By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
One of the best horror comics from 2015 is Puppet Master published by Action Lab Comics. A few years later, the series abruptly ended, and Curtain Call released to tie up loose ends. Written by Shawn Gabborin and drawn by Michela Da Sacco, the tale continues down the path had the movies been able to continue prior to the Axis trilogy. This new saga fits in an odd place, in between the present day’s terror (the original film) to the past after Toulin shot himself, and giving Danny Coogan the title role in Axis of Evil.
During the 2018 San Diego Comic Convention, Full Moon Features announced the release of Dollman Kills the Full Moon Universe and I have to wonder if that means a reboot is coming? Gabborin is writing for this company’s new label, Full Moon Comix, and is authoring this very first title! His narrative style is very faithful to recreating the camp which I enjoy from this production house and I will be looking forward to seeing this diminutive figure take on Blade! I wrote a detailed news and review for Drunk in a Graveyard, which can be read here.
The Puppet Master 2018 movie releasing Aug 17th certainly suggests a huge reset is happening. New up-and-coming filmmakers are taking the charge. A bigger question will be in whether the origins are going to change too. The comics set the tale in the present day to avoid cinematic continuity conflicts and one beautiful detail Gabborin sets up is in how the souls transferred to the puppets; they retain the spirits of the person they once were.
