Free Comic Book Day - Tom Holland's Fright Night #1 - American Mythology Productions

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY - TOM HOLLAND'S FRIGHT NIGHT No. 1, April 2023

Whilst this heavily truncated “first look at the brand-new Fright Night Origins series” by “American Mythology Productions” probably didn't contain enough new material to woo any admirers of Tom Holland’s 1985 cult horror film into automatically placing the title onto their respective pull lists, the Free Comic Book Day special edition does provide a reasonably enjoyable summarisation of the vampire movie’s captivating “world full of horror, humour, and heart”. Indeed, in many ways it is a pity that this ten-page tease doesn’t just focus upon partially adapting the movie director’s script rather than rushing its readers straight through the motion picture’s main plot at an increasingly frustrating rate simply so it can then conclude with a cliff-hanger; “Please make it out to one of your biggest admirers.”

Of course, this publication’s solitary selling point is debatably to hook in a new audience for the fang-filled franchise by continuing “the tale after the original screenplay ends”, and in this endeavour James Kuhoric somewhat succeeds, courtesy of a mysterious female vampire who bookends the comic with a couple of dramatic entrances. Sadly however, despite the evident energy imbued into this new character’s introduction as she sucks some hapless human dry whilst sporting a pair of gigantic bat wings, Jason Craig’s proficient pencilling appears slightly off-target - especially when it comes to the illustrator’s reimagining of Peter Vincent as a dark-bearded novelist who disconcertingly lets a smart-mouthed student do all his talking for him.

The slightly scratchy-looking style of the “twenty-five-year comic book veteran” also badly compares with the much more cartoony panels of Neil Vokes, who not only draws the cover to this “perfect addition to every Fright Night fan's collection”, but also the aforementioned flash-back sequences focusing upon Charley Brewster’s battle with “our favourite sweater-wearing, apple-eating vampire, Jerry Dandrige.” These colourful recollections genuinely generate a thoroughly enjoyable sense of nostalgia for the $24.9 million grossing flick, especially as the “legendary” artist manages to crowbar in such notable cameos as actor Art J. Evans’ Detective Lennox and Amanda Bearse’s terrifyingly toothed vampiric form. So many a bibliophile may well feel it was a mistake Vokes wasn’t solely asked to draw all this book’s interiors instead of splitting the workload between two vastly contrasting professionals.

Writer: James Kuhoric, and Artists: Jason Craig and Neil Vokes