The Black Forest

A mixture of familiar genres, literary characters and story lines, this cinematic comedy adventure comic has a dash of horror. It borrows heavily from the Indiana Jones series while integrating literary elements of Frankenstein and the legend of Nosferatu. Jack Shannon, a brash young American WWI pilot, volunteers to find a castle in the legendary German Black Forest, where the Kaiser is housing his latest war weapon: an army of resurrected Frankenstein soldiers who have the ability to regenerate themselves. Gathering a predictably colorful band of misfits to solve the mystery, Shannon is soon taking on an indestructible army of resurrected corpses, accompanied by a French spy disguised as a seductive gypsy woman, and effete occultist Archibald Caldwell. Formulaic and predictable, this work relies on age-old dialogue, banter and plots. However, its optimistic humor and rousing action sequences could make it suitable for teenage audiences. Vokes's art maintains a casual sketchy style; the loose drawings are free and fluid. Alas, the watercolored grays and blacks often look muddy on the page. (Mar.)