DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
STORY: David Avallone
ART: Juan Samu
COLORS: Walter Pereyra
LETTERS: Taylor Esposito with Elizabeth Sharland
EDITOR: Joseph Rybandt
COVER: Dave Acosta
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Dave Acosta; Juan Samu; Anthony Marques and J. Bone
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (March 2022)
Rated Teen+
Chapter Five: “Final Girl Lost”
In 1981, actress and model Cassandra Peterson created the “horror hostess character,” known as “Elvira.” Elvira gradually grew in popularity and eventually became a brand name. As Elvira, Peterson endorsed many products and became a pitch-woman, appearing in numerous television commercials throughout the 1980s.
Elvira also appeared in comic books, beginning in 1986 with the short-lived series from DC Comics, Elvira's House of Mystery, which ran for eleven issues and one special issue (1987). Eclipse Comics and Claypool Comics began the long-running Elvira: Mistress of the Dark from 1993 to 2007. In 2018, Elvira returned to comic books via Dynamite Entertainment in the four-issue comic book miniseries, Elvira Mistress of the Dark, that actually ran for 12 issues.
Vincent Price (1911–1993) was an American actor and a legendary movie star. Price was and still is best known for his performances in horror films, although his career spanned other genres. Price appeared in more than 100 films, but he also performed on television, the stage, and on radio. Thus, he has two stars on the “Hollywood Walk of Fame,” one for motion pictures and one for television.
Elvira and Vincent Price team up for the first time in the comic book miniseries, Elvira Meets Vincent Price. The series is written by David Avallone; drawn by Juan Samu; colored by Walter Pereyra; and lettered by Taylor Esposito with Elizabeth Sharland. The series found Elvira and Price searching for a long-lost cult movie, “Rise of the Ram,” and trying to save the world from destruction at the hands of the ancient Egyptian god, Amun-Ra.
Elvira Meets Vincent Price #5 (“Final Girl Lost”) opens somewhere in Hollywood. In the wake of saving the world from whack-ass Egyptian gods, Elvira and Vincent are enjoying a night of board games. Then, Elvira gets an urgent call from her agent.
A friend, Darlanne Wing, a “scream queen” actress, is missing, and the leading suspect is horror movie mogul, Stanley Saliva. Saliva, who produces “The Crawling Creep” films, in which Darlanne stars, has been stalking her for some time. So Elvira and Vincent join forces again and travel to Saliva's creepy mansion. To find Darlanne, the duo will to literally break the fourth wall and enter the world of a slasher movie. Can Elvira and Vincent save Darlanne and themselves before Vincent has to depart for the spirit world?
THE LOWDOWN: In July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department began providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles. One of them is Elvira Meets Vincent Price #5, which is the fifth issue of the series that I have read and one of many Dynamite Elvira comic books that I have thoroughly enjoyed.
Well, all good things must come to an end, although whenever one David Avallone Elvira series disappears, another is just around the corner. This time around, however, it is a little bittersweet. Elvira Meets Vincent Price reminded me of how much I miss Vincent Price, who has been dead for a little over three decades. From time to time, I'll see a genre film or television series, and I'll suddenly think that Vincent would be wonderful in it.
This final issue is filled with Avallone's sparkling dialogue and zany antics. Juan Samu draws it all in a lovely mercurial graphical storytelling style that is part comic horror and part bromance. Walter Pereyra's colors add a lovely vintage touch to the art and storytelling. All of it is nicely wrapped up in a lettering bow by Taylor Esposito and Elizabeth Sharland.
Elvira Meets Vincent Price is a winner, and as Avallone tells us inside the story, the trade collection of this series will be here sometime in the near future. It is a chance to relive the series or discover its golden touch. My slight sadness is tempered by the fact that there is another series headed our way. Dynamite, Elvira, and an Avallone-led creative team are comic book platinum.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Elvira and of Vincent Price and of David Avallone's Elvira comic books will want to read Elvira Meets Vincent Price.
A
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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