REVIEW: "Tragic"

A “tragic” fate shall befall you if you don't

click on this picture to enlarge it, so as to enjoy it

in all its glorious details.

The shortest strip in the series, and the last devoted to the ridiculous melodramaticness of Phantom Manor:  the “official” backstory for the attraction includes the fact that the devilish figure of the Phantom is probably Mélanie the Bride's father, the nefarious Henry Ravenswood, 's ghost.  After thinking about this, Kelly came up with this, which is really hilarious. And indeed, what kind of a weird relationship must those two ghosts have in their daily life. The art, including the perspective effect and Mélanie's usual exaggerated facial expression of utter sadness, are excellent (if I wanted to nitpick, I would say that the Phantom doesn't really have red glowing eyes, but I'll refrain from it because it adds to the overall effect). Another pointless nitpicking would be that since they're ghosts (who presumably mostly haunt in “gloomy darkness”), they probably wouldn't have a bedtime at all, but once again, nitpick, not actual criticism.

Overall, in spite of its shortness, this panel is really, really well-done; a highlight. 

REVIEW: "Impending Doom is Funny"

Click to enlarge and enjoy in all

its glorious details.

This strip is pretty much the reason why "Brides of the Mansion" has to be taken as part of the series; it is a development of the idea of the Mélanie/Constance pairing we saw last time.

The idea, like in Brides of the Mansion, is that Mélanie Ravenswood finds her own tragic backstory absolutely dramatic and cries about it herself. The whole thing is pretty narcissistic, especially when it drives her to visit her own ride to enjoy all the whiny details of her own story. It's really a good idea for a parody of Phantom Manor, and a very original one. Meanwhile, Constance Hatchaway, the insane Black Widow Bride (who is really very scary in the real Haunted Mansion ride, which is the reason why she is considered an unwelcome addition to it), is depicted as a black-humor-loving wacko, which is a very good idea too.

Also, something I find interesting about this strip (and it would pop up in later ones, too) is how it looks like it was animated. These three panels, if read quickly, almost seem to be moving. Kelly could have been an animator, I think. It would also be very well suited to a "comic fandub" like those that have begun to pop up on YouTube.

And this is Impending Doom is Funny, which is, obviously, very good (something I did not even bother to mention since it is the norm with Kelly comics is that the facial expressions are great). 

REVIEW: "Brides of the Mansion"

It is once more advised to click to enlarge and enjoy this picture in all of its details.

Now, this is probably more an illustration than a strip, but (contrary to some other illustrations by Kelly) it is still undeniably part of the series. 

Now, though the facial expressions (which are really great !) in this strip can amuse anyone, some historical insight about the Haunted Mansion attraction(s) might be required to get what this picture is all about. So let's analyze it for you, since analyzing and reviewing is what this blog is for. 

As you probably know, an important part of the Haunted Mansion ride is the Attic, where you meet the foreboding ghost of a lonely bride. The two main character models are the Beating Heart Bride, who is characterized by a red glow in her chest where her heart would be, which beats back and forth, with the noise filling the attic. This design existed from the Mansion's opening to 2006, and was dubbed "Emily". The second one is the Black Widow Bride, who wields an axed and is implied to have brutally killed her groom(s), and has been officially (and cleverly) dubbed Constance Hatchaway; she replaced the former bride in 2006. However, before Beating Heart was replaced with the Black Widow, she had gone through many redesigns, and several completely different animatronics had been created. This picture is the imaginary scene of all the versions of the Bride characters having tea together. Which is hilarious. 

The two Brides here are the first and second versions, respectively nicknamed Skeletor and Round Eyes. As the two oldest ones in the bunch, it'd make sense that they would preferentially chat with each other, reminiscing about the "good old times" and such. I especially love Skeletor's expression (she looks like an old, but cunning and slightly zany lady from a good comedy film).

The purple one is Constance Hatchaway (notice the hatchet), the Black Widow Bride who murdered five husbands in a row. The one with the brown hair is Mélanie Ravenswood, who is not from a previous version of the Haunted Mansion, but from its Disneyland Paris counterpart Phantom Manor. As you may or may not know, Phantom Manor takes a lot of set pieces and ideas from the Haunted Mansion, but plays it all for drama, and the whole attraction is themed around the oh so tragic story of the poor bride Mélanie, persecuted by the evil Phantom (who may or may not be her own father Henry Ravenswood's ghost) who killed her groom unbeknownst to her. Though Phantom Manor is pretty good, it is a little bit too melodramatic if you're expecting something as light-hearted as the California and Florida Haunted Mansions. Hence why this is affectionately parodied here with Mélanie being in tears (about her own story, probably).

Why is coupling her with Constance a good idea ? Well, it must be noted that fan ravings about "Emily" and various urban legends notwithstanding, none of the other Brides (the Beating Heart ones) have a defined backstory or morality. You don't know if they were tragically abandoned by their groom, or if they murdered him. Some will tell you it adds to the effect, others that it's lazy, but whatever the case may be, Mélanie and Constance are both derived from the original morally-ambiguous Beating Heart Bride, but stretched in opposite directions. As Kelly herself puts it, they are "on the opposite ends of the Bride spectrum".

Those are the two least remembered and least beloved models of brides. The one on the left, the “Smurf Bride”, is disliked for being two openly a victim (compared to the ambiguous Round Eyes who preceded her), and, well, for having (for some reason) blue skin. The one on the right is the “Crazy Hairdo Bride”, who is nicknamed like that because huh… well you can see for yourself. Nobody knows why the Imagineers redesigned the Smurf Bride's hair that way, but everybody found it ridiculous and awkward (hence the Smurf Bride's reaction to it). 

So, there is Brides of the Mansion. The art is increasingly hilarious, and it was nice to see some color before we went back to the black-and-white.

BONUS

A little while later, Kelly did this, which is a model sheet of sorts for four versions of the Bride (including a cameo by the Tokyo Disneyland Bride, who is yet another character who is not in this one, but whatever). I will not review it further since it is not a comic strip at all and is actually nothing but pencil sketches, but the expressions there are quite as excellent as on this one, and very varied, too. Check it out !