Universal Monsters: Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives! #1 is out this Wednesday from Image Comics and Skybound Entertainment, written by Dan Watters and Ram V, with art by Matthew Roberts, and colors by Dave Stewart.
Over the years, I have made a number of comic book related confessions in my reviews and articles: I’ve never read a Green Lantern comic; I’ve probably turned off more superhero movies than I’ve watched to the end; and the percentage of comics that are worth talking about is actually very low. Most comics are entertainment and, if they entertain you, then all is good, but that does not mean that they are great comics or have anything to say about the medium. I love the Alien franchise, but only the original movie pushed the boundaries of what cinema could achieve, and very few of the comics have engaged with the comic medium in surprising and exciting ways.
This leads me back to Universal Monsters: Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives, and my confession isn’t that I haven’t seen the original movie. I have, several times, once on the side of a canal, late at night, in the open air. No, the confession is that there are very few comics that interest me at the moment. I am finding it hard to get excited about any new publications except spin-off or tie-in comics. Everything new that has caught my eye, and that I’ve actually picked up, can be filed in the adaptation folder in my collection. Planet of the Apes, Alien Black, White and Blood, and the upcoming Dick Tracy title from Mad Cave. But we can now add to that two new(ish) titles due this month: the re-release of the original comic book adaptation of Labyrinth and, of course, Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives.
Credit: Universal/Skybound Comics
The premise behind the new Creature comic from Universal Pictures and Skybound is simple: journalist Kate Marsden is tracking a monster, a serial killer who drowns his victims. Her hunt is personal (for reasons that become apparent) and she has tracked the killer to the depths of Peru. There is nothing further you need to know. This opening issue is a character piece centered firmly on Kate and the trauma that keeps her going day-to-day. She is both a victim and hero. Dan Watters and Ram V, the writers, have woven a tale of flashbacks and nightmares to let the reader know exactly the kind of person that Kate is. Determined, strong minded but also broken and, at times desperate.
Everyone knows what’s coming—it is a monster comic afterall—but like the classic monster movies of old, the buildup is long and the pacing is slow, deliberately so. The writers know they have to construct a connection between the reader and the hero before the monsters turn up, otherwise there’s no drama, no tension. The second half of Jaws is so successful because the audience is 100% behind Chief Brody. Readers are heartbroken when Elektra crawls into Matt Murdock’s arms to die in issue 181 of Daredevil because Frank Miller created a strong bond between the two characters and relayed this perfectly to the readers. In this Creature comic, Watters and Ram V show you the strengths, and weaknesses, of Kate, making her a sympathetic character that you will root for.
The character beats and emotional reactions of Kate are brought out by artist Matthew Roberts, who emphasizes Kate specifically by making her dominate the pages and the layouts. Compared to the previous Universal Monsters comic from Skybound, Dracula, the layouts and panel designs in Creature are fairly standard and straightforward in approach, but this highlights the composition within the images. A page with a nine-panel grid is designed in such a way that the scene plays out in a linear, Z-pattern reading structure but also contains shorter story beats fitting the rhythm of the layout. It then goes one step further by creating visual emphasis to draw the reader’s view against the standard reading pattern, making you notice elements in certain panels that you may have missed with a quick skim read. Your eyes are drawn diagonally down the page, focusing on the image in a security camera in panel one, the gulf between the two characters in panel five, and finally onto the gun tucked into Kate’s belt in panel nine. All this before you have read through the page.
Credit: Universal/Skybound Comics
The coloring by Dave Stewart is surprisingly subtle, especially compared to the previously mentioned Dracula. Where that comic was all expressive coloring and border shattering layouts, Stewart gives Creature a naturalistic palette, saving emotional hues for dramatic moments or flashbacks. A purple wash accompanies Kate’s flashbacks, hinting at the unfolding mystery surrounding Kate and her presence in Peru. And the natural greens of the jungle are a beautiful contrast to the manufactured colors of the clothes and interiors.
The original Creature from the Black Lagoon movie advertised itself as a suspenseful, terrifying movie and focused on the monster’s brutal presence. The trailer highlights the “underwater thrills never photographed before” and “titanic underwater battles never dreamed of.” This focus on the underwater element of the story is reflected in this follow up comic, with the highlights of the comic being the water-based scenes. It opens and closes with the most memorable moments, which will mirror most people’s memory of the movie. A monster, swirling water, and the heroine in peril. These are the movie’s CliffsNotes, and these are the jump-out pages of the comic.
Just as the creature grabs hold of its victims and drags them down into the murky depths, the creators of this follow-up take the reader by the hand and slowly pull them along, towards the edge of the river, and, finally, into the waters. The story starts out fascinating and becomes engrossing as Kate is dragged out of her depth. The artwork displays the emotional characters very well, but lacks something outrageous. There are a few pages that manage to elevate the visuals, make it live up to the shocking promises of the original movie, but there is not enough to single it out as an outstanding comic. This isn’t as bad as the King Kong ripoff that was Revenge of the Creature, and it avoids the bizarre creature feature elements of The Creature Walks Among Us, instead favoring a more modern, gritty realism. But is that the best path to take?
Credit: Universal/Skybound Comics
The Universal/Skybound Dracula comic was outstanding because it leaned into the outlandishness of the source material. It took the cinematic elements of the original and turned them into comic specific visuals, while maintaining a link through the plot and character speech. With this new Creature comic, the essence of the movie is lacking from the majority of the pages. It is only during the water scenes that any connection to the 1954 movie is stirred up in the reader. Remove the actual Creature and there is nothing in this comic that links it to the source material: nothing thematic, nothing narrative, nothing visual. From a general comics reader point of view, this actually doesn’t matter. Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives is a very successfully constructed comic that tells its story solidly—beautifully, even. From the point of view of an adaptation, however, the comic is a touch disappointing. I don’t necessarily want over-dramatized actors in black and white 3D emoting to me while constantly getting snatched by a man in a rubber suit, but a little part of me does want some of that. I want the feeling of watching the movie when I’m reading the comic. That feeling you get when you read the Marvels Planet of the Apes comics from the 1970s, that twinge of nostalgia you get from reading Innovation Comics’ Lost in Space series, or any of the Star Trek tie-ins. I want what you get only at the end of this comic.
With that said, we circle back around to my opening. I adore this comic. It is an exciting and intriguing comic, one that I will follow to the end. The subtlety in the artwork, especially the coloring, gives the comic a gravitas that is lacking from a lot of current publications. The creators are taking the process of making comics seriously and thoughtfully, and it shows on the page. I only hope that more of the movie seeps through into upcoming issues. This comic should look and feel like a sequel, a successor, but at the moment it leans more towards a modern remake.
Universal Monsters: Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives #1 is out this Wednesday, April 24th, from Image Comics and Skybound Entertainment.
