THE BLACK FOREST (IMAGE COMICS)
Written by Todd Livingston and Robert Tinnell. Artwork by Neil Vokes. Cover by Michael Avon Oeming.
Review by Curt Purcell
THE BLACK FOREST is clearly a labor of love on the part of all of its creators, and if there's any justice in the world, it will be recognized and embraced by monster fans everywhere with an equally fervent love. The sources of inspiration are obvious and undisguised--classic black and white horror movies, from Murnau's NOSFERATU up through Universal's HOUSE OF monster rallies. With such materials as these, BLACK FOREST achieves a rare alchemy of synthesis and transcendence. It's been described as the Universal movie that was never made, and I would go further to say it is the Universal movie we wished for and never got. The increasingly bitter disappointments that culminated in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN are more than made up for in BLACK FOREST, which seems to channel the collective dream of fans for a monster mash that really, truly rocks.
This is one of those rare cases where a cover doesn't promise more than the book delivers. The cover by Michael Avon Oeming and Tom Smith is accurately evocative, well-composed, and hopefully alluring enough to make people pick up the book, but the real treats lie within.
How many comics make you sit up and take notice of the credits? The inside cover accomplishes that with an outstanding movie poster design. Kudos to the people who came up with that idea and designed the page. It looks fantastic. The image of the Frankenstein monster reflected in-the lens of a gas mask that has been crushed into the mud succeeds on so many levels that I'll just say you have to see it for yourself.
Vokes's art, so I've heard, has in the past been criticized as "cartoony," which he answers by saying he prefers to call it "stylized." Well, the jury is in, and the decision goes to Vokes. The stylization has emerged as one of his greatest strengths, a recognizable signature touch that suffuses everything he draws, and that gives the worlds he creates a consistency and reality all their own. A sustained visual tour de force like PARLIAMENT OF JUSTICE could hardly be considered a fluke or a one-off, but in case there were any doubts, Vokes does it again in BLACK FOREST, and even better this time. Jack Shannon and Archie Caldwell are drawn in such a way as to invite immediate identification. The amazing things they encounter--the monsters, the castles--are effectively presented for maximum power, and resonate as icons the moment we lay eyes on them. I must admit that when I first saw the designs for the women characters, I thought they looked a bit . . . well, cartoony. Oh me of little faith! Vokes brings them to life in the book, and does a great job of marking the changes that they undergo.
As for the writing by Livingston
and Tinnell, I would say they've damn near hit the Platonic ideal of the kind
of story they were aiming to tell. Normally, a project like this can capture
and convey all the fantasies it promises only by forcing them into the creakiest
of plots. Here we have a story that zings and gives us everything we
want along the way.
I have only one complaint.
At one point, a romping, stomping battle between the Frankenstein monster and
a pack of werewolves is joined by Graf Orlock and his legions of nosferatu.
To my mind, the wheels should have come completely off, the story should have
stopped dead, and absolute chaos and carnage should have ensued for a few panels
if not pages. Here was an opportunity for the monster mashing set piece to end
all monster mashing set pieces. I would gladly have paid
an extra $2.95 or whatever to see that kind of ultimate delivery on the promise
of monster vs. monster action. An extended cat-fight between the ladies would
have been most welcome, too. In fact, more generally, despite Vokes's expansion
of the page length beyond what was originally planned, this project still felt
very close to the bone in its presentation of all that it had going on. It could
easily have accommodated another five or eight pages with no noticeable slackening
of pace, and more like ten or twelve would have given all the wonderful elements
just about the right amount of room to breathe. I hope the creators will take
it more as a compliment than a criticism that I wished to stay longer in the
Black Forest they brought so vividly to life.
Closing out the book is a pinup gallery. All of the contributions shine, but Tommy Castillo's is the stunner of the bunch. My God, it's just that good!
Many thanks to Livingston, Tinnell, and Vokes for BLACK FOREST. Gentlemen, you've made an instant classic. If it receives half the recognition it is due, it will take its place in the tradition--of course, that tradition also calls for sequels!
