high seas don't seem to have that issue today. It's probably up in my mother's attic somewhere today. Probably polybagged, lol. Innovation was noted for headhunting and bringing up a ton of artists from Latin America into the business, including Mike Deodato.

I know Innovation also teased future arcs in the various comic advertisements/solicits of the era, including one with promo art which seemed to show Lysette Anthony's Angelique taking on the guise of Cassandra, but I can't for the life of me find the DS fan site post which had that image in it lol. That would have indicated they were moving beyond the Season 1 timeline as well, which was something the Innovation run notably struggled with; they had set most of their story arcs at various random points throughout the first season, where we were supposed to believe Barnabas, Julia, Vicki, etc. had taken time out from the main events to go deal with a town full of witchfinders or Greco-Roman gorgon sisters.

Edited 16 minutes ago16 min by Vee