Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula

Witness the rise and fall of a Hollywood movie icon in Lugosi. If you thought you knew the whole story from Tim Burton's Ed Wood bio-pic, guess again! Creator Shadmi Koren dives right into Lugosi's early life in Romania, disappointing his high-brow successful parents with wild dreams of becoming an actor to becoming one of Budapest's greatest actors, only to flee for his life for his failed support of the Communist party. 

An exiled Bela will take the stage in London as Dracula, gaining notoriety before immigrating to the United States in hopes of becoming a star. Unfortunately, his thick accent and lack of mastery of the English language makes roles on Broadway few and far between. But when Bela moves to California to try his hand at Hollywood, the actor will be reunited with Count Dracula, beginning a lifelong connection with the Lord of Vampires that will wrongly typecast Lugosi as just another schlock horror movie actor. 

Shadmi Koren's artwork was fantastic. I felt like both Lugosi and cinematic rival Boris Karloff were alive and well right in front of me. I learned so much about early Hollywood horror and my respect for Ed Wood, based on how above and beyond he would go for his friends and family, has increased exponentially. And I was already a fan of his! Though I felt at times that Koren's personal commentary took over for what was supposed to be a passive narrative voice, I want to read more of his works- especially his graphic novel account of the life of Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling!

Want to capture the Halloween spirit of things without being too scared? The life and times of Bela Lugosi is one way to capture the magic of the season without having to sleep with the lights on!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Plan 9 From Outer Space Strikes Again!

I really thought I had reviewed the book before. Yet, I've been re-cataloging my collection lately and I just don't have any evidence of any such entry in this blog. I guess I must have dreamed it or wrote it out in my head; both of which are things I've done before without realizing it.

Plan 9 From Outer Space Strikes Again is Blue Water Comics' sequel to the 1959 B-movie classic by schlock master Ed Wood. Until Tommy Riseau's The Room, Plan 9 From Outer Space was considered the worst film ever made. I, however, love it! 

Ed Wood, despite his flaws, was a passionate film maker. Yes, some of his short cuts were due to his inability to see flaws. But a lot of the stuff Wood is maligned for is really due to the inability to obtain adequate funding for the grandiose plans he had built up in his head for his projects. The 50s weren't exactly a period in Hollywood history when producers opened the floodgates of cash towards horror and sci-fi pictures. But man, did Ed Wood try his best. It just wasn't good enough for the general public.

This 2009 sequel was created in tribute to the original films' 50th anniversary and it was a mixed bag for me. I thought that the plot was worse than the original Plan 9. However, I loved how the art and production staff added continuity errors, smudges and off center pages to this book to make it appear technically flawed like so many of Ed Wood's classics. Artist Giovanni Timpano even leaves the strings of the attacking flying saucers visible! It was also very cool seeing some of the original actors of the 1959 film making cameos in this book. Tor Johnson, Vampira and Criswell all return to help the aliens try once more to conquer the earth. Other actors from the first movie might be in this book; but their likenesses might be too generic for me to recognize.

The one thing about this one-shot that really bugged me was the ending. It felt unfinished. Even though Criswell closes the story much like he did the live-action film, I closed this book feeling like something was missing. Well, it turns out in an odd sort of way that I am right.

Just today, Dren Productions released the first of a 3-part miniseries titled Plan 59 From Outer Space which continues the story after another 50 disastrous attempts by those very same aliens to conquer our planet. Will that series even mention this comic? I doubt it. But I'll find out soon enough. It looks like another zany tribute to what every fan of 1950s B-movies confers to be Ed Wood's opus!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.