Thursday, June 22, 2017

DRACULA'S SPINECHILLERS ANNUAL (PART 1)


DRACULA'S SPINECHILLERS ANNUAL
No number (One-shot)
1982 (No month given)
Publisher: World International Publishing Limited
Editor: None listed (Dez Skinn?)
Cover: Uncredited
Pages: 64

This one-shot "annual" was published in the UK in 1982 and the 64 A4-sized pages contains short fiction and comic strip adaptations of Hammer Films. The fiction is average, and much better than the filler text stories found in American comic books. No artist credit is given for the illustrations that are found throughout, although the name "John Hayes" appears on a tombstone in one of them. There are two, one-page "true weird" text features: "Vampire Lore" and "Macabre Miscellany". The inclusion of a two-page spread featuring a dice-throwing "board game" confirms that the magazine was intended for a young audience.

The "Horror of Dracula" 3-part adaptation comes from the 1976 UK magazine, HOUSE OF HAMMER #1. The story is written by Chris Lowder (a.k.a Jack Adrian) and drawn by Paul Neary. In this version the splash page seen in HoH is omitted. The "Twins of Evil" adaption is scripted by Lowder and drawn by Blas Gallego and was first published in HoH #7. It is also missing the splash page found in the original. Both strips are printed in a combination of black and white and color pages that, just like the magazine as a whole, make a curious mix.
.






























No comments: