Elvira’s War With Dracula Explodes in Monsterland #1

The Mistress of the Dark has been through many adventures in her time with Dynamite, and it’s all been leading to this! Her biggest macabre romp is here, as the “Multiverse of Movies” takes on classic monsters, and Elvira faces her nemesis of Vlad the Impaler! Writer David Avallone has cooked up another classic, and he’s written a special message for fans about the new series. Plus, we have some pages from the first issue to preview!

Issue #1 is on “Final Order Cutoff” this weekend, so contact your Local Comic Shop ASAP to preorder and subscribe!

LETTER FROM WRITER DAVID AVALLONE

Hey, Comics Fans!
I hope 2023 is treating you and yours well.
The folks at Dynamite wanted me to drop you a line, and let you know that Elvira is coming back!
As you’ve likely noticed by now, I’ve been writing Elvira comics since 2018, and having a great time doing it. I’ve sent her on a trip through time, (in TIMESCREAM, aka Elvira: Mistress of the Dark 1-4), sent her to Hell and back (in ELVIRA’S INFERNO, E:MOTD 5-8), cast her in a Del Toro pastiche, (THE SHAPE OF ELVIRA), teamed her up with the ghost of Vincent Price himself (ELVIRA MEETS VINCENT PRICE, natch) and last time around, sent her careening through the “Multiverse of Movies” in ELVIRA IN HORRORLAND.
The premise of ELVIRA IN HORRORLAND was simple: all movies create their own little pocket dimensions, where their stories play out in a loop, for all eternity. Elvira found herself stuck in horror-movie-universes trying to get home… but unable to stop herself from interfering in the plots. So the Mistress of the Dark found herself visiting PSYCHO, THE SHINING, ALIEN, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (plus a few sequels) and finished up with a tour through Cronenberg-land, hitting THE FLY, VIDEODROME, SCANNERS and even a little bit of NAKED LUNCH. Hijinks ensued. Elvira saved Janet Leigh from Anthony Perkins and warned Sigourney Weaver to skip ALIEN3, among other shenanigans. At the risk of blowing my own horn, I’ll mention that the ALIEN story got me one of my favorite reviews ever: “this issue ranks up with the best of MAD magazine’s film parodies.” As a kid who had a subscription to MAD between the ages of 6 and 22, that meant a LOT to me.
At the end of the five issue series, Elvira was shown how to get home by a time-space agent of Novazone Express, and the magic device propelling her through all those film worlds was returned to its rightful owner. (Federico Fellini, as it turned out.)
So what do to for an encore?
In ELVIRA IN MONSTERLAND, a very bad guy – specifically Elvira’s series-long arch-enemy Vlad the Impaler – gets his grubby vampire claws on that magic device, and takes his own trip through the Multiverse of Movies… for the purpose of kidnapping every scary critter in filmdom and building a Monster Army.

Novazone Express recruits Elvira to stop him, and – over her protests that she’s not a superhero – sends her out to stop the marauding Transylvanian tyrant.
In the first issue, Vlad’s scooping up Draculas at an alarming rate, in a story we call IT’S A VLAD, VLAD, VLAD, VLAD WORLD. The A-cover by long-time Elvira artist Dave Acosta is an amazing collage of every significant pop culture vampire you can think of.
The second issue, coming in June, is called FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD. You can probably guess the monster featured in that one, and the same goes for issue three, titled HOWL.
As I’m sure you can imagine, all of these covers, featuring iconic monsters and our equally iconic leading lady, are incredibly eye-catching and fun. And for those fans who can’t get enough of the real thing, each issue, as always, will have a photo cover.
Covers aside, the interior art is going to knock your socks off. Kewber Baal, who I’ve previously only worked with on a single (excellent) issue of BETTIE PAGE UNBOUND, reaches new heights in his art for ELVIRA IN MONSTERLAND. The likenesses are sharp, and in addition to his well-established eye for clear storytelling and action, Kewber demonstrates a previously-unseen talent for comedy. Kewber’s work is complimented by Elvira mainstays Taylor Esposito on letters, and Walter Pereyra on colors, back once again to bring their consummate artistry to the comic.

Finally, this series is for anyone who loves movies, in particular horror movies, and features the world’s best tour guide of the funny and the macabre, facing down the greatest movie monsters of all time. I can’t wait for you to read it.
Thanks for reading this, and I hope you enjoy the series as much as we’ve enjoyed making it!
Thanks for listening to me blab!
All the best…
David Avallone
Hollywood, CA
April 19, 2023

Tags: David Avallone, elvira

About the Author

Richard Boom Richard is the driving force behind Comics for Sinners. His love and admiration for female comic book characters is virtually unparalleled, which immediately explains his biggest 'sin': his Hot Mummy fetish. This sketchbook theme is philogynistic in nature and even the source of his WIP comic book series "The Sisterhood".