Stranger Things Halloween Special One-Shot

We're wrapping up Halloween reads for the year. Just a couple of reviews left. Next up is a 2020 one-shot based on a Netflix series with deep ties to Halloween. Published by Dark Horse Comics, the Stranger Things Halloween Special takes place just a few days before the TV show does. It has the four main male characters having just finished trick-or-treating, sitting up in their tree house swapping scary stories. 

Just when it appears that the festivities are over for the night, when Will Byers casually mentions the Child Eater of Hawkins. At this point, we go back about 40 years or so to a Hawkins Halloween night that is fraught with dread. 4 children have died; their bodies turned to puddles of green goo. As the sheriff imposes a curfew, a group of children find themselves locked in the local library. It just seems that they'll have to sit out and wait until dawn- hopefully.

I don't have Netflix. So I have never seen an episode of Stranger Things. Yet I think I've enough done research and Wiki-reading to understand what's going on in this book to a point. Is the Child Eater of Hawkins one of the creatures that kidnaps Will in Season One? Or an antagonist from another season? That I do not know. But I enjoyed this one-shot enough that the only thing my questions do is make me hope we get Netflix one day. 

Series writer Michael Moreci pens a very chilling tale that has enough horror to be eerie. But it wont give nightmares. And man is that artwork very good. It's from relative newcomer Todor Hristov (Forever Maps). He's only got a trio of listings in the comic book data bases I utilize. But I hope to see more of his work in the future. 

A fun read for fans of the 80s, Stephen King, Treehouse of Horror and of course, Stranger Things.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Star Wars Adventures, Vol. 6: Flight of the Falcon

First Order bounty hunter Bazine Netal is on the hunt for the Millennium Falcon. Her search will take Star Wars fans on a roller coaster ride through decades of history set during, before and after the fall of the Empire! Flight of the Falcon was a fantastic read full of cameos of some of the greatest as well as some of the most obscure characters to ever grace the Star Wars universe. But due to spoilers, you'll have to read this collection for yourself to find out just who makes their appearances inside!

( I will give you one hint: fans finally will learn why Han and Chewie were looking for the Falcon in The Force Awakens!)

Disney made a smart decision outsourcing their all-ages Star Wars stuff to IDW. The editors and staff at IDW Publishing seem like big kids to me who want the fun they had with the properties and franchises of their childhood to be just as epic now as they were back then!

Hoax Hunters' Michael Moreci combs through 40 years of Star Wars to bring fans young and old an eclectic history of the Millennium Falcon and it's numerous owners. The art was perfectly done as an old school 80s cartoon by Arianna Florian (Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor). The art looks how I wish a Star Wars cartoon would have looked if ever that childhood wish of mine would've ever been granted.

Not everything about this book was perfect. A major flaw was somebody's decision to not finish Bazine Netal's story in the pages of Star Wars Adventures. To get that conclusion, you have to get another book: Star Wars: Pirate's Price. That book isn't even a comic book! It's a young adult prose novel by Disney Lucasfilm Press!

I can understand (but not forgive) having to read the conclusion in another comic book series. It's a pet peeve of mine. But such an action is a staple of the comic book industry that I don't see publishers ever changing their market plan. But to make kids have to go from the comic book store to the book store to get the conclusion to a story seems just plain rude. 

I love to get kids reading. But to interrupt the flow of a story by requiring kids (and their parents) to go searching all over town for the conclusion... No wonder the comic book industry is in jeopardy!

I loved this book. I hated the bait-and-switch. The editor's do their 'best' to explain the storyline gap, but it's not the same. Want to keep young reader reading comic books. My advice IDW: don't try such a stunt again no matter what 'Emperor Mickey' decrees.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Archie Meets Batman '66 #1

The Batman '66 franchise continues it's run of epic crossovers with some of your favorite characters from the swinging 60s. This time Batman and the Boy Wonder are joining forces with Archie and his friends from Riverdale High in the 6-issue miniseries Archie Meets Batman '66!

Written by Jeff Parker and Michael Moreci
Art by Dan Parent
Inks by J. Bone
Published by Archie Comics & DC Comics

Poison Ivy has unleashed a deadly botanical creation on the attendees of the 1966 Gotham City World's Fair. As The Dynamic Duo are tasked with stopping the chaos, Batman's greatest foes are teaming up once again to bring the world to it's knees! Only Catwoman, The Joker, Riddler, and Penguin aren't targeting Gotham. Instead they have their eyes on a defenseless plum ripe for plucking- Riverdale!

Meanwhile, Veronica has noticed that her father is acting rather strange. As she goes to the Riverdale police for help, she finds that the police chief is acting just like Mr. Lodge! Has Veronica uncovered a sinister conspiracy among the rich and powerful of her burg?

Issue #1 of Archie Meets Batman '66 moves the all players into position. However, if you are expecting to see the World's Oldest Teenager hanging out with Batman and Robin, you will have to wait until issue #2. Not having the two parties meet is the standard structure for a multi-issue cross-industry crossover. While I love crossovers, it's always infuriated me when this happens. Yes, there are a few cases of both stars of a crossover joining forces right from the start. But those instances are the exception, not the rule, when it comes to team-ups.

Despite the lack of having Riverdale and Gotham's elite join forces, this first issue was rather good. There's some awesome cameos, of which I expect more in the remaining 5 issues. But there was one noticeable anachronism in this story. As I mentioned earlier, the story is set during Gotham's 1966 World's Fair. Yet, there's Batgirl in the crime-fighting mix with Batman and Poison Ivy. Jeff Parker and/or Michael Moreci: somebody made a big goof as Batgirl didn't appear on Batman until 2 years later!

I had zero issues with the amazing art by Dan Parent. The Die, Kitty Die artist was a long-time illustrator for Archie Comics. His art style became the standard for how Archie was to look in the early 90s through much of the 2000s.  His renderings of the Batman Family in the style of Archie Comics is very retro cool!

Twice in the past two years, residents of Riverdale have had their lives turned upside down by Gothamites.  But this go-round is a very different beast from Harley and Ivy Meets Betty and Veronica. That series was a little more aimed at older teens and adults. Archie Meets Batman '66 has an almost universal all-ages appeal that should delight fans of both franchises- ONCE THEY FINALLY MEET!

While this issue will let you down a bit, the awesome cliffhanger is going to perk you up like 12 cups of espresso. The Caped Crusader dancing the Batusi while the Archies play Sugar, Sugar is more than a given, gonna happen in this miniseries. You're just going to have to wait a few issues for it to occur.

Archie Meets Batman '66 #1 debuted in print and digital medias on July 18th, 2018.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The review was originally posted July 16, 2018 at Outrightgeekery.com.