Dark Shadows #10
Publisher: Dynamite
Writer: Mike Raicht
Artist: Nacho Tenorio (cover by Francesco Francavilla)
Colors: Carlos Lopez
At the end of last issue, Barnabas was given a talisman that takes away his vampiric abilities. The good side is that he can live like a normal human, and enjoy daylight. Although we don’t necessarily see the bad side of this phenomenon in this issue (no super strength or hypnotic abilities), it’s safe to say that it’s coming very soon. Willie has a horrendous nightmare, then tries to forget it by getting drunk at a local Inn. As he begins to get wasted, he sees some of the townspeople head towards a back room. He hesitates at first, but then decides to follow their trail. He proceeds to go down to the basement, and sees an open hatch in the floor. What he witnesses we do not, but it scares the living crap out of him, and he runs for the door. Young David then makes a grave mistake when he finds his friend Emma in the woods, and it might be a mistake that the entire Collins family must pay the price for!
This issue was quite a slow down from the monster brawl from issue #9. It didn’t feature any real action, but it did set up the next issue very nicely. It was cool to see how Barnabas acted when he realized he no longer need fear the Sun. This series has many angles to it, mostly supernatural, but also drama, a slice of horror, and even a hint of romance. Combine all these elements with a good artist and covers by Francesco Francavilla, and you’ve got a winner!
Speaking of the art, the pencils and colors in this book are pretty good, and at no time was anything out of place or unsatisfactory. The colors are fairly drab, but it sets a tone for the book that is quite eerie and makes the blood red stand out. This seems to be becoming common practice in quite a few books, but it still works well. The cover is great as usual, and nothing less is expected from Francavilla. He does very well with this title and its odd cast. The covers themselves can sell this book and really stand out to the trained comic book eye. Next issue should be a pretty good one now that we’ve seen Barnabas without his powers, and David making a huge error in judgement. Rating 4/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
