Re-Imagining Dark Shadows

Some time ago I had submitted some sample pages to Dynamite Entertainment for their ongoing Dark Shadows series.

 

Although the series Dynamite is currently producing picks up where the television series left off, if I would given the opportunity I would want to do a complete re-imagining of the series. Much in the same way the Tim Burton and Johnny Depp created their own version of Dark Shadows.

 

However, when I was creating the pages, my idea was more inspired by both Jonathan Frid's approach to Barnabas Collins earlier on in the series as well as the way he played the character in the House of Dark Shadows movie. More of the cruel and sadistic vampire rather than the more heroic figure he would later become.

 

At least that would be how I would portray Barnabas to begin with.

 

For those of you who are really just getting to know the Dark Shadows series, the thing you need to understand is Barnabas didn't appear in the series till much later on. Most of the earlier series focused on Victoria Winters and her relationship with the Collins family as well as the mysterious Burke Devlin.

 

To be honest, I thought it was a shame Burton didn't use Burke Devlin in the movie. But I suppose for time constraint, I can understand why he didn't. There were a mess of story lines in that series before Barnabas entered the picture.

 

And Barnabas was only meant to be a one-off character. Jonathan Frid took the role because he was trying to get the money to establish himself as a teacher. But the popularity of the character proved to be more lucrative than a career as a teacher. Barnabas became the center of the show and characters like Victoria Winters and Burke Devlin eventually got written out of the show.

 

If I were given the opportunity, I would include those characters but at the same time introduce Barnabas right off the bat...

 

...no pun intended.

 

I think things like Burke Devlin as well as Jason Maguire blackmailing the family is too good to simply omit.

 

How I would do it would be when Victoria enters the picture, Jason is already wormed his way into the family. When Victoria meets him he is already Elizabeth's fiancé. Willie works as the groundskeeper (very much like in House of Dark Shadows) some time before Jason entered the picture. But little does the family know at that time Willie is Jason's partner. He knows of Elizabeth's secret between herself and Jason how Elizabeth killed Jason's husband and initially before Jason came back into the picture, he was a sort of spy for Jason.

 

Although, Burke Devlin has had a rocky past with the Collins family. In particular Elizabeth's brother Roger. He still cares quite a bit for them. He has long suspected Jason's duplicity. He works out an pay off the governess of Roger's son David in order to bring in a new governess. He is well aware the former governess is having an affair with either Willie or Jason (very Curse of Frankenstein I suppose) and having her out of the way brings in the possibility of hiring someone who might unwittingly stumble upon a fresh pair of eyes. Elizabeth puts out an advert looking for a governess which somehow gets sent to Victoria Winters, an orphan who had been working for years at the orphanage she was found at.

 

All this would be condensed into one issue.

 

All this eventually leads to Willie, who has become obsessed with finding a secret Collins family fortune inadvertently freeing Barnabas Collins from his coffin and Barnabas introducing himself to the family to end the first issue.

 

I know it's unfashionable to admit it, but I actually enjoyed the Tim Burton film. Say what you will I liked it. Would I own it on DVD? Probably not. But I didn't feel ripped off when I saw it in the theaters.

 

However, my version of Dark Shadows would be a trifle bit darker than the movie. More along the lines of the House of Dark Shadows. Although, I  would not have Barnabas stay evil. Yes he'd be a total bastard. But I'd want the reader to still feel a sort of sad sympathy for him knowing he would eventually evolve into the tragic hero later on.

 

That's how I would handle a Dark Shadows series if I were given the opportunity.