Shadows on the Wall: An Online Dark Shadows Fanzine

Sunday, March 15, 2020

2004: Carolyn and the Barnabi

Look, it's Jessica Chastain, before she was super famous, and while she was attempting to play Carolyn Stoddard on the abortive 2004 WB Dark Shadows reboot that never was.

Dark Shadows Comic Strip Season 7: Season Premiere!

Somehow I've been making and publishing my own adaptation of Dark Shadows via the medium of comic stripness since 2014 ... but I continue to have a rip roaring time, which I hope means you are as well. I've also strayed fairly far from the continuity as we know it; that's okay (I promise) ... the characters as I present them and move them around in a variety of story arcs are pretty much as they appeared on ABC-TV back in the (fifty-plus years ago) day.

If you want to catch up, you can click on the "comic strip" link; to facilitate your understanding more immediately than that, here's a wee summary and the season finale from last year. Enjoy!

Previously on Dark Shadows: The Comic Strip ....

Collinwood in the winter of 1968/69: many beasties prowl the great estate. The evil witch-vampire Cassandra, a parallel version of Angelique, has been banished back to her own dimension ... but for how long? Angelique's brother Aristede, a warlock once seduced by Nicholas Blair, is really just a walking skin suit for Count Petofi, known throughout all dimensions as "the Lord," even more powerful than Lucifer in hell. To defeat him, Barnabas, Quentin, and Angelique used the I Ching to travel to 1897, where they found that Petofi had hitched his wagon with the phoenix Laura Collins. Meanwhile, Barnabas found himself distracted once again by another reincarnation of Josette, the Lady Kitty Hampshire, who vanished into Josette's portrait, seemingly at the bidding of Angelique. And Quentin, fresh from a century spent in hell, has returned with news that there is a demonic force that may be even scarier than Petofi ... something that calls itself "Gerard Stiles." During an epic battle with Laura, emboldened with Petofi's power, the great Phoenix of the Ages aims her fire at Barnabas ... who vanishes!

(Here's a tip ... if you want to enjoy the color Sunday strips, open them in a new tab and then blow them up so you can read them nicely and clearly.)

Before the season premiere, here is the last week of strips from Season 6 ...

And now ... the Season 7 premiere!

Sunday, March 8, 2020

1841 Parallel Time: Julia and Flora Collins

1968: Chatting Up Vicki

1971: Episode #1268 ... Season Finale!

Previously on Dark Shadows: Tom Jennings has returned from the dead, and Julia is using him to make her a full vampire! Maggie burned up Nicholas Blair and now her eyes are all black just like Willow's on Buffy! Everyone's fighting and Bathia Mapes is back except she looks just like Marie Wallace and, oooooh, what does she want? And will everyone be okay? (Spoiler alert: probably not.) Enjoy the season 2 finale of this continuation of the original series, 1971.

(Hint: for maximum enjoyability, right click on each image so they open to their fullest!)

Now ... you must promise not to be confused, lambykins ... next week I'll return with Season SEVEN of my long-running daily comic strip version of Dark Shadows that is similar but not identical to the original story (I've diverted in several intriguing ways; watch for a wedding at Collinwood ...). That picks up with Barnabas lost in a foreign time while Angelique and Quentin face the fire of the phoenix in 1897, leaving everyone else to face a mysterious ghost in 1969. (Also, whatever happened to Victoria Winters? Doesn't anyone remember her?) At any rate, stay tuned, kiddies ... the Dark Shadows Comic Strip will return next Sunday, then run every day through the summer! Thanks for reading!

Sunday, March 1, 2020

1971: Episode #1267

Previously on Dark Shadows: Barnabas, a time traveler from 2019, has possessed his 1971 body, hoping to save his family and his friend, Dr. Julia Hoffman. But the situation at Collinwood has grown even more dire. Julia is a vampire. Gerard Stiles has returned. Count Petofi has put in an appearance. Even Tom Jennings has been seen lurking about the great estate. Is the reincarnated witch Bathia Mapes, back from 1796 and full of vengeance, responsible? Or her demon sidekick, "Dr." Jared Strangeworth? Who can save them now?

(Right click on each image to embiggen for maximum enjoyability.)