Ghost Stories #19

I've had this 1967 comic book for several years now. I keep forgetting I have it until after Halloween. Thankfully, someone from a Dell FB group that I am a member of posted a pic of their copy recently. That photo jogged my memory and made 2023 the Halloween season I finally gave this book a read. 

This anthology contains 4 stories.

• A man on a subway car misses his stop. When he gets off in up-state Connecticut, he finds himself a man out of time, with everyone ignoring him.
• A trio of distant relatives scheme to do away with their wealthy uncle. His frequent talks with his deceased wife might be the foothold the family needs to have the man committed. Or maybe he really is communicating with his late wife...
• A treasure hunter who has just stolen a valuable idol runs afoul of the African tribesmen that he robbed.
• In the cover story, an astronaut is swept off course and faces spending the rest of his life lost in space. However, hope unexpectedly comes when another space capsule suddenly appears in the vessel's porthole. 

The last 3 stories each involve ghosts. I'm not so sure about that first tale. Maybe the man becomes a spirit when he misses his train stop. I'm just not sure. It definitely feels like it could be something from the Twilight Zone or other similar horror anthologies from 1960s TV and I liked that story very much. I just debate that the story was a legitimate ghost tale.

As for the real ghost stories, I wasn't such a fan of the story involving the treasure hunter. Maybe it's because the main characters are unlikable and so I wasn't upset at all when they met supernatural justice. I liked the story about the 3 gold digging relatives. It had lots of great twists and I thought the demise of those despicable family members was rather gruesome for late 1960s comics. 

The space story was a reflection of the times. 1967 was smack dab in the middle of the Space Race. An astronaut becoming stranded in space and floating for eternity in a space capsule coffin was a very real possibility. (If you believe some historians, a pair of cosmonauts actually are orbiting around our solar system due to a similar miscalculation.) I thought the story was thrilling and the ending was telegraphed, but it wasn't scary at all.

A good read with a mix of stories, one of which I do believe fits the theme of the comic. And it was the best of the 4 tales! But very high quality for the time period.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Batman #413 (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Batman has a new ward- the street smart orphan, Jason Todd. Slowly learning the ropes as the newest Robin, Jason is headstrong, impulsive and full of rage. However, in the early episode from Jason Todd's oh-so short stint as the Boy Wonder, it's the observational skills of the lad who helps Batman crack this bizarre case. 

A new exhibit is opening at the Gotham Metropolitan Museum. Focusing on artifacts from feudal Japan, a number of pieces including kimonos, swords and a suit of samurai armor have been donated from one of the last surviving members of the Tahara Clan. The Dark Knight suspects that members of Gotham's criminal elements will rob the exhibit and so Batman keeps vigilance over the museum. 

To everyone's surprise, the exhibition isn't robbed. Instead, it's haunted by the ghost of fallen Japanese warrior, Masahiko Tahara! Now it's up to Batman and his brand-new Robin to get to the bottom of a mystery on par with something you'd expect from Scooby-Doo and the teen detectives of Mystery Inc.

'The Ghost of Masahiko Tahara' was written by Jo Duffy. Duffy has first appeared in the pages of Marvel comics in the early 70s as a frequent contributor to the letter cols of various publications. She then appeared as a cameo character in the pages of Iron Man #103 (Oct. 1977), before eventually earning her first credit as an editor for Defenders #61 (July 1978). 

Duffy's first writing credits including Daredevil, Defenders and Marvel-Two-In-One before taking on her longest and perhaps most well known stint as the writer of Power Man and Iron Fist. During this time, Duffy also penned a number of issues of Star Wars and Conan the Barbarian thanks in part to her duties as Archie Goodwin's assistant. 

During a time when Marvel was experimenting with a darker tone, Jo Duffy was a refreshing blast of light-hearted stories that harkened back to the days of Stan and Jack. She was also known to pepper her stories with doses of sarcastic humor that often hid a back-handed compliment or two. Maybe that's one reason why she paired brilliantly with Steve Ditko on some of the last issues of the short-lived Speedball series about a teen boy who turns hyper-kinetic whenever he experiences too much force.

Batman #413 was written during Jo Duffy's brief first stint with DC. In the early 90s, Duffy penned stories for Dark Horse and Image before returning to DC where she penned the first 14 issue's of Catwoman. In the mid-90s, Duffy was the screenwriter for the 4th and 5th movie in the Puppet Master horror franchise before returning to the House of Ideas in 2000. 

