Giant-Sized Savage Tales #1: A Dynamite Foursome

Four sci-fi and horror characters shine in their own spotlights in Giant-Sized Savage Tales #1. The extra sized issue features four stand-alone stories that serve as good introductions to Dynamite’s two most well known heroines as well as two characters from classic literature.

Dynamite’s big heroines, Red Sonja and Vampirella, each get their own story in Giant-Sized Savage Tales #1. Avallone treats each of these big name characters reasonably well, delivering good introductions to each. Vampirella especially gets a nice bit of backstory that strives to make the character more than just her iconic outfit. The stories themselves aren’t particularly complicated, though, focusing much more on action than anything else. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as both of these characters regularly deliver action in their own series. The action oriented nature of these stories also makes them easy to get into, and there is absolutely no sense of missing backstory or a confusion over who these characters are. But overall they lack depth which makes them both weaker entries in the issue.

Qualano’s art in “Red Sonja: The Code” is high in detail throughout. His use of lines to develop backgrounds, character’s clothing, and musculature is fairly liberal. Male characters’ faces are also heavily lined, more to accentuate features than expressions.

Benitez-Chapo’s art in “Vampirella: The Old Country Trigger” isn’t especially low on detail, but he gives the female characters in the story a certain softness by being conservative with lines on their faces. Significantly higher detail is applied to the antagonist vampire and his minions. There isn’t quite a body horror quality to them, but the art successfully emphasizes their inhumanity.

The Allan Quartermain story, “Allan Quartermain and the Invaders,” brings a little more complexity to bear than the Red Sonja and Vampirella entries. Avallone uses a framing device of two sailors talking to set up the story which takes place during the first world war. This frame gives Quartermain’s appearance and subsequent actions an added sense of myth and mystery. The character is already a source of fear and confusion in the story, so it’s a nice touch to provide an added layer–were the events relayed real and how much of them do either of the sailors believe? Overall, this is a good use of the classic character.

Piriz does a good job balancing minimalist facial detail with emotional expression. He finds a lot of success with heavier, field of black type shading as opposed to more gentle transitions. Piriz communicates a great deal through characters’ eyes. Characters’ facial expressions aren’t overly broad, but they border on that. However, given the kind of larger than life qualities Avallone gives Quartermain, this art style works very well.

“Gullivar of Mars: His War Chapter Four: is simultaneously the strongest story in Giant-Sized Savage Tales #1 and the most difficult to get into. Avallone drops the reader in on Gullivar with no context whatsoever. The story sells itself as the fourth part of a larger epic as though the reader is familiar with the first three. The story asks a lot of the reader. Gulliivar’s internal monologue, as well as an opening dialogue scene with an “established” character eventually provide enough information that the story can be followed if nothing else. Despite all of that, Avallone’s treatment of Gullivar as a character makes this the richest entry in the issue. Gullivar is well developed, and by the time the story ends, there is investment in his plight. This is an excellent treatment of another classic character.

Contributing to the richness of character development in the Gullivar of Mars story is the high detail in Benitez-Chapo’s art. Whereas his treatment of characters was broader in the Vampirella entry, there is a different kind of richness here. Certainly higher levels of detail works well with backgrounds and action sequences crowded with a lot of characters. But its best use here is how it helps Gullivar express emotions. In what is easily the densest and most character oriented story, the higher detail is a definite plus.

Remalante Jr.’s color palette is uniformly bright in each story. The choice pairs well with every artist’s work. The expectation might be that such a palette works best in “Vampirella: The Old Country Trigger” given the titular character’s iconic costume. But Remalante Jr.’s work actually pops best in the Gullivar of Mars entry.

Eckleberry gives each of the four stories a slightly different lettering identity. There are slight variations throughout–the choice of font and use of different case letters for caption boxes, the density of text in dialogue bubbles, the color and type of font for sound effects, etc. These are subtle choices that are in no danger of stealing the focus, but it is nonetheless effective.