Writer: Jeremy Lambert
Artist: Claire Roe
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Becca Carey
Cover Artists: Claire Roe & Jordie Bellaire; Dani &
Tamra Bonvillain; Jacob Edgar; Gabriel Walta
Publisher: IDW
Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 6, 2023
Vivian Drake is safe on the train, but her young fan Molly
is missing. Molly’s father pleads with Vivian, begging the actress to return to
the mine and rescue his daughter. Can a faded Hollywood starlet promoting WWII
war bonds accomplish more than the experienced workers of Minerstown,
Pennsylvania? Let’s leap into Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special #4 and find
out!
Story
After Vivian’s encounter with the Mismatch Man, she woke up
in the rubble near the entrance to the mine. Yet Molly remained behind. The
young girl walks through tunnels with the nightmarish creature. It follows as
she skirts the underground lake and enters Viv's Diner. Inside, Molly meets
Vivian, or rather her favorite heroine: Sally Steel.
The star of The Adventures of Sally Steel believes she’s a
visitor to the diner. Vivian might have owned it once, but now it belongs to
Molly. The girl's strength falters when she glimpses a familiar shadow. She
runs away. But can Molly escape the Mismatch Man?
Vivian regrets some of her choices in Dark Spaces: The
Hollywood Special #4. Alcohol dampened the pain, but the damage she suffered
remained untreated. Her misery drew the Mismatch Man to her. It feasted on her
pain. Vivian's neuroses made the creature stronger than ever before.
No one invited Vivian Drake and Lou Gaines to help rescue
people from the mine. A local discouraged her from visiting the bar where
Sally’s father worked. Yet Vivian insisted upon becoming involved. With her
career on the wane, did Vivian yearn to be the heroine that inspired Molly?
Art
Assembled from a collection of body parts, the Mismatch Man
adopts the head of its latest victim and wears it upside down. In Dark Spaces:
The Hollywood Special #4, we see through its eyes. The underground lake mirrors
the action, helping us watch Molly enter the diner. As the Mismatch Man pursues
the brave girl, the creature views Vivian’s past. Events seem to take place in
Hell amid the Lake Of Fire.
A beautifully composed page leads readers from rescuers
entering the mine to the monster standing outside the diner beside the
underground lake. Claire Roe shows Molly's father pleading for Vivian to
intervene. Images resembling photographic negatives surround Vivian and the
handbill Molly asked her to sign: a mini poster advertising The Adventures Of
Sally Steel.
Jordie Bellaire changes palettes by scene and location in
Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special #4. Molly and the Mismatch Man evoke
yellowed photographs, while bright, wild colors heighten lakeside scenes. The
diner’s harsh overhead light makes Sally Steel glow while graying all else. Vivian’s
painful memories burn in orange and red. Yet Bellaire's most haunting contribution
remains the beige and blue-gray scenes in which Vivian gazes out the window as
rain pummels the sitting train.
Prone to shrink when voices lower, uppercase letters in
white dialogue balloons are big, black, and beautiful. Smaller lowercase
letters reveal reviewers' remarks regarding the actors' recent performances.
While no sound effects heighten the horrific events, Becca Carey helps us read
newspaper titles and magazine covers. Her artistry makes the poster for The
Adventures Of Sally Steel more enticing.
Thanks to IDW for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
While cherishing relationships that influence us in
countless ways, we believe we are masters of our fates. A work of ineffable
beauty, Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special #4 invites us to examine those
relationships and how they impact our mental health.
Rating 9.2/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