Jo Duffy's last writing credits are from 2003-2006, writing English script adaptations for Viz Media's Naruto. In 2007, Duffy took a job as a receptionist for the U.S. Immigration Office in New York. The writer had for some time made announcements to create her own self-published comics under the banner of Armin Armadillo Publishers. While Duffy did incorporate a company under that name in 2008, as of press time of this review, that is as far as that vision has preceded.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #15 (Comic Book Written by a Female) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

The X-Files Annual 1

You would think that with a cover titled 'Hallow Eve', that this story would be set upon Halloween. Alas, that is not the case. Now, on the plus side, I would have bought this issue regardless as I loved The X-Files and I thought that the comics made by Topps (yes, the same folks who make the baseball cards) were quite well made. So, this stays are part of my permanent collection. I'll just be moving it from holidays over to X-Files.

The story is both quasi-biblical and scientific with an anthropologist searching for the remains of 'Eve': the first female. During his dig in Africa, the researcher dies of a heart attack. This kind of case wouldn't even peak the interest of Mulder. But when both more characters involved in the transport of the fallen scientist's remains and equipment begin to die of heart failure as well, even Uber-skeptic Scully will admit something fishy is going on. 

It doesn't help that the FBI agent is having visions of her deceased father during this assignment. Or does it? 

There's definitely a creepy side to this story as with all X-Files tales. But this amazing whodunit goes slightly off the rails with a twist that honestly, I should have seen coming. But as with many adventures starring Fox and Dana, the reality is more confusing than the supernatural answers. 

And that last page. Holy crap! I loved it. So very eerie. I would love it if Topps or even IDW later on did a sequel to this tale. 

Nope. This isn't a Halloween story. It's a ghost story. So, the time is right for me having read this recently. But I'm now concerned that my supposed Winter holiday X-Files comic issue isn't set during Thanksgiving or Christmas. 

Could I expect anything less from 2020?

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Grimm's Ghost Stories #34

This Gold Key issue from 1976 features a story in which a newly married couple head to the bride's ancestral plantation home. There, the couple notice that the girl looks strangely like a lot like the painting of a family member who died in the pre-antebellum era. According to legend, the ancestor died mysterious overseas and nobody knows where she was buried. So the ghost of her paramour haunts the plantation, desperate to be reunited with his eternal love. When a series of near tragedies before the new groom, could he be targeted by the ghost of the spurned lover hoping to be reunited with this look-a-like bride?

If this sounds pretty complicated- it is. But the plot isn't the worst thing about this story. It's the cover. Now, I love the painted cover by Gold Key icon George Wilson. It alone is quite eye catching. However, it gives away a very important plot point. In this day and age, such a spoiler wouldn't fly. 

In this day and age, another thing that wouldn't fly would be the story itself. The overall setting of a former slave plantation and the devoted black servant that still serves in the abandoned home is rather racist. 

Will this cause me to burn the book? If you know me and my blog at all, I am a champion of free speech. Plus, I am married to a Jewish princess. So the answer is NO. If anything, as I consider myself an semi-professional comic book historian, I plan on holding on to this for the next time I might want to site something on an article on race in comics or something.

Overall, I wasn't too impressed. There was a back-up feature. But I can't for the life of me remember what it was about. And the one-page prose story about a legendary find of gold treasure in England was so poorly written. I am surprised the United State Post Office approved it for Gold Key's First Class mail requirements.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/ Ghostbusters 2 #2

The Turtles have run afoul of the ghost of a crime lord that Master Splinter ordered assassinated. As the sins of the father come back to hunt the ninjas, they are hunted by a group of bounty hunting ghosts known as the Collectors. With the help of the Ghostbusters, who have dealt with the Collectors before, each Ninja Turtle pairs with a buddy. 

Armed with trans-dimensional tech, each team will jump from dimension to dimension in order to stay ahead of the Collectors. Ray and Raphael leap to a frozen world filled with menacing pink spirits that might be vikings... Leonardo and Winston are stuck on a battle world filled with robot assassins... Mickey and Peter are on an anthropomorphic variant of the Big Apple where they just happen to run into that world's version of Ghostbusters! 

Meanwhile, Donatello and Egon are back on the home world of the Ghostbusters trying to devise a trap for the Collectors. But time is running out and the pair have zero time to waste. But that might be a problem as a short in the trap's system may have merged Don's brain with that of one of the Ghostbusters!

A great second act. It's still filled with a lot of eye-glossing techobabble. But the artwork did exactly what I wanted to happen in the first issue. While Dan Schoening is on main art detail, a number of additional artists are drawing each team of Turtle and Ghostbuster on their separate worlds in a different style of art. (Why, there might even be a Saturday morning Easter egg or two floating about. But I'll never tell!)

