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I first heard of it when I researched my first DS book--The Dark Shadows Collectors' Guide, in 1991, but I only recently found a copy, on Ebay--the online auction site (www.ebay.com). The comic contains a DS parody called Darn Shadows, about a fictional soap which just happens to take place at a place called Crawlin'wood and which features a familiar-looking vampire named Barnacle Crawlins. Other characters are Quinine (a werewolf), Elizaburp (family matriarch), Daybed (outspoken bratty kid) and Mamie (a youngster who doesn't quite seem to get what's going on around her.) |
Basically, the story revolves around the pending cancellation of "Darn Shadows." It's sort of a surreal mix--Spencer the Sponsor shows up on the set and warns lead character Barnancle Crawlins that he's about to pull the plug on the show due to dismal ratings. I say it's surreal because Spencer's not warning the actor who plays Barnacle--he's warning the character, and the character springs into action to save the show.
Barnacle places a call to Central Casting and adds a new character to the show--Quinine Crawlins, who refers to himself as glamorous, youthful and sexy. At Barnacle's suggestion, Quinine puts on a werewolf mask--but it's not enough to boost the ratings.
Desperate, Barnacle recruits just about every movie monster who'd ever stalked across the screen--including King Kong (the DS writers never went quite that far....). But in the end, Darn Shadows is no match for its competition--the network news, with its reports of actual terrifying events.
Overall, the Spoof story is a fun, though brief, parody. Its six pages contain a few dead-on jokes (like Barnacle paging through a book of classic horror plots looking for ideas (which, let's face it, the DS writers did do), and a comment from Daybed about actors flubbing their lines (again...once in a while it happened....).
I'd like to have seen a few more actual DS characters spoofed--the only ones in the spoof are characters based on Barnabas, Quentin, David, Amy and Elizabeth. Where's Julia? Magda? Prof. Stokes??? These are characters begging to have affection fun made of them. Still, it's an interesting collectible, and one I'd highly recommend.
Spoof had a brief run. This issue came out in October 1971, and the second issue didn't hit the stands until a year later--November 1972--then the series only lasted three more issues: Number 5 was published in May 1973.
For more information about this issue of Spoof, if you're an America Online member, check out my column "Dark Shadows Collectors' Corner" this month at Keyword: Dark Shadows.
Craig Hamrick is the author of The Dark Shadows Collectibles Book, published in July 1998 by Pomegranate Press. He also wrote The Dark Shadows Collectors' Guide (Clique Publishing, 1991) and Big Lou: the biography of Louis Edmonds (Clique Publishing, 1996).
Craig writes a column about DS collectibles, viewable on America Online at Keyword: Dark Shadows.
This comic book, Spoof #1, (Marvel Comics,
October 1971) is the featured item for August because I just
finally located a copy--after longing for it for about seven
years! (I guess Barnabas longed for Josette a wee bit longer,
but I was starting to understand how he felt...)
Click here to order The Dark Shadows Collectibles
Book