Universal Monsters: Cavalcade of Horror [Paperback]

Dan Jolley (Author), Dan Vado (Author), Steve Moncuse (Author), Den Beauvais (Author, Artist), Tony Harris (Author), Art Adams (Author), Jonathan D. Smith (Author), Terry Austin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 2006

The Mummy, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon! Featuring long out-of-print artwork by the white-hot Tony Harris (Ex Machina, Starman) and artist Art Adams (Monkeyman & O'Brien), as well as a brand new introduction and painted cover by multiple Eisner Award Winner Eric Powell (The Goon), this collection tells the original stories of the Universal monsters - Frankenstein, the Mummy, Dracula, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Graphic novelization of movies seems supererogatory, but done with the gusto of these adaptations of the 1930s versions of The Mummy, Frankenstein, and Dracula and the 20-years-later Creature from the Black Lagoon, it's downright laudable. Except for The Mummy--well scripted and acted compared to Frankenstein and Dracula, and very well directed by the great cinematographer Karl Freund--these flickers are classics only on sentimental sufferance. (Frankenstein remains striking for the expressionist-constructivist realization of the monster's vivification, but director James Whale's sequel, Bride of Frankenstein, is the real classic.) And except for The Mummy, which is atmospherically rendered in the narrow color palette of Mike Mignola's Hellboy, their scenarios are more effective here than onscreen. Frankenstein's and Dracula's clunky scripts are enlivened by expressive color and the decision to paint as much as draw them. Dracula profits further from imaginative expansion of many scenes and the veiling of backdrops by swirling, colored mists and fog. Best is last, though: Art Adams' conventional-comics-style Creature makes further preservation of a terminally lousy movie unnecessary. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (January 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159307431X
• ISBN-13: 978-1593074319
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,114,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FAITHFUL ADAPTATION WITH GREAT ART WORK!, March 6, 2006

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Universal Monsters: Cavalcade of Horror (Paperback)

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.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Universal Dissapointment, May 23, 2008

By 

Peter Penn "Peter" (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Universal Monsters: Cavalcade of Horror (Paperback)

The Mummy and the Creature are just OK. Frankenstein and Dracula are ridiculous. below par story adaptions and amateur art work. Universal Monsters really deserve greater respect and much more imaginative treatment than this book can offer. I cannot understand the Universal Studios endorsement. Have they seen this book? This book should have been much, much better. It's not alive. It stinks.