Temptation Kicks In3 Out Of 5 Stars
Steven always seems to be a part of Alice Cooper's batch of alter-egos, and when the album "The Last Temptation" came out, Steven made it into the comic books. I actually had the first volume of the three books to come out when I bought the CD back in 1994. It was part of Marvel Comics' short lived Rock Star Comics, started when KISS hit it big with their series of books. On the other hand, Steven already had stories via Alice's albums "Welcome To My Nightmare," Goes To Hell" and a cameo on "Hey Stoopid." Given that the CD "The Last Temptation" may well be the best of his Epic label trilogy, the graphic novel seemed like an obvious move.
Neil Gaiman participated in shaping the concept of the album and book with Alice, and if you've heard the album, the resemblance to "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and "Faust" are obvious. The book, though, pushes Alice's bubblegum Grand Guignol into serious territory, with Cooper doppelganger "The Showman" luring Steven into a haunted theater where nightmares will keep you safe, if you're willing to trade The Showman fort something he wants. It's more creepy than scary, as the temptations include hot women, revenge on the bullies, and your parents becoming ghostly apparitions with Alice Eyes.
The art is nicely reproduced (nice job by Dark Horse Books) and I like the hardcover design. It's a lot of the parts it borrows from (they even drop a copy of "Something Wicked" on a book table without irony) and the odd drop of album lyrics. For Alice fans, it's definitely worth having, maybe 50/50 for graphic novel buffs.
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