Welcome to Longbox Junk, where we only use science for GOOD. . .most of the time.
We've been having a nice little Halloween party here at Longbox Junk, but I can't help but notice that there's something missing. What we need here is a good old-fashioned MAD SCIENTIST!
Science gone wrong has been a staple of horror media since Robert Louis Stevenson put pen to paper in 1886 to give us the gothic tale of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There's just something about a story of someone who thinks they can play God and gets proven wrong that appeals to horror fans, and for good reason!
The dark laboratory, the forbidden experiments, the temporary victory followed by the crushing reality that man can only imitate God for so long before it all goes wrong. It's a perfect horror formula for the modern world of science and technology, and a story we're seeing play out right in front of us as mankind stumbles blindly into the future.
What we have here is a short three issue series that's a comic adaptation of a movie that was loosely-based on a short story (By H.P. Lovecraft) inspired by yet another story (Frankenstein). Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present. . .RE-ANIMATOR!
RE-ANIMATOR
Adventure Comics/ Malibu (1991)
SCRIPTS: Steven Phillip Jones
PENCILS: Christopher Jones
INKS: Christopher Jones ( Issue #3 by Terry Pallet)
Megan decides to do a bit of checking up on West and sneaks into his room while he's gone. To her horror, she discovers Dan's pet cat dead in West's refrigerator!
INKS: Christopher Jones ( Issue #3 by Terry Pallet)
ISSUE ONE
COVER: Dave Dorman
THE COVER:
I'm an absolute sucker for a Dave Dorman painted cover! And this is a great one. It perfectly captures the likeness of the actors from the movie this comic adapts, while giving it an extra kick of Dorman flair. This is one of my all-time favorite Halloween covers!
Let's get inside.
THE STORY:
We begin our dark tale with introductions. Lots of introductions.
We meet Dan Cain, 3rd year medical student, brilliant and devoted. He's engaged to Megan, the daughter of Miskatonic University's Dean Halsey. . .a man desperate to keep funding to his struggling University strong.
The source of that funding is famous brain surgeon and researcher, Doctor Carl Hill, who is Miskatonic U's most prestigious instructor and who has wanted Megan since she was young, even though he's much older than she is.
Last, but not least, Herbert West. Recently arrived from Switzerland under mysterious circumstances, son of a wealthy family, and regarded as the possible future of brain research. He's been lured to Miskatonic by being promised a prestigious scholarship. . .a scholarship that WAS going to Dan Cain.
Introductions over, let's get this story going!
Stung by his loss of the scholarship, Dan is surprised to find Herbert West at his door answering an ad for a roommate. West tries to make amends by paying three months in advance and Dan reluctantly accepts.
West immediately begins acting strangely, taking over the building's basement as his own and forbidding Dan access. West also starts making waves at school when he disrupts Doctor Hill during a lecture, publicly disagreeing with the distinguished professor. Megan also confesses to Dan that she's got a strange feeling about his new roommate.
When West returns, Dan confronts him, not only over the dead cat, but over the drugs and chemicals also in the refrigerator. Dan strongly suspects West has stolen them from the University.
West claims he found the cat dead already and was just keeping it cold for when West returned so he could tell Dan the bad news. As for the chemicals, West tells Dan that's none of his business.
LATER THAT NIGHT. . .
Dan hears strange howling noises coming from downstairs. Creeping down to investigate, he is shocked to discover Herbert West being attacked by his presumably dead cat! Dun-Dun-DUNNNNN!!
To be continued. . .
THE REVIEW:
So I said not long ago that I was wanting to stick to single issues for a while here at Longbox Junk, but when I decided to check out Re-Animator for the Halloween party, I realized that this three issue series probably COULD have just been two issues. There's really not much going on in this first issue apart from introduction and setup. So I decided to just go ahead and do all three issues. The first issue alone wouldn't have made a good Halloween review.
Like I said, there's not much going on except introduction and setup, but it's well-written and engaging enough to make me want to read more. I'm a fan of the cult classic 1985 movie and this follows the story pretty closely, with a few small changes here and there that aren't really worth pointing out.
Christopher Jones' dark and somewhat gritty art, with extremely dark inks, is really well suited to this story. His style gives everything a nice, creepy feel, even when the story isn't being particularly creepy.
So, overall a good first issue that passes the Longbox Junk "First Issue" test by introducing the characters and their situations in a new reader-friendly way and making me want to read more.
Let's get into Issue Two!
ISSUE TWO
COVER: Lurene Haines
THE COVER:
Well, I guess we couldn't get lucky enough for Dorman to do all three covers, but Haines does a fine job here with a fantastic mad scientist cover, showcasing the creepy Doctor West in search of his next subject. I REALLY like the "lighting" effect here. Very nicely-done!
