Bela Lugosi’s Tales from the Grave #3 (Comic Book)
reviews2/talesfromthegrave3.jpg
Written by various
Published by Monsterverse
I gushed over the first two issues of comic legend Kerry Gammill’s horror anthology Bela Lugosi’s Tales from the Grave, and now I finally have Issue #3 in my grubby mitts after meeting up with Gammill at this year’s Texas Frightmare Weekend, where he was a guest. Fans of Gammill’s artwork will be happy to know that he isn’t just the publisher and editor this time; he also has a story in the issue.
Issue #3 is smaller than previous issues, now standard comic length at 36 pages. Still, with just a $4 cover price, it packs a ton of entertainment. The major changes are the omission of the art gallery and interviews present in previous issues. To me, that’s a very small loss. They were nice, but we come for the stories, and here we have five tales of the creepy and unexpected.
The usual diversity in artistic and story style is present once again, which makes for a hell of a good read.
After an intro page with Lugosi, Nosferina, and Hugo, we have ‘The Last Survivor’, which is reminiscent of Last Man on Earth and other similar apocalyptic survival tales… but with a twist. A violent story with a heavy “Twilight Zone” bend, it’s a good time.
Next up is ‘The Mummy’s Ring’, a traditional tale of unending love and modern-day greed meeting in undead Egyptian horror. Strong art, solid story, great entry.
‘Second to One’ shows us what happens when professional jealousy between marathon runners becomes murderous and, in time, crosses over to the grave. It’s predictable but still fun.
The oddball of the bunch, ‘Those Cray Kids on Vlad-7’, is a wacky 50’s schlock sci-fi/horror tale of two outer space goons and their pet (?!?) trying to take a vacation on an abandoned planet, only to meet up with a pack of bloodthirsty punks looking to mix it up. This is a very strange little story, more style than substance, but still enjoyable.
The book is rounded out by another installment of Dr. Vornoff and Lobo, as well as a short prose poem by Lugosi’s great-grandson.
I could add a few more comments, but they’d only lead to the bottom line, which is there’s no good reason not to be holding this issue in your hands right now unless you just don’t like comics and good horror. What are you waiting for?
5 out of 5
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