SAVAGE TALES: WINTER SPECIAL, from Dynamite Comics on December 21st, 2022, recounts four tales of weird, wonderous adventure starring Draculina, John Carter & Dejah Thoris, Vampirella, and Capt. Gullivar Jones.
The Details
- Written by: Scott Bryan Wilson, David Avallone
- Art by: Max Fuchs, Eman Casallos, Mariano Benitez Chapo, Hamish Munro-Cook
- Colors by: Gab Contreras, Adriano Augusto, Adrian Woolnough, Jorge Sutil
- Letters by: Taylor Esposito
- Cover art by: Arthur Suydam (cover A)
- Cover price: $4.99
- Release date: December 21, 2022
Is It Good?
SAVAGE TALES: WINTER SPECIAL is the second Savage Tales anthology released by Dynamite this year, and it’s the stronger of the two. David Avallone and Scott Bryan Wilson take a handful of Dynamite’s characters in new directions for a handful of mini-adventures that explores everything from the darker side of professional wrestling to the dangers of a honeymoon getaway.
The tones and story content vary wildly, but in all, there isn’t a lemon in the group. The strongest short with the most potential for future stories comes from David Avallone’s continuation of Capt. Gullivar Jones’s travels in His War, Chapter II. Jones receives a much-needed character uplift, and the ending is ripe with possibility.
The weakest but still interesting short is Crypt Junkies!. The premise is clear but hard to swallow, and the inconsistent tone (comedic to tragic) is an awkward read.
Overall, this issue is a significant improvement over the previous Savage Tales issue.
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]
As with all our anthology reviews, we describe each short and highlight what worked or didn’t.
Juicing with the Devil
Prepare for the tag-team wrestling match from Hell. A skinny weakling makes a deal with a nameless demon to become big and strong in exchange for helping the nameless one takedown Draculina in a Battle Royale to end all Battle Royales.
Wrestling in comics appears to be the hot trend at the moment, and Wilson’s short about a weakling getting his big break in the ring leans into that trend… hard. On its face, the premise is silly, goofy fun, and Fuchs’s art style has a Peter Chun/Aeon Flux aesthetic that might be an acquired taste for some. Regardless, it’s silly, goofy wrestling fun with a demonic twist.
Honeymoon on Mars
John Carter and Dejah Thoris speed along the landscapes of Jasoom (Mars) when Dejah receives a telepathic distress call from a fellow Heliumite. When John Carter leaps into action and saves the day, a gift is presented that promises great knowledge or great pain.
David Avallone walks a very thin line in this short but keeps the balance between adding to John Carter’s lore without changing it. Using a powerful telepath to unlock John’s mind is a canonical minefield, but Avallone handles it well and uses the story to deepen John Carter as a person. Eman Casallos’s art is excellently rendered, although this short has a lot of close-ups, which tends to make the visuals feel claustrophobic.
Crypt Junkies!
Vampirella serves as a guest on a reality show that hunts down mysterious crypts and tombs around the world. When the show’s producer finds a cult ready to open a thousand-year-old tomb housing a spiritual leader, what terrible secrets can the tomb’s resident possibly possess?
Wilson’s story mixes faith, Lovecraftian horror, and no small amount of irony in this tale of good intentions and greed turning out badly. The story’s downside is in its inconsistent tone. The story starts off as a serio-comedic satire but (tries) to end on a soulful, cautionary lesson that doesn’t quite come together. Also, Vampirella is barely in this story as anything other than observer and narrator.
His War, Chapter II
Captain Gullivar Jones receives a return visit from the magic carpet that transported him to Mars during his first adventure. Now, Jones decides to return to Mars to right his mistakes and help the people of his second home. Unfortunately, the second trip to Mars won’t be as easy as the first.
If you’ve read the original Gullivar Jones book, you know Jones is no John Carter, so it’s interesting to see David Avallone taking a crack at remaking the man into a proper hero. Here, Jones shows glimpses of honor and determination as the man he could be, and Avallone peppers in enough cosmically bewildering pitstops back to Jones’s Martian people to tease a long and difficult adventure ahead. Munro-Cook’s art style fits the material well with beautiful scenes of the cosmic and alien varieties and energetic action.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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SAVAGE TALES: WINTER SPECIAL improves upon the previous Savage Tales anthology with fun, eclectic, and sometimes thoughtful adventures starring Dynamite’s collection of characters. Each short has an intriguing concept, and there isn’t a stinker in the bunch.
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