The Drive-In (Joe R. Lansdale’s…)

(Avatar, 2003, 2005)
™ and ©2003 Joe R. Lansdale

Joe R. Lansdale’s The Drive-In is a comic-book adaptation of the author’s 158-page novel The Drive-In, which was published in 1988 and is now out of print. The first installment includes the novel’s prologue in its entirety, and most of the text throughout the issue is lifted straight from the book. This is a good thing, because Lansdale’s bloody, spicy, barbecue-flavored writing is fine as is. Kudos to Christopher Golden (credited with “sequential adaptation”) for doing an excellent job of knowing what to include, what to leave out, and what to adjust ever so slightly.

Props are also due Andres Guinaldo, whose busy splash pages and panels and attention to detail evoke Scott Kolins and Geof Darrow. Guinaldo isn’t as polished as the aforementioned sticklers (his faces could use a little work), but he does a nice job of telling the story.

Speaking of story, The Drive-In is a cracking good yarn with a twisted affinity for popcorn movies, drive-in theaters, beer-drinking buddies, and warm East Texas evenings. Most of all, it’s a fun and harrowing horror romp that gets weirder, grosser, and more perverse, as events progress.

— Brett Weiss

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