Meanwhile ... the Iron Pumpkin!

So yesterday I had a dental appointment (whee!), but there was a fun surprise waiting at the reception desk. Instead of the usual clipboards and dour faces, there was a line of fancy jack o' lanterns!

Honestly, they were all pretty impressive — one of 'em was made up to look like Cinderella's pumpkin carriage and came complete with horses and a working light inside. I mean, holy crap. But of course, that's not the one that caught my eye. Instead I instantly gravitated toward Iron Pumpkin!

I don't know what the faceplate and ear-thingies are made of (Sculpey, maybe?), but it's a pretty good job. I just wonder; at the end of the day, does it go home as a drunken gourd named Tony Squash?

13 for Halloween: Hellboy and the witches of Appalachia

Whoof — cutting it close today!

But there's still time to get in today's 13 for Halloween entry, a nicely creepy scene from the recent mini-series Hellboy: The Crooked Man. I've may have mentioned it before, but The Crooked Man is probably my favorite Hellboy story — thanks to Mike Mignola's taut, no-nonsense horror scripting and Richard Corben's almost uncomfortably organic artwork. Atmospheric and burly, Corben's art is the perfect complement to this backwoods ghost story. (As a matter of fact, if Corben were to become the regular Hellboy artist, I'd be pretty OK with that — his collaboration with Mignola on Makoma was also superior stuff.)

So a quick recap: Deep in the Appalachian Mountains, Hellboy, prodigal son and sorcerer Tom Ferrell, and repentant witch Cora Fisher are on their way to holy ground and a final confrontation with the Crooked Man himself. But before the trio can face the demonic, deal-making miser, they have to first get past ...

THE MELUNGION WITCHES!

Panels from Hellboy: The Crooked Man #2
Mike Mignola, writer; Richard Corben, artist; Dave Stewart, colorist

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13 for Halloween: 'Funny? Seems to be ... ALIVE!'

The GCP Halloween train rolls on, and today it's making a stop to pick up a classic-style horror story from EC Comics. Interplanetary travel! Strange creatures from space! Insatiable blobs and nuclear bombs you can safely watch explode from mere miles away!

(A blob, I might mention, that appeared a full seven years before this one.)

As you might know, EC is the granddaddy of horror and suspense comics, and were at the forefront of popularizing the medium in the '40s and '50s until some shrill voices from the public — backed up by harrumphing from a Congressional hearing — brought the censorship hammer down. Caving under the pressure, the comic book industry ended up creating its own form of self-censorship in the Comics Code Authority. Thanks a lot, Dr. Wertham.

Luckily, the folks at EC were able to churn out the pulp at an incredible rate, giving us wonderfully warped stories like ...

SPAWN OF VENUS!

Panels from EC Sampler #1 (Free Comic Book Day edition)
Originally published in Weird Science #6 (1951)

Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein, writers; Al Feldstein, artist

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13 for Halloween: Momma?!?

An issue of The New Teen Titans probably wouldn't be the first place you'd go looking for a horror story, and for the most part you'd be right. But add a couple of dead family members, some cultists robes and a full-on pentagram in the middle of the living room, and things start looking up. And when you throw in what's maybe one of the best nutty-occult-mom meltdowns ever, then you're on to something.

Wally West finds this out when he walks classmate Francis home one day, only to find out ...

SHE'S POSSESSED!

Let's take another look at that ...

Damn!

Panels from The New Teen Titans #17
Marv Wolfman, writer; George Perez, artist

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13 for Halloween: Abby Arcane reaps what she sows

When Mark Millar took over writing duties for Swamp Thing back in the '90s, he brought with him a distinct vibe that hearkened back to ol' Swampys roots (heh) as a horror comic.

One of the most interesting story lines was a semi-experimental series called "River Run." Tying in to Millar's whole Parliament concept, "River Run" had Swamp Thing meeting a woman who, after committing suicide, became trapped inside her own book of short stories. From there Swamp Thing went from story to story (and apparently from one alternate Earth to another), putting things right like some sort of mossy Scott Bakula.

