So I got a bit ahead of myself.
See, thanks to quarantining ourselves all last spring, I spent a big chunk of my time finishing Season 7 of this comic strip, completed all of Season 8, and began Season 9. For the past seven years or so I've begun posting a new "season" of Dark Shadows: The Comic Strip Series in the late spring, concluding mid-summer, then reposting each strip on Sundays as an entire "episode." I always have this little fear in the back of my head that I won't finish the current season while I'm posting it, and honestly, this project gives me a lot of joy, and I don't want to quit anytime soon. So I push myself sometimes, in addition to the ten billion other "real world" projects I've got going at any given time.
Which is just a long, blathering way of me saying that, hey, I've got a season and a half in the bag, Season 8 is the longest one yet (21 weeks!), I won't run out anytime soon, so let's get started, shall we?
And never fear if you aren't caught up or you're just joining us. Dark Shadows is a soap opera, which means it's meant to be enjoyed whenever you happen to tune in, and this comic strip works in a similar way. But since this is the 21st century and this version isn't a live-on-tape-meant-to-never-be-seen-again confection, you can actually go back through the archives and read past episodes if you so desire. Simply click on the "comic strip" link under labels and you can fill yourselves in.
Previously on Dark Shadows: The Comic Strip Series:
Barnabas Collins angered the wrong Phoenix. Laura Collins is a creature possessed of the power of Ra, which gives her fun abilities like restoring the dead to life and some limited time travel capability. She was captured by Cassandra, Angelique's evil vampire doppelganger from another world, and imprisoned for a time, forced to do the hell-harpy's bidding. Naturally this didn't sit well with her. So while facing off against Barnabas, Angelique, and Quentin in 1897, and imbued with the powers of the legendary "Lord," Count Petofi, Laura zapped Barnabas back to the year 1840.
He was joined shortly by Dr. Julia Hoffman and Angelique. They found a Collinwood ruled by a coven of witches headed by the icy cold Flora Collins and her diabolical son Quentin. Quentin, with the aid of his friend Nicholas Blair, had summoned a demon from hell to serve them: Gerard Stiles. Gerard soon broke free of the bonds of his servitude when he fell in love with governess Daphne Harridge, also a member of Quentin's coven, and torn between her love for Quentin and her feelings for Gerard. But after Quentin's death at the hands of the Dark Lord, Daphne found herself dragged to hell by her monstrous paramour, leaving Gerard embittered and vengeful.
Angelique rounded up a coven of her own to dispose of Gerard, which only served to trap him halfway between reality and the netherworld. He appeared in the Collinwood of 1969, as did Daphne, who pretended to be Elizabeth Collins Stoddard's new secretary.
The adventures in 1840 concluded when Lamar Trask burned Angelique, while Barnabas did nothing to stop him. Julia's I Ching trance ended, leaving Barnabas alone in 1840. But with the help of the spirit of Josette he also found his way home ... and found that Josette's spirit had possessed Maggie Evans.
Angelique made a surprise appearance, announcing to Barnabas that she was now the Queen of Hell, and would seek her own vengeance.
And Carolyn, using her newly found psychic abilities, learned that the ghost of Gerard was set to destroy Collinwood, just as Gerard's furious spirit had gripped Quentin by the throat ...
And now, the Season 8 premiere of Dark Shadows: The Comic Strip Series!
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