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Edgar Allan Poe's Haunt of Horror
Book Released: 19 July 2006
Review posted: 6 Aug 2006
Writer: Rich Margopoulos
Artist: Richard Corben
Letters: Randy Gentile
Publisher: Marvel Comics
3.76 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by J. W. DeBolt Jr.
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Edgar Allan Poe's work has been reprinted and adapted countless times and since there is a certain cost savings in copyright-free work, the comicbook industry has not failed to dine off the corpse of his work. Besides not having to pay the author for his ideas, the creators also have the advantage of not having to come up with original ideas to expound upon.
To the credit of the editors, the choices for this three-issue miniseries do not comprise solely the most popular of Poe's works.
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So why keep reprinting the work in different formats? Well, to make money of course, which is what any business, including the comicbook business, has to do to survive and thrive. But consumers then receive the benefit of this business decision in once again having an opportunity to view the often-underrated but sometimes adequately judged work of Edgar Allan Poe.
This time we get a few select poems and stories by Poe refracted through the prisms of writer Rich Margopoulos (Vampirella, Creepy) and long-time collaborator artist Richard Corben (Heavy Metal, Bigfoot). This team has worked together on Poe as recently as last year, when they published “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Other Tales of Terror through Random House. And while Poe's ideas are sound, the re-imaginings here required just as much creativity to bring alive the end result in the team's trademark creepy/humorous presentations.
To the credit of the editors, the choices for this three-issue miniseries (for adults, as the Max imprint tells us) do not comprise solely the most popular of Poe's works, so beside “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Raven,” we get such lesser-known items as “Spirits of the Dead” and “The Sleeper.” And the interpretations vary from the tightly-construed “The Raven” to the imaginative “Izrafel,” which involves a gang war in the music industry.
“The Happiest Day” is an early poem in which Poe simply reflects on a particularly good day he once had and will never have again: “Bright hope itself has fled at last, 'T will ne'er again my bosom warm—'Tis ever past.” Margopoulos cleverly sets the piece at a ten-year high school reunion, where the narrator remembers the cruel treatment by his classmates during school and, with a little help from his target practice lessons, makes this day his happiest one.
One of my favorite pieces in the series, “Eulalie,” shows a lonely, decrepit man preparing to meet his bride, of sorts. “Now Doubt – now Pain Come never again, For her soul gives me sigh for sigh…” The character's awkward handwriting narrates the story of high expectation and when the knock comes upon his door, we see an unexpected turn that leads to an outrageous climax.
Other pieces covered: “The Conqueror Worm,” “The Lake,” and “Berenice.”
Each of Poe's poems and stories is printed on its own pages after its respective interpretation so you can read it through and then do your own analyses. If you like Corben's fantastic art and unique style, then you should buy this series.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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