Kevin C. Wong

Elvira Comics (2021-24) [+]

There were three Elvira, Mistress of the Dark trade paperbacks in the Humble Bundle Dynamite Comics collection I recently bought.

Elvira Meets Vincent Price (2021) - 5 issues. Elvira teams up with the ghost of Vincent Price to stop a Cleopatra-themed Elvira copycat from raising the god Amun-Ra.

Elvira in Monsterland (2023) - 5 issues. Vlad the vampire is going into old monster films and recruiting the monsters into his army. Elvira chases after him and we get so many movie references (for legal issues they rarely use the actual movie and character names but similar sounding and often pun-filled names).

Elvira Meets H.P. Lovecraft (2024) - 5 issues. Elvira hates it but she must team up with racist and misogynist H.P. Lovecraft to recover the real Necronomicon before Nyarlathotep does. Lots of Mythos references including a one-on-one with Great Cthulhu himself!

David Avallone does all the writing. I like the humor and references. Lots of puns which normally I don't like unless they're in theme and these puns are very much themed. Elvira manages to be a forceful character even though she's only a girl with a sharp tongue and voluptuous figure. With Vincent Price and H.P. Lovecraft she has two ghosts helping her and in Monsterland she has a magic dagger but it's often down to kicking people in the nards, yoinking things, and running away fast.

Juan Samu draws Vincent Price and Kewber Baal draws the other two series. Both artists draw a lot of detail. Characters in the way background are recognizable doing funny things. Elvira has lots of facial expressions, mostly of disbelief ("you gotta be kidding me") or sarcasm or side-eyes. And of course she's always showing her legs and cleavage (and is maybe once out of her trademark costume), but it's rarely referred to unless there's a joke or tactical advantage.

I wasn't expecting but these comics were great reads.