The Universal Monsters have been near and dear to my heart ever since I was a kid. Over the years I’ve watched, and continued to watch all of them from the very early classics, to the later, campy, 1940’s films like House of Frankenstein and The Mummy’s Ghost. Dark Horse pay homage to four of these classics in Cavalcade of Horror, presenting faithful comic book adaptations of the films with fantastic artwork.
First up is “The Mummy” with script by Dan Jolley and Art by Tony Harris. For years I found the original Mummy film disappointing because the mummy himself only appeared onscreen for a few brief seconds while he was front and center during the four sequels. But overtime I’ve come to appreciate the sinister performance of Boris Karloff as the reincarnated Imhotep in his guise as the wizened Ardeth Bey and his quest to reunite with his beloved Anhksenamun. Tony Harris did a masterful job of capturing those first few moments where the mummy in the sarcophagus comes to life and shambles off.
Next comes the adaptation of Frankenstein with story and art by Den Beauvais. Beuvais captures a remarkable likeness of Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein, Dwight Frye as his assistant Fritz, Mae Clark as Elizabeth, and, of course, Karloff as the monster. Beauvais gets extra points for including the line “In the name of God, now I know what it feels like to be God!” that was screamed by Dr. Frankenstein when the monster was brought to life. That line had been excises from the film for decades until just the recent DVD releases that restored the scene and “blasphemous” phrase. What really stands out though is the emotion that Beauvais captures in the monster…his innocence and joy in playing the flower game with the doomed little girl Maria, and his confusion when he found she did not float like the flowers. This story is wonderfully done.
Dracula gets its treatment care of Dan Vado with art by Jonathan D. Smith. Like the Frankenstein adaptation, this story is painted and is the most moody story in the collection, beginning with Renfield’s trip to Dracula’s castle where he is greeted by Dracula on the misty, cobweb covered stairs. While Dracula has long been accused of being too “stagey” it still has the best atmosphere of any of the original Universal Horrors and Smith has gone to great lengths to capture that atmosphere as well as an uncanny likeness of Bela Lugosi. It’s clear that he studied the film and Lugosi’s expressions very well.
Finally, the book concludes with The Creature from the Black Lagoon with script by Steve Moncuse and art by Arthur Adams and Terry Austin. The bright, colorful adaptation of this story stands in direct contrast to the darker-toned first three stories and is the most `comic-looking’ story in the book. In a recent interview, Adams discussed how he’s been a fan of the Creature for decades. While he doesn’t try to capture the true likenesses of the characters, his version of Kay Lawrence, the object of the creature’s desire, is still sexy in that white, one piece bathing suit.
Dark Horse has taken great care to stay true to the characters with these stories and no fan of Universal Monsters will be disappointed. While I would have preferred to see the Wolfman or the Invisible Man over the Creature from the Black Lagoon, this is still a triumphant collection of story and art.
– TIm Janson
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