Essentially being a horror comic, though, the worlds were always twisted in some way, with Swamp Thing often being in the dark about the whole picture. On one world Anton Arcane, whom he knows as an evil sorcerer, is actually a peaceful and generous farmer in Iowa.

It's his niece Abby — Swampy's girlfriend back home — who's the evil sorcerer around here!

Understandably, this makes things a little tense when Abby comes to the farm to stay with Uncle Anton, Aunt Anna and poor little cousin Joey. After all, Abby's ...

A BAD SEED!

Panels from Swamp Thing #154
Mark Millar, writer; Phillip Hester, penciller; Kim DeMulder, inker

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Friday Night Fights: Long live Manhunter!

As most of you probably know, Manhunter has been canceled — again. Since this is the third time this excellent superhero comic has gotten the ax, it's unlikely it will be given another chance at finding a bigger readership once it wraps up with issue #38, and that's a shame.

Manhunter has consistently been one of the best comics out there, blending spandex-clad heroics with characterizations that gave its fans people who were noble, flawed, often strong, sometimes weak, but always, always, always real. The fact that this title won't be on the stands anymore is a loss for the comics community as a whole — not just its fan-base, much less for its publisher, DC.

It'd be easy to say Manhunter obviously just couldn't cut it. If it was good enough, it would have found its readers, right? Normally I'd agree, but it's also pretty common for critically acclaimed comics to have next to no readership; smart companies give those titles a chance to build one. And DC did Manhunter no favors by canceling the book over and over. Without a consistent presence on the stands, and a possible stigma as "that book nobody liked" (why else would it be canceled, right?), the creators were fighting an uphill battle.

I only hope writer Marc Andreyko — as well as the artists who have worked on the title, from first penciller Jesus Saiz to current artist Michael Gaydos — realize it wasn't their fault Manhunter didn't make it. They just made a better book than DC deserved.

Oh, and did I mention that Kate Spencer — in addition to being a smart, strong superhero, single mom and top-level attorney — is kind of a bad-ass?


Bahlactus knows what I'm talkin' about.

Following a link? Read more Great Caesar's Post here!

Panels from Manhunter #34
Marc Andreyko, writer; Michael Gaydos, artist

13 for Halloween: Milk & Cheese are their own tricks and treats

If you've read any Milk & Cheese at all, you know that these dairy products gone bad have no redeeming value at all. None. Angry, violent, disgusting and usually drunk, the Carton of Hate and Wedge of Spite see society as good only for mockery and head-beatings.

I think it was the vomit strip that made me fall in love with them.

Luckily for you, that's not what I'm sharing today. Nope, because holidays and the rituals that go with them were a natural target for Milk and Cheese, and not even Halloween was safe from ...

THE DRINKING DEAD!

As an added bonus, here are some appropriately themed trading cards from a set I've had since forever — enjoy!


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Panels from Milk & Cheese #5
Evan Dorkin, writer/artist

13 for Halloween: The worms come a-fishin' for Jonah Hex

Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray may be the latest creative team to revive Old West gunslinger Jonah Hex, but they weren't the first.

Starting back in 1993, writer Joe R. Lansdale teamed with artist Timothy Truman to bring the scarred (in oh-so-many ways) bounty hunter back to his Weird Western Tales roots. Together they had Jonah face down everything from Zombie Wild Bill Hickok to cave-dwelling, hybrid lizard-men, armed with his trusty six-shooters and a sarcastic wit.

You'd think his tendency to shoot his mouth off even more than he shoots his pistols would make it hard for Jonah to get help when he needs it, but a little facial disfigurement and a sinister reputation go a long way. In Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such #1, Jonah has finally shaken a gang of bounty hunters but — wounded and exhausted — collapses outside a shack where two other guys have been camping. The men take him in, but weirdness, like trouble, tends to follow Jonah Hex and soon the trio finds that ...

THE TENTACLES OF TEXAS
ARE UPON 'EM!

