A Nightmare on Elm Street (comics)
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The popularity of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series led to several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, Innovation Comics and Trident Comics throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. After the success of Freddy vs. Jason and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake film in 2003, New Line Cinema created their "House of Horror" licensing division which licensed the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to Avatar Press for use in new comic book stories, the first of which was published in 2005. In 2006, the license switched from Avatar Press to DC Comics imprint, Wildstorm who have since begun publishing a new comic book series based on the franchise.
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[edit] Marvel Comics
In 1989, Marvel Comics released Freddy Krueger's A Nightmare on Elm Street. The black and white comic book was published in a magazine-sized format. The first and only storyline was the two part "Dreamstalker" written by Steve Gerber with art by Rich Buckler. Other than the inclusion of the Freddy Krueger character and the fictional town of Springwood, Ohio, the story does not fit seamlessly into the continuity of the films and even contradicts the film continuity in several places. The series immediately proved to be Marvel's top selling black and white magazine, even outselling the long running Savage Sword of Conan magazine, but despite distributors soliciting the title through the fifth issue, Marvel quietly cancelled the title after only two issues had been released. New stories had even been written and submitted by Buzz Dixon and Peter David. Speculation arose that despite Marvel clearly labeling the book as mature readers title, Freddy Krueger's A Nightmare on Elm Street could have caused image problems for the publisher who generally catered to younger readers. In 1990, Steve Gerber told Reading For Pleasure that Marvel had cancelled the book in anticipation of pressure from various anti-violence advocate groups that were actively protesting violent media in the late 1980s and early 1990s [1]. In the October 6, 1989 issue of the Comics Buyer's Guide, Peter David claimed that while he originally felt that the story he had submitted for the series was like nothing else that he had ever written but in retrospect, he was not happy with it and was somewhat glad that it had never been published.
[edit] Innovation Comics
In 1991, Innovation Comics picked up the A Nightmare on Elm Street license and published three series based on the franchise, before the company filed for bankruptcy in 1992. All three series were written by Andy Mangels.
The first series was the ongoing Nightmares On Elm Street which featured a collection of protagonists from the first five films, including Nancy Thompson, Neil Gordon, Alice Johnson and Jacob Johnson, uniting to fight Freddy Krueger in his own nightmare world. The events of this series take place in the time period between the A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare films. Six issues of the series were released before Innovation Comics declared bankruptcy, causing its cancellation.
The second series, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, was an adaptation of the film of the same name. The third issue of the series was published in both normal and 3-D formats. The 3-D issue was published in order to recreate the last ten minutes of the film which also used the visual effect. The three issues were also collected and published as a trade paperback.
The last series to be published by Innovation was A Nightmare On Elm Street: The Beginning. The three issue mini-series served as a direct sequel to Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, as Maggie Burroughs continues to have nightmares about her father, Freddy Krueger, following the events of the film. Traveling back to Springwood with Tracy, another survivor from the film, Maggie researches Freddy's life leading up to his death at the hands of the Springwood parents. Only the first two issues of the series were released before Innovation Comics declared bankruptcy, leaving the third issue still unpublished and the story incomplete. Mangels has since made the original script for issue number three available on his website.
[edit] Trident Comics
In 1992, Trident Comics released four magazine sized issues of Freddy's Nightmares, exclusively in the United Kingdom. The series contained no original material, instead opting to reprint Innovation's Freddy's Dead adaptation, the first two issues of Innovation's Nightmares On Elm Street and the first issue of Marvel's Freddy Krueger's: A Nightmare on Elm Street. Despite the title of the series, it has no direct connection, other than the depiction of the Freddy Krueger character, to the Freddy's Nightmares television series which aired in 1988.
[edit] Avatar Press
In May of 2005, Freddy Krueger returned to comic books, for the first time in thirteen years, with the A Nightmare On Elm Street Special written by former Chaos Comics founder, Brian Pulido and published by Avatar Press in association with New Line Cinema's "House of Horror" licensing division.
Events from the A Nightmare On Elm Street Special would carry over into the A Nightmare On Elm Street: Paranoid three issue mini-series, published later that same year. Due to Avatar's erratic publishing schedule, the second and third issues of the series were not released until summer, 2006. This mini-series was followed by a stand alone issue titled Fearbook. This issue was Avatar's last before losing the New Line "House of Horror" license.
[edit] Wildstorm Comics
In 2006, Wildstorm acquired the A Nightmare on Elm Street license and, in October of the same year, began publication of a new ongoing comic book series. The series currently features stories written by veteran comic book writer, Chuck Dixon with artwork by Kevin West.
[edit] External links
- Nightmare On Elm Street section of Andy Mangels' personal website, documenting his work on the series
- Nightmare On Elm Street section of Avatar Press website
- Archive of A Nightmare On Elm Street comics at The Nightmare On Elm Street Companion
| The Nightmare on Elm Street Series |
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| Films: A Nightmare on Elm Street • A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge • A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors • A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master • A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child • Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare • Wes Craven's New Nightmare • Freddy vs. Jason Major characters: Freddy Krueger • Amanda Krueger • Nancy Thompson • Kristen Parker • Alice Johnson Other topics: Comics • Freddy's Nightmares (TV series) • Hypnocil • Springwood, Ohio • Timeline • Video Games |