THE STORY:
Continuing from last issue, West and Dan are forced to kill Dan's cat. West reveals that what he's been working on is a reagent that re-animates the dead. . .but it seems there are still a few kinks to work out. Dan doesn't believe West, so he brings the dead cat back to life again!
Unfortunately for Dan and Herbert, Megan walks in on the scene of the gruesome experiment and is mortified by what she sees. She leaves and immediately goes to her father, the Dean of Miskatonic, to tell him what's going on in her fiancée's basement.
The next day, Dan is called to the Dean's office, where Doctor Hill is also waiting. Dan tries to convince the Dean that West has made a medical breakthrough and that re-animation of the dead is possible. He's seen it with his own eyes!
Dean Halsey and Doctor Hill don't believe him. They call both Dan and West mad and the Dean withdraws Dean's funding and scholarships, effectively expelling Dan from the University. Worse, Halsey also forbids Dan from seeing his daughter again.
But Dan KNOWS that West is onto something and he wants to be a part of it. So he agrees to sneak Herbert into the University Hospital Morgue, where Dan has been working nights. It's time to test West's reagent on a human specimen. If this works, then Dan and Herbert's reputations and medical careers MIGHT still be salvaged.
They manage to find a suitable specimen. A man recently dead from natural causes. They inject the reagent and the corpse re-animates. . .but like the cat, it's frenzied and violent.
While West and Dan try to subdue their subject, Dean Halsey has decided to visit Dan at work and let him know that perhaps he was too harsh about him not seeing Megan. Unfortunately for all involved, Halsey walks in on the aftermath of the experiment and the re-animated corpse attacks him!
A nice little two page spread!
West manages to kill the re-animated corpse with a bone saw, but not before it kills Dean Halsey! Dan panics, but West keeps his cool. . .NOW they have an even fresher subject to work with.
The two of them quickly inject Halsey with West's reagent. Doctor Hill arrives at the morgue, intending to talk Halsey out of relenting on forbidding Dan and Megan getting married. The scene at the morgue is chaos.
Security tells Hill that Halsey confronted Dan and West and a violent argument broke out. Halsey went mad and cut up a corpse with a bone saw. Or. . .at least that's the story according to Dan and Herbert.
When Hill insists on speaking to Dean Halsey, he is shocked to discover that the Dean is in a catatonic state. . .
To Be Continued. . .
THE REVIEW:
Unfortunately, this is also where the limits of a comic adaptation of a movie start to show. The frantic, comedic physical action of the movie doesn't translate well as I wish it would onto the printed page. Not that the artist doesn't do a fine job. His style is dark and creepy, even in scenes that aren't really SUPPOSED to be creepy.
That said, if you look up to the double page spread I posted, you'll see two little panels of the re-animated corpse bursting through a door and slamming it down on top of Dean Halsey. In the movie, it's a shocking, laugh out loud moment. In the comic. . .it's just two panels. Just one example of how this comic is a good adaptation AND a not-so-good adaptation at the same time.
Let's get into the final issue!
ISSUE THREE
COVER: Lurene Haines
THE COVER:
Haines delivers another great cover, with the smug Doctor West as the centerpiece and doing a very nice job of capturing the likeness of actor Jeffrey Combs. This is dark, spooky, and just a really nice Halloween cover!
THE STORY:
Continuing from last issue. . .
Doctor Hill takes charge of Dean Halsey and puts him under observation. He gets permission from Megan to do exploratory surgery to find out the cause of his sudden collapse into psychosis.
In the meantime, Megan confronts Dan about what REALLY happened. Dan confesses everything. He tells Megan that her father isn't insane. . .he's dead. He tells her about everything that has happened since Herbert West walked through his door. Megan is understandably shocked, but agrees to help Dan somehow salvage the situation.
Doctor Hill goes forward with experimental laser surgery on Dean Halsey's brain and is surprised to discover the same thing Dan has just confessed to Megan. . .Halsey is dead!
Doctor Hill confronts Herbert West in his basement laboratory and attempts to blackmail him into surrendering his reagent and notes, hoping to take credit for West's discovery.
In the meantime, Dan and Megan break into Hill's office at the University, hoping to find anything that Hill may have that would incriminate Dan. What they find instead is a file that Hill has been keeping on Megan for years! He's been stalking her.
Meanwhile, in West's makeshift laboratory, he tries to talk his way out of Hill's blackmail, but eventually realizes there's only one way out. He offers to show Hill something interesting, and when he's bent over the microscope, West hits the Doctor with a shovel. . .and then chops off his head!
