Originally Published In Issue 39
Reprinted In Issue 98
First published back in August of 1972, Issue 39 of the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ comic series was titled ‘Daughter Of Darkness’. The comic was later reprinted under the alternative title ‘Condemned Woman’ within Issue 98.
During the 1970s the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ was a pocket-sized mainstream horror comic which ran for a total of 137 issues between 1971 and 1977. Each month, two issues of the comic were published, amounting to a total of twenty-four issues of the comic published each year.
However, it should be noted that issue 83 and then from issue 86 onwards, the publishers started reprinting the earlier stories. Of these reprints, the first 29 reprints (issues 83 and then 86 – 113) retitled the story. As such, there were only ever a total of 84 unique stories within the series, despite there being more titles.
Unfortunately, each issue was undated, making it difficult to be sure of the date for first publication of each issue. However, it is widely understood the comics were monthly publications, with two publications released simultaneously each month, with the original stories running from January 1971. Therefore, the above date of publication is a relatively reasonable assumption.
Additionally, each issue was unfortunately uncredited to either the writer or the comic artist(s).
What occurred within the village of Denely that fateful day in 1451, set in motion a horror that would span centuries. A local villager named Eva Darty had become a condemned woman for the village’s ceremonial burning of a witch. However, before she could be burnt at the stake, young Eva Darty was shot in the heart by an arrow. Her last dying words uttering the name – Derek. For Sir Derek Maine, Lord of the Manor, was not only her one true love, but had also fathered Eva Darty’s child.
It was this love which drove Derek Maine’s wife, Harriet, to reap revenge. She had orchestrated the witch hunt upon Eva Darty, denouncing her a witch. The word from the wife of the Lord was enough to bring action. To end the woman’s life and her affair with Derek Maine.
Five centuries later and the Denely Manor had remained in the possession of the Maine family. Sir John Maine was the current Lord of the Manor, and had just received news that his nephew, Derek, was back from Bavaria and together with his new fiancée, they were asking to stay with at the Manor for a while.
However, when Derek and his fiancée arrive, there’s an instant unspoken connection between Derek and Sir John’s daughter – Eva. Something akin to an electric current passing between the two as their eyes met for the first time.
It had been five centuries since Eva Darty had been killed at the stake. But now, at long last, the relentless, tormented spirit of Eva Darty had found what it had sought over all those years. Her love had returned to her, and she would stop at nothing to have him back.
For Eva Maine was the descendent of a vampire. One which could change its physical form and control the minds of those around her. One which thirsted for blood as much as she hungered for her never-forgotten love…
This one has a superb plot involving the infamous witch trials which sees a woman condemned to death, for which she is spared from the flames by an arrow to her heart which is sent by her lover. Centuries later, and the bloodlines of the two are brought back together. However, the murdered woman was indeed a creature of the night, and so a classic tale of tale of vampire horror commences!
The end result is a comic that’s part tragic love story, part gothic vampire horror. However, unlike previous PCL’s dealing with vampires, this one isn’t campy or cliched in the slightest. Instead, it’s got far more grit and gristle in its bite. A story perhaps more fitting for a modern audience.
The spanning of centuries and tying together of bloodlines is also a nice touch. It gives the story a tad more depth than you might otherwise have expected from a short PCL. Alongside the blurring of who’s the real evil here, offering no absolute right or wrong, it adds another interesting layer to the whole premise. Not exactly thought provoking, but a subtle greyness that works well, nonetheless.
Of course, this is still a PCL, so expect all the women to be swooning and fainting whenever there’s a snifter of something evil going on. However, there’s again a little more to it than just damsels in distress at play. Our vampiric antagonist has the ability to control the speech of those around her.
Because of this we see the maid of the Manor unable to speak after she narrowly escapes an attack from our vampire friend. Of course, everyone thinks the maid’s just scared half out of her wits. After all, that’s par of the course in these PCLs. Alas not, the poor lass is being silenced by the presence of Eva’s dark powers. Oh, the dastardly joy of it all!
There’s also plenty of delightful dialogue to have you belly laughing at the sheer wackiness. One of the first vampire attacks has Derek crying out “Help…for god’s sake, help…someone bring guns…!” It’s indeed the call to arms we should all be shouting in the face of a descending fanged vampire.
The illustrative artwork, however, is again absolutely spot on. The images of Eva in her vampire state are far from anything like the cheesy depiction presented on the cover. Instead, we have a terrifying image, that’s almost akin to Ivar Enger on the cover of Datkthrone’s masterpiece ‘A Blaze in the Northern Sky’ (1992).
That said, the comic hasn’t fully embraced a more adult audience quite yet. For example, there’s lots of talk of “ghastly wounds” and “mutilated bodies” from the characters, however all the accompanying illustrations merely show the victims unmoving but otherwise appearing relatively unharmed. Not even a drop of blood in sight!
Nevertheless, its still an excellent PCL, with perhaps a tad more layers and thought put into the story than the usual pulpy PCL offering.
The comic book runs for a total of 64 pages.
© DLS Reviews
