 |
| Don't Tell Ditko About This! |
Welcome to Day Ten of the 10 Days of Halloween Horror 2011! We'll be featuring horror-related reviews right up until the big day! You can find the Halloween Horror posts for Panel Patter here, and don't forget to check out the Book Stew for book-book horror, too!
Today Panel Patter's gonna pack as much horror as possible into one day!
I thought it might be fun to talk a bit about some of the horror comics I read this year and give them one last plug for the year. These are things that may or may not make my end of the year lists, but certainly qualify as solid horror works!
Creepy Collections
Here are some books that haunted my days, and should haunt your nights:
- I didn't have enough to say about Robert Kirkman's The Astounding Wolf-Man, but it's an interesting take on the idea. The plot is designed to fit into a super hero world, while keeping the horror aspects in a different way from, say, the Marvel 1970s books. It's extremely violent, of course, but I enjoyed it.
- Cthulhu Tales 2 and 3 were some of the best comics I read in the horror genre. Both have reviews here on the blog, the latter as part of the Halloween Horror series.
- Necronomicon was written by William Messner-Loebs, one of the contributors to Cthulhu Tales, and this expanded take on the Mythos is just as good, if not better, than his short works in the collections. This also got a review earlier in the year, and is highly recommended.
- I'm not sure if others would count Kill Shakespeare as horror, but I do. There are witches, magic, and other horror elements in the story, taken straight from the Bard's own books. Great stuff! I can't wait to read the second half of the story soon!
- Beasts of Burden show that Hellboy isn't the only Dark Horse comic that can carry their horror banner. Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson knock this out of the park. Even if you don't like talking animals, give this one a try!
- FUBAR Empire of the Rising Dead was another book featured in the Halloween Horror special. A very solid thematic zombie anthology.
- Marvel Zombies 2 was not as good as the first book, but sequels rarely are. Kirkman does some good character work, but at a certain point, the joke is played. Worth reading for a few good lines, though, as well as Sean Phillips' artwork.
Morbid Manga
Go overseas for some translated terror:
- 20th Century Boys is the manga answer to Stephen King, with a story that echoes many of the classic American storyteller's themes, wrapped neatly in an intricate story that looks like it's going to take thousands of pages to tell in full. Definitely one of my favorite manga, and I need to get back to reading it soon.
- Bleach is no classic, but it's fun monster-mashing with a bit of romance, banter, and characterization. I like this in the same way that I like, say, one of those Vincent Price-Richard Corben collaborations. Nothing earth-shattering, but fun to watch, er, read.
- Nightschool ended this year, and while it kinda petered out a bit at the end, I did really like the series overall. It shows that's OEL manga can hold its own and that horror stories set in high schools don't have to be a panty-showing fest.
- Rin-Ne isn't Rumiko Takahashi's best work, but it's still romping fun with two mismatched characters, fighting off the supernatural--and each other. The story is a bit weak, but there are flashes of greatness here and there. Definitely enough to keep reading.
- Raiders made my Halloween Horror special this year, the only individual manga I focused on this time. It was a surprisingly enjoyable manhwa, much in the same way Bleach brings a smile to my eye when I read it.
Happy Halloween everyone! Only 356 days till the Halloween Horror returns!!
