Publisher's Weekly Review
Shadmi (The Twilight Man) delivers a poignant graphic biography of horror star Bela Lugosi (1882--1956) that depicts the Dracula actor's real-life and on-screen personas with equal aplomb. Interspersing Lugosi's dying days of morphine-induced hallucinations (colored in sepiatone) with black-and-white flashbacks, the brisk history narrates his rise to silver screen success, his extravagant lifestyle, self-delusions, and (many) marriages and divorces against Hollywood's evolution from the silent era to the glut and decline of horror pictures. Shadmi's artwork flows in uncomplicated but immensely expressive lines. Cartoon caricatures of figures including Boris Karloff, James Whale, and Tor Johnson are instantly recognizable, while Lugosi's vampiric glare hits appropriately chilling, with detailed scene-work conveying the moody atmosphere of films such as Dracula or White Zombie. Both humorous and heartbreaking, Lugosi's final screen appearance in Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space closes the book with a triumphant curtain call: "Perhaps I am... immortal," Lugosi muses. Shadmi smoothly blends characterization with chiaroscuro to perfectly spotlight Lugosi's uncanny magnetism. On the screen--and in this fine portrait--his legacy lasts. (Sept.)
Booklist Review
Bela Lugosi was born in Hungary in the late nineteenth century. Even as a boy, he had a passion for acting, despite his parents' desires. After running away from home as a teen, he made his way west through Europe, ultimately landing in the U.S. and becoming the titular star of Dracula. Lugosi is candidly portrayed in this biography, showing his star performances but also his womanizing, his relationships, his incredible ego, and his rivalry with fellow horror actor Boris Karloff. Told as the memories of an elderly Lugosi, the grayscale of the panels changes along with the time; the older Legosi's panels have a more brown and sepia quality, while the memories hold a grayer quality. Movie-scene panels are distinguished by wide black bars at the top and bottom of the panels. Lugosi was not entirely likable, but readers will sympathize with his struggles. Readers of Hollywood history and horror will appreciate this title, along with Shadmi's biography about Rod Serling, The Twilight Man (2019).
