Dark Shadows: Year One

So ... I was just kidding about the whole Dark Shadows:  Year One comic book (in my brain, I had reimagined DS as a super hero comic, based on Batman:  Year One, my favorite Batman story).  Turns out I'm wicked psychic or something; as I paid my daily visit to The Collinsport Historical Society's page (my very favorite of the DS blogs), I discovered this article.  Check it out:

http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2013/01/dark-shadows-year-one.html

And from http://www.previewsworld.com/Home/1/1/71/920?stockItemID=STK527718:

 

I'm super-stoked.  The art for the cover is fairly awesome; my god, that's recognizably Angelique, Josette, and Barnabas!  My problem all along with this new series -- taking a page from Dark Horse's popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer:  Season 8 and Season 9, which picked up where the TV series left off in 2003 -- is that the majority of people who buy it are probably not DS fans, and (understandably) won't understand the incredible backstory that makes the series so engaging, even now.  Now, however, I figure that the series must be popular enough to warrant a "Year One" story, recounting the origin of Our Favorite Vampire (and, it seems, Our Favorite Witch):

"The origin of Dark Shadows, finally revealed!  How did Barnabas Collins become a bloodthirsty vampire?  What tragedies befell the Collins family through the generations?  All it took was one night of weakness, and Barnabas cursed his family -- and himself -- forever!  The twisted tale of one of pop culture's most iconic and enduring vampires begins here!"

(Finally revealed?  Wasn't it revealed in 1968?!?)

(In stores 4/10/13.)

I'll give it a shot.

The Origin of Barnabas and Julia

Gee, wouldn't it be cool if Dark Shadows were a comic book with a nifty name like Dark Shadows:  Year One or The Dark Shadow Rises?

Oh, wait.

Well, anyway, here's the origin of Barnabas and Julia:

 

 

Quentin and the Mark of Death!

This would be freakier ... if you couldn't see the line encircling Quentin's forehead.

Upcoming Issues of Dynamite's Dark Shadows Comic Series

Still feeling fence-ish about Dynamite's Dark Shadows comic series.  The covers are usually the best part; besides the horrific continuity SNAFUs in issues past (referring to Carolyn as "Julie" is the worst transgression), the art is frequently difficult on the eyes at best (Grayson Hall's Julia Hoffman suffers especially).  And the stories ... don't feel very much like Dark Shadows.

But I could say the same thing about the Gold Key series from the 70s, and I'm still shelling out 25-40 smackers for the hardcover volumes collected by Hermes Press.  Dark Shadows is Dark Shadows; as I told some of my friends who felt negatively about last year's Johnny Depp film, nothing can take away the magic of the original series.  I feel fortunate to have new stories, and I'm excited to see what's to come.

Keeping that in mind, here's some of that "what's to come":

Is the Collins' bloodline is cursed? For those who know the truth about their history, that answer would most likely be a resounding yes. However, could something even more insidious be occurring? Is their bloodline being tainted in an effort to produce the ultimate evil? Collinwood has been home to the supernatural, but has it ever seen true evil like this?

A glimpse of the dark future of the Collins' bloodlines is revealed. What horrors reside in Collinwood in the year 1984? Will Barnabas be able to find out where it all went wrong and stop it? Or has his family's fate already been written in blood?

The future of Collinwood has been glimpsed. Barnabas and his clan are headed towards dark days. What are those who endured it willing to sacrifice to make sure it never happens? Is it too late for some, or is there one last drastic measure one member of the clan can make to make the future unknown again?

Emotionally and physically fractured, the Collins family is on the edge of destruction! With Barnabas at his weakest and facing off against his darkest foe, David and Emma make a mysterious new friend. Can Quentin and Willie bring them all back from the Abyss? Perhaps the better question to be asked is should they?

Willie and Quentin recruit unlikely allies for their battle to save Collinwood. Meanwhile, Barnabas makes a desperate attempt to change his, and his family's, future... but will it be all for naught? A mysterious figure is haunting Collinwood. Could the changes Barnabas is making play right into the hands of one of his oldest foes?

Barnabas Meets Maggie Evans

Here's a lovely shot from #221, Barnabas stalking, er, meeting Maggie at the coffeeshop.  (Did anyone else miss that set after we were pretty much chained to Collinwood the last half of the series?  It gave the show a homier, more realistic feel.)

Dark Shadows Beefcake: Geoffrey Scott Edition

Though he only worked on DS for a few months -- as ill-fated tycoon and Leviathan supporter Sky Rumson, Angelique's 20th century hubby -- Geoffrey Scott made an impression ... mostly due to his acting prowess, which has continually met with  less-enthusiasm from fans.  However, Scott wasn't hard on the eyes, which he proved while acting on legendary 1980s nighttime soap Dynasty.  Observe:

Angelique Returns: 1796 Revisited

EPISODE 664
Air Date:  1/9/69
Writer:  Ron Sproat
Director:  Dan Curtis

VOICEOVER (Thayer David):  "Night at Collinwood ... but this is not the Collinwood as it exists in the present ... it is the Collinwood of 1796 ... for Barnabas Collins has been drawn back into the past.  Forces from beyond the grave have brought him here to save the life of Victoria Winters.  Today he will succeed or fail.  In returning to the past, he has had to pay a penalty ... he has become what he was, and as a consequence he must endure wave upon wave of terror ... terror that will seemingly never end ..."

