ELVIRA IN HORRORLAND #1 – Review

ELVIRA IN HORRORLAND #1, from Dynamite Comics on May 25th, 2022, zaps the titular (*ahem*) Mistress of the Dark into an alternate dimension where she becomes trapped inside classic Horror films. Hang on to your Punny Bones!

The Details

• Written By: David Avallone
• Art By: Silvia Califano
• Colors By: Walter Pereyra
• Letters By: Taylor Esposito
• Cover Art By: Dave Acosta (cover A)
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: May 25, 2022

Was It Good?

I love Elvira. I love what David Avallone has done with Dynamite Comics’s Elvira runs so far. I love classic Horror films. And I love smart, pun humor. Take all those elements, shake ’em up in a blender, and you should come out with the perfect comic. This is a good comic, but calling it perfect would be a stretch.

Let’s talk about the positives. Avallone is in peak Elvira-voice form here. The attitude and sass are turned up to full volume. Califano and Pereyra hit the nail on the head with renderings of Elvira AND the full cast and sets for Psycho (1960). The tone, the look, the style, and the feeling of Hitchcock’s film are all present and accounted for.

The plot, likewise, perfectly delivers on the promise of the solicit description, albeit predictably. The big surprise is the overall lack of surprise in how the story plays out. Not every comic needs to hit you with world-changing wow moments, but the story needs a little more intrigue to get you hooked.

The main down point, admittedly, could be chalked up to personal taste. There are puns. So many puns. A neverending stream of groan-inducing puns in every panel on every page. I can take punny humor with the best of them, but we’re venturing into sweet candy corn overdoses of puns that make your teeth hum and your tummy ache. You’ll be crying “Uncle! Uncle! I give up!” with all the puns. Did I mention there are a lot of puns?

So many puns…

Again, you could chalk it up to personal taste and humor preferences, so your mileage may vary.

Again, again, Califano and Pereyra’s art is spot-on for the infinitely recognizable characters and setting. Psycho (196) is practically on the Mt. Rushmore of the cinema-inspired cultural zeitgeist. You screw up the look of the Bates Motel, and you might as well hang up your pencils. Fortunately, the art team took the gravity of the task to heart and gave the designs proper respect.

Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

We begin with a recap of Elira’s adventures with the ghost of Vincent Price in the previous series. When last we left the Mistress of the Dark, she left the movie pocket dimension, but her zap got whacked, and she wound up in a slightly different version of Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960).

Being the Horror aficionado she is, Elvira works her way through the film as it plays out; saying the character’s lines before they do and intercepting the killer before he makes his famous move in the shower scene. Following one pun after another and one movie trivia fact after another, Elvira figures out that she has to find this dimension’s “magic remote” to get out. Of course, the remote is in the only place it could be – with Mother.

We conclude the issue with actor swaps, karate chops, and dimension hops.

Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.

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