Exposition-heavy but still fun.
Creative Staff:
Story: David Avallone
Art: Juan Samu
Colors: Walter Pereyra
Letterer: Taylor Esposito, Elizabeth Sharland
What They Say:
Elvira and the Ghost of Vincent Price continue their quest to find a lost cult movie… AND save the world from the wrath of an awakened Egyptian god. Their journey takes them to the crumbling country estate of a reclusive film director and his movie-star bride, but things go all Dr. Phibes before you can say House of Usher! Come for the sexy horror, stay for the terrible puns and movie trivia! From writer David Avallone (Bettie Page, Twilight Zone: The Shadow) and artist Juan Samu!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Getting a new Elvira series delighted me with the opening issue, especially where we got to learn that not only has David Avallone cracked the code on how to make an Elvira story work with the particular kind of humor, story, and self-awareness but also Vincent Prince. The more you can hear the character in your head the better, but it takes solid writing to really capture that tone. This miniseries is one that brings in some new artistic talent with Juan Samu and they deliver wonderfully here. Elvira herself looks great, wonderfully expressive and active, while doing a really good job in capturing Vincent Price and a number of different locales. It has a real lightness to it in some ways even though it’s a dark comical horror story, which lets Walter Pereyra really flex well here in the color design.
Events here deal with the threat that Elvira and Vincent are under from Amunet at this point but it’s a quick opening bit designed to just get us into some fun action as it carries over from the previous issue. I definitely like how Vincent knows how to use his acting to make his ghost-state useful while understanding that he’s no real threat. What we get from that, with a bit of a road trip, is a journey that digs into the exposition of things. It focuses on the film that he was involved in back in the early 70s which was a plagued production full of problems, not something he was unfamiliar with, but one that when eventually finished never saw release. There are potential reasons for it but the film has been lost for decades since. Now, with a new streaming series coming up that’s tackling similar material, there’s the potential for the end of the world because of it and what could be spoken within it, hence the need to get this dealt with.
With all that in mind, the two are off to find the director and one of the stars of the film that ended up together and are now in England. It’s a fun jaunt but one that brings us to a strange situation as the actress looks just as she did before. It’s fun watching Elvira navigate engaging with her while Vincent sneaks in and explores the place, discovering a wine cellar and sex dungeon before finding the Egyptian-style room where sacrifices are made. While this clearly doesn’t bring the storyline to a close, revealing the pact that the director had made that has resulted in the deal between him and his wife is a grim moment, one where Elvira is set up as some nutrients that will help him survive a bit longer. It’s a good bit of silly big action that works well, though I’ll say again that sometimes there’s just a bit too much dialogue that slows things down. But then you get ones where Elvira and Vincent are running to escape and she says that they’re just one panel away from safety and you can kind of have to just give into the absurdity of it all.
In Summary:
I always expect a lot of dialogue with an Elvira book and generally, it’s a big positive overall. This one is focused more on exposition though and that does slow things down as Vincent has to explain everything that happened in the past. It’s interesting enough and Vincent talks about it well and there are some fun nods to the film industry itself. I like how the book moves once it gets past that but it’s the kind of necessary story material that helps to move the whole thing forward. Elvira and Vincent continue to be a hoot to watch together and the book really looks great with so many wonderfully silly moments throughout. It’s a good read and one that you definitely feel like you get your money’s worth with it.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: September 8th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