 
ANGELIQUE:  Hello, Barnabas.  Ben.  So, we all meet again.

BEN:  I knew you wouldn't just vanish.  I knew it wouldn't be that easy.

ANGELIQUE:  Ben, would you leave us alone, please?  I'd like to speak to Barnabas.

BARNABAS:   So it was you --

ANGELIQUE:  -- who allowed you to view one of your victims.  Yes.  It was me.

BARNABAS:  Why?

ANGELIQUE:  To show you that I still have all of my powers.  That's something I wanted you to know.

ANGELIQUE:  I must remain in this century now as a punishment for mistakes I made in the past ...

ANGELIQUE:  ... mistakes that I will never make again.

BARNABAS:  How did you find out about me?

ANGELIQUE:  You mean about your return to this century?  Never mind.  I found out.

ANGELIQUE:  And I know wh you're here.  You came to save your precious Victoria Winters ...

ANGELIQUE: ... from hanging.

BARNABAS:  And I suppose you're here to stop it.

ANGELIQUE:  No, Barnabas!  I have the power to save Victoria Winters.

BARNABAS:  Why do you want to save her life?  You hate her.

ANGELIQUE:  It's true.  I never was very fond of Miss Winters.

ANGELIQUE:  Because I will do it ... if you will make a bargain with me.  I am forced to remain in this century.  I am consigned to this time forever ... and I want you to stay here with me and never make any attempt to return to the century from which you came.

BARNABAS:  Why do you want me to stay?

ANGELIQUE:  Isn't it obvious?  So we can be together.

BARNABAS:  After all that's happened ... you still want me?

ANGELIQUE:  I'm your wife.  Husbands and wives should be together.

BARNABAS:  You know I can't even pretend to love you.

ANGELIQUE:  I don't ask that you pretend anything!  I only ask that you stay here with me.

BARNABAS:  If I stay in this time ... I would remain as I am.

ANGELIQUE:  Yes.  That would be quite a sacrifice.  Are you willing to make it for your precious Miss Winters?

BARNABAS:  Can I trust you?

ANGELIQUE:  Can you save Victoria Winters alone?  Then you have no choice.  You must trust me.  Will you stay with me here forever?

BARNABAS:  Forever ...

ANGELIQUE:  I'm waiting for your answer.

BARNABAS:  You know it.

ANGELIQUE:  Say it!

BARNABAS:  Yes!

ANGELIQUE:  You've made a wise decision, Barnabas.  One that you shld have made many years ago ... when we first met.

BARNABAS:  Tell me your plan.

ANGELIQUE:  It's simple!  Very simple ...

ANGELIQUE:  Victoria Winters ... you are in my power now ...

ANGELIQUE:  ... and I will never release you from my spell ...

ANGELIQUE:  ... for if you should live, Barnabas would love you ...

ANGELIQUE: ... and he will never have the woman he loves!

EPISODE 665
Air Date:  1/10/69
Writer:  Ron Sproat
Director:  Dan Curtis

VOICEOVER (Thayer David):  "Dusk at Collinwood and Barnabas Collins will soon rise ... but he will find himself in the Collinwood of 1796, for he has been drawn backward in time to save Victoria Winters from hanging.  He has seemingly failed in that task, for at midnight on the previous night she was hanged and pronounced dead.  Everyone at Collinwood is mourning her death ... all but one:  the witch who caused that death ... and who, even now, controls her from beyond the grave ..."

ANGELIQUE:   Soon they will come for you … soon they will bury you never knowing the real truth.

ANGELIQUE:  They will place you in your casket and bury you in the earth.

ANGELIQUE:   Then and only then will I release you from my spell. 

ANGELIQUE:   You will awaken and find yourself in your tomb … a tomb from which you can never escape.  You will scream and cry out for help but no one will hear you.  Then gradually – gradually you will die again and this death will be the most terrifying death of all.

 ANGELIQUE:  But what death could be more fitting for the woman Barnabas loves?

 BARNABAS:  So ... you actually came.

ANGELIQUE:  I said I would.

 

 BARNABAS:  You betrayed me!

ANGELIQUE:  No, Barnabas!

BARNABAS:  You let Vicki go to the gallows and be hanged!

ANGELIQUE:  She did have to undergo the hanging, yes.  But when she was hanged, she was under my spell.

BARNABAS:  You're lying ... she's dead!

ANGELIQUE:  No, Barnabas ... she only seems to be dead.  When I release her from my spell she will live again.

BARNABAS:  And when will you do that?

ANGELIQUE:  When you and I leave this place ... together.

BARNABAS:  Do you actually think I will go away with you now?

ANGELIQUE:  To save Victoria Winters' life?  And if you refuse to trust me, she will die the most horrible death imaginable.

BARNABAS:  No Angelique ... it is you who will face destruction!  By fire ... the death you deserve!

ANGELIQUE:  No ... no, please!

BEN:  Burn, burn, burn!

BARNABAS:  Take her ashes, Ben, and scatter them to the winds so that every trace of her is gone.