Panels from Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such #1
Joe R. Lansdale, writer; Timothy Truman, artist; Sam Glanzman, inker

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You should be reading: The Garden by Jim Doom

The guys over at Doomkopf participated in this year's 24 Hour Comics Day, and I just have to say — Jim Doom hit it out of the park with The Garden.

The art is clean and expressive, while the writing is straightforward and keeps the story moving without skimping on characterization. I was impressed by Jim's fun, dark and ultimately bittersweet story, and halfway through I thought, "Man, I would buy the hell out of this if it was an ongoing."

Seriously, it's good stuff so go check it out and let Jim know what you think (and check out everyone else's contributions while you're at it — it ain't easy, people!).

Panel from The Garden
Jim Doom, story and art

13 for Halloween: The Eaters makes me crave a salad

You know what gives me the creeps?

Freakin' cannibals, man.

I'm not sure what it is, but there's just something about somebody eating somebody else (shut up — you know what I mean) that just icks me right out. Zombies don't bug me at all because, y'know, they're zombies. Not people. They may look like people, but no ... zombies. The idea of an otherwise normal-seeming man or woman consuming and enjoying, human flesh ... blech.

So of course, I'm totally fascinated by cannibals.

It's probably why movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Motel Hell and Parents made such a lasting impression on me (friggin' Randy Quaid). It's the same case with The Eaters, a one-shot that told the heartwarming story of the Quills, a family of cannibals who take to the road in a cross-country dining tour. Along the way, daughter Cassy falls in love and the clan has to deal with the possibility of letting a near-stranger in on their epicurean secret. That or club 'im and eat 'im. So grab a seat and hold out your plate for a serving of family togetherness courtesy of ...

THE EATERS!

Pages from The Eaters #1
Peter Milligan, writer; Dean Ormston, artist

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13 for Halloween: Pencil in some time with Death Note

You may point to anything from Chainsaw to just plain Saw, but for my money nobody does horror like the Japanese. And one of the best ways to soak up all that weirdness is by reading a little horror manga like Death Note.

Compared to some other manga, like Gyo or Uzumaki, Death Note is actually pretty tame, but it still has a nice creepiness and asks a truly disturbing question: Which is the true monster? The one that provides the means to murder with the hope it will be used, or the murderer himself?

In Death Note, a shinigami (death god) has left its notebook in the human world out of sheer boredom. The book has the power to kill anyone who's name is written in it, and the shinigami Ryuk hopes someone will discover and begin using it — he's even helpfully included detailed instructions on how the notebook works.

Ryuk doesn't have to wait long. The notebook is discovered by brilliant but sociopathic student Light Yagami, who immediately uses it to kill off more than 50 criminals in and out of police custody. Light argues that he can use to the Death Note to make the world better by cleansing it of evil people, but he soon begins to target anyone he thinks is in his way toward utopia and ultimate power. Once he finds out he can even choose the time and method of death, he relishes coming up with violently creative ways for his victims to die.

One day Light is trying to track down the special agents trying to find him so he can put them in his notebook, when suddenly his bus is hijacked by a drug-addicted, failed bank robber (who Light has arranged to be on the bus by using the Death Note). It's just another day for Light in ...

STOP THE BUS!

(Hey, don't forget to read from right to left!)


Panels from Death Note, Vol. 1
Tsugumi Ohba, writer; Takeshi Obata, artist

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Friday Night Fights: Hey, P'Gell! Gotta light?

You can say a lot of things about P'Gell, femme fatale and one of the Spirit's most cunning nemeses: She's beautiful and smart. She's also beautiful and ruthless. And she's definitely beautiful and dangerous. But one thing she's not?


After all, smart guy, who's the one picking lamp out of his hair?

(And don't turn your back on Bahlactus, either!)


Following a link? Check out more Great Caesar's Post here.

Panel from The Spirit #2
Darwyn Cooke, writer and artist; J. Bone, inker; Dave Stewart, colorist