Elvira’s journey into the inferno!
Creative Staff:
Story: David Avallone
Art: Dave Acosta
Colors: Ellie Wright
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
Elvira’s temporal adventures land her in hot water – so hot — one more time, and it may be the last. Her new nemesis sends her to the worst place in the universe, and we’re not talking about Encino! See it all go to Hell in the fifth exciting chapter of ELVIRA: TIMESCREAM!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
A lot of books that I’ve been reading have been hitting gaps lately which have proven frustrating for remembering where you left off. Over four months between issues doesn’t help the narrative but thankfully David Avallone is working with a property that has the big picture but works almost episodic adventures so you can reconnect quickly as it shifts gears. Dave Acosta continues to be a wonderful artist for this book as I love the way he captures Elvira’s expressions, especially her eyes, but also for his fun interpretation of so many other characters that we come across as we get into Dante’s Inferno and parts of Elvira’s life surface in unexpected ways.
The arrival aspect with the good Doctor is amusing from the start as they’re in a house in the midst of all the fire and fury with Helen of Troy. Not that she uses the “of Troy” aspect for obvious reasons but she’s a hoot as she fixes a killer martini and then gets into some pretty serious arguments with the doc until he invokes Mephistoles. That’s what puts Elvira’s journey into motion as even he can’t help her out of this situation and sends her down into the deeper pits to find Lucifer. I do like that they play up the aspect of her here in that even with all that she’s seeing and where she is, she’s living up to the Mistress of the Dark moniker and not falling apart. She’s holding her own with plenty of quips to cover aspects of it while keeping her focus on getting out of this place.
The journey down further certainly has its own merits even if you’re like me and have read way too many Dante’s Inferno journies in comics form over the years. Her time with Edgar Allen Poe is delightful as well as getting across the river and picking up Vlad along the way. Vlad himself is a delight because he’s just intent on using her to get to Lucifer himself so he can get the position he believes he’s earned here, which is the kind of hubris that could go either way when you get down to it. The book moves us through a lot of stuff and with a few fun quips towards both publisher and reader, it’s standard excellent Elvira as we see her managing the situations that go beyond what people should deal with.
In Summary:
This Elvira series is a lot of fun with what it does in giving us a good road trip book into some bad places for our title character. David Avallone completely mastered the tone of the book and voice of the character from almost the first page so it’s just smooth and delightful here as it feels incredibly authentic. Dave Acosta has been one of the stronger artists in Dynamite’s stable over the years and is incredibly well-paired with this title as he brings Elvira to life wonderfully while also working some really grin-inducing material for others like Poe, Vlad, and more. I can’t wait to see where this goes next.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 1st, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