Seeing the fresh opportunity before him, West decides to see if he can re-animate separate parts of a person by injecting his reagent into Hill's severed head!
Dan arrives at the basement lab and revives West, who is horrified to find that Hill is gone, along with West's supply of reagent and his notes! Dan tells Herbert about the file on Megan they found and Herbert tells Dan to go to her while he tries to find Doctor Hill.
At Doctor Hill's office at Miskatonic University, we discover that somehow, Hill has gained the ability to mentally control not only HIS body, but the bodies of other corpses re-animated with West's reagent. He commands the body of Dean Halsey to return home and get Megan.
Dan is attacked by Halsey right as he arrives and begins telling Megan the danger she's in. Her father's corpse overpowers Dan and carries Megan back to the University Hospital, where the re-animated Doctor Hill is waiting.
Herbert finds Dan and realizes what's happened. The two of them quickly rush to the University Hospital, where Hill, using the re-animated Dean Halsey as an assistant, has already stripped Megan and is preparing to use the experimental laser on her in order to kill her and then re-animate her under his control!
His diabolical plan is interrupted by the timely arrival of Dan and Herbert. West distracts Hill while Dan tries to free Megan, but Doctor Hill was ready for them! He's already re-animated several corpses from the morgue and is able to control them. He directs them to attack and it seems that Hill and his undead minions have the upper hand!
However, Megan's voice reawakens a protectiveness in her father that remains even past death! Dean Halsey crushes Doctor Hill's head, and then he turns to attack West as the other corpses go into a violent, mindless frenzy. West is seemingly killed by Dean Halsey as Dan and Megan fight for their lives!
Unfortunately, as Dan and Megan make their escape from the carnage in the operating room, one of the re-animated corpses grabs Megan and strangles her! Dan fights off the attacking corpse and rushes Megan into the Emergency Room, where he tries to save her life. . .but fails.
BUT. . .
Dan had managed to grab West's reagent as he fled the operating room!
He injects Megan's lifeless body with it. The scene fades to black.
Had to do a bit of amateur editing to post this on Facebook
The End. OR IS IT?
THE REVIEW:
Like the third act of the movie, the third act of this adaptation makes ABSOLUTELY no sense. It's gore, it's chaos, it's people running back and forth. It seems like things are just made up as they go along, and that's part of what makes the movie a cool little cult classic.
But like I said in the review for the second issue, it doesn't translate that well to the page. Don't get me wrong, it's still a gory, frantic, action packed ending to the story and it's pretty good, but without the campy acting, gruesome practical effects and weird camera angles of the movie, it just feels a bit weak.
There's also an unfortunate shift in the art with Christopher Jones not inking his own pencils in this issue, along with some pretty glaring coloring issues (see the first page I scanned for a good example) here and there that just takes the visual appeal down a notch.
What I DID like here a lot is that they actually changed the ending slightly. In the movie, there's no doubt that Dan manages to revive Megan. The scene fades with her screaming in the background. Here, it's left a little more ambiguous. It's a good little change.
CONCLUSION
As you can probably tell, I'm a fan of the 1985 movie version of Re-Animator. If you haven't seen it yet, and you are looking for a campy, gory, horror/comedy (although I'm not sure the comedy is intentional) then you might want to go check it out. It's not the best movie ever, and it firmly falls into the "So Bad It's Good" category, but if you're into that sort of thing, it delivers.
Overall, this is a pretty good adaptation. The writing is solid and the art is nice. Like I pointed out above, Christopher Jones makes even non-creepy scenes a little creepy, so nicely done there.
But it DOES sort of fall flat in being unable for the most part to translate the campy fun of the movie onto the page. The creative team tries, but there's really no way to recreate the acting of Jeffrey Combs (Herbert West) and David Gale (Doctor Hill) on paper.
It might be a bit unfair to compare a comic with a movie, and I get that, so I'll say that if you haven't seen the movie then you might like this a lot more.
If you want to check out Re-Animator, the first issue isn't hard to find in the bargain bins or back issue bins. I see it fairly often. But I've NEVER seen the second or third issue for sale in a comic shop. I got mine from a comic-con for probably more than I should have paid (five bucks each). I wonder if it's because the first issue really doesn't have much going on and readers dipped out before buying the rest of the story. . .
It also doesn't look like it's ever been collected, so you'll have to hunt down the individual issues. You can probably find them online, if you want to go that route. But no matter how you hunt these down, I'll recommend Re-Animator as a pretty nice little chunk of Longbox Junk worth finding.
Up Next. . .
MORE Longbox Junk Halloween fun!
How about a little trip to the Land Down Under with DC's supernatural superhero, The Spectre?
And I'm not talking about Australia. I'm talkin' about HELL!
Be there or be square.
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