Beware of directors that take pictures of your feet.
Creative Staff:
Story: David Avallone
Art: Fran Strukan
Colors: Maxim Simic
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
The Mistress of the Dark lands the leading role in a touching art film about human/gill monster romance, but there’s something decidedly fishy about her costar. Is there an Oscar™ in her future, or is director Billy Bullworth interesting in spawning something more than an Academy Award-winning movie? Dive into the first issue of this special four-part miniseries, by David Avallone (ELVIRA, BETTIE PAGE).
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’ll admit, I’m wary of the scheduling monster and having too many series of one property running alongside each other. Dynamite ended up with a bunch of Vampirella miniseries running at one time and it was a whole lot of overlap and confusion. That said, more David Avallone writing more Elvira? Okay, I’ll give a little bit on that simply because it’s such good kitschy fun that a little more isn’t going to hurt. Plus, this series brings in Fran Strukan to handle the artwork and it’s just delightful in how they capture everything about it, especially in the character designs. Sometimes a particular style really just clicks in a way that doesn’t work for other series but is ideal here. Strukan’s work is ideal for this.
The story here is a fun one as Elvira is looking for some additional work since the 2-cent movies are getting her only so far and those 15-cent movies are looking mighty attractive. What she gets from her manager is that director Billy Bullworth, a creative and unusual genius, is putting together a horror-romance film that he wants her to play a leading role in. She’s all game for that since it’s a big name and lots of interesting things that can come from it. Bullworth’s place is amusing as it’s along the coast but it’s basically Wayne Manor taken further in its gothic look along the edge of a cliff. And, naturally, there’s a host of creative characters that live in there which is even more amusing since, as Elvira says, the interior looks like it was just left by the Addams’ Family.
Now, the book doesn’t get to much in the way of actual story per se but it does focus on introducing a range of characters. Bullworth himself comes toward the end as we get Elvira dealing with signing all the NDA papers, accidentally discovering the labyrinth that exists under the manor, meeting the writer of all of Bullworth’s movies and other material, and then getting a little one on one time with another actor to prove her chops. It’s fun but a little whirlwind-like in what it does as they basically pass her off from one guy to another for introductions. Once we get to Bullworth we get a better idea of the film he’s making and her part on it, but the method actor costar is where the real trouble is going to lie since he’s taken on the whole fishman thing to the extreme.
In Summary:
While I’m a bit wary about two Elvira series out there at the same time I don’t imagine that it’ll really cannibalize its audience. Those looking for this kind of work will easily go for both because they’re fun but also distinctive enough from each other that there isn’t any true overlap outside of the title character. The Shape of Elvira takes us into some moviemaking magic to be happening and we get the main players introduced here to good effect. Avallone and Strukan are well-paired here in what they’re doing with a lot of humor that totally has the Elvira feel to it and a great look that leans into the kinds of films she used to show and the set design of her old show while still producing lots of neat details and a great flow to it all. Here’s to more of this in the coming months.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: January 30th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
