For the second year in a row, Marvel releases a horror themed one-shot under the legacy banner of Crypt of Shadows. Unlike last year's offering, none of these stories seem to be set around Halloween. Also unlike last year's offering, every story was actually quite good!
Once again Victor Strange, the vampiric brother of Doctor Strange is our host. Trapped in that mirror somewhere in Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, Victor regales readers with creepy stories set in the Marvel universe while scheming to escape from his shadow realm prison. The main theme of most of these stories are team-ups involving classic 1970s Marvel horror characters.
Deadpool is hired to kill a priestess who seeks to rule both the world and underworld. But he's got to get through N'Kantu, the Living Mummy in order to obtain his bounty. Daredevil is nearly ripped to shreds by the ninja clan known as the Hand. Coming to his aid is the Man-Thing, whose touch results in death in those who know fear. Good thing Matt Murdock is the Man Without Fear. Then the Hulk is assisted by the Werewolf by Night from an all-out assault by Kraven the Hunter.
The only story to not feature a team-up stars the Scarlet Witch. She fights a demonic force called Bricklayer. It's the villain's first appearance and it's a pretty darn good one. Years ago, this haunted house was destroyed. Only one of the bricks from the possessed domicile lodged itself into the chest of a vagrant. Now the vagrant continues the destroyed home's reign of terror by killing innocents as the super-strong and extremely evil Bricklayer. This was a villain I very much want to see more off and the tagline at the end of the story promises more of the character. Though I expect Bricklayer's legacy to be taken up by a new host body.
Fans are also promised more of Victor Strange in the pages of Doctor Strange. I'm excited for this prospect as well. It might actually persuade me to buy the books new when Marvel finally pits brother against brother once more.
Marvel managed to make a Halloween special that was relevant and yet not preachy. Comics can tackle tricky subjects while still being fun. Finally, after several years of feeling like I was being targeted by the House of Ideas, it seems that the publisher finally understands that fans want to be entertained, not talked down too. If I wanted to spend my hard earned cash being made to feel like the source of all humanities problems, I'd enroll in an ethics course in college. When I buy comic books, I want to enjoy it and I actually enjoyed this horror comic.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
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