Some key details about why the crime lord Darius Dun hates the Turtles as well as why Splinter had him killed are finally revealed. So, if you are like me and not up to date on your IDW Turtles history, that's a-okay! Writers Erik Burnham and Tom Waltz have got you covered!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Grumpy Cat (and Pokey!) Halloween Comic Fest 2016

This 2016 Halloween Comic Fest mini comic was a delight and a half! Pokey wants his brother Grump Cat to go trick-or-treating with him. Of course, GC isn't having any of it. Thinking he can have a peaceful Halloween night, Grumpy challenges his brother to spend the night in a haunted house. Everything seems alright at first until Pokey hears a ghost. Grumpy naturally thinks Pokey is just freakin' out being in the haunted house and with a All Hallow's Eve at home in his sights, Grumpy eggs his sibling on. That is, until Grumpy ends up face-to-face with a ghost cat!

Of the mini comic freebies from last year, this one was my favorite. Grumpy Cat is in many ways like Garfield- only funnier. Way more funnier. Pokey is such a great character and has such great chemistry with Grumpy. Plus Pokey is tons more likable than Garfield's 'nemesis' Nermal, who can be quite arrogant and annoying.

There was a small 2-3 page story about Grumpy and Pokey going to Comic-Con in the back. It had some great art renderings of a bunch of cosplayers. But I didn't really understand the punchline to that episode.

Overall, this was a dynamite Halloween read from the gang at Dynamite. I loved the killer cover of Grumpy Cat as Jason from Friday the 13th! (Yes- pun intended!)

You might have trouble finding a copy of this mini-comic. But just about any comic book shop in America sells the further monthly adventures of Grumpy Cat! Check them out!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Haunted Mansion #1 (Halloween Comic Fest 2016)

After the death of his adventurous grandfather, a teenage boy longs to have some adventures of his own. So he decides to explore the spooky mansion at the end of town that everyone says is haunted. Turns out the stories were right! This haunted mansion is filled with 999 ghosts, who have been stuck there by a evil pirate. Once he has soul #1,000, the pirate can take over the land of the living. 

Of the hundreds of ghosts unable to get to their final reward is that of the boy's grandfather. So, the lad strikes a deal with the house. If he can defeat the pirate, all of the ghosts, including that of his grandfather can go through to the other side of the afterlife. But should he fail, he'll become the 1,000th ghost the evil spirit needs in order to achieve his master plan.

Part of the Disney Kingdoms imprint from Marvel, I really enjoyed this opening chapter. Based on the Disney attraction, this book seems way more interesting than that awful Eddie Murphy flick from about 15 years ago. The artwork by John Flood artist Jorge Coehlo is just amazing stuff. It really made the Haunted Mansion an inviting place I want to revisit for the rest of the story.

Normally, I get upset if I get a freebie and the book ends with a cliffhanger. But I think my library has this book in their graphic novels section. So I can just head over there sometime soon and snag it and get the rest of the story for free. Still a pet peeve, but one I seem willing to live with. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Scooby-Doo Team-Up #21

   It's Christmas Eve and the Mystery Gang are called in to a department store that's being haunted by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. The detectives are on the case and so is Harley Quinn! The mad jester has decided to turn a new leaf join the team. But armed with her giant mallet nobody is safe- including her boyfriend! That's right, the Clown Prince of Crime is on scene and he's demanding that Harls return the Christmas present he got for her PRONTO!
    Really bad move...
    I love Scooby-Doo Team-Up! I love Harley Quinn! And I love Christmas comics! This book covered all three criteria. So why in the world did DC wait until the Wednesday AFTER Christmas to issue this book! Marvel and other publishers are guilty of this too! I understand if for some reason there's a shipping delay or problem with printing. But it's getting to become more of a habit to schedule holiday related books AFTER the holiday is over! This is a trend that's gotta stop.
     I thought this issue was great. But it also surprised me. The last time Harley Quinn guest-starred in the pages of Scooby-Doo Team-Up (issue #12), the internet blew up with people selling the book for upwards of a $100 or so. Stores sold out within hours of putting it on shelves. There was even a second printing. Yet this issue seems to have skimmed in under the RADAR. 
    (Did comic book stores order too many of this issue?)
    Honestly, I thought this issue was 10 times better than SCTU #12. If you love Harley or holiday comics, you really should pick this one up. It's a very fun read and if I could, I'd rate it an 11 or 12. I think it's going to become a forgotten comic that in years to come will prove to be highly collectible.

   Worth Consuming
    
   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.  

Where Monsters Dwell #5

    The bargain bin- it's where I find lots of great little gems and this one was no exception. It's like mining for gold at those little tourist traps in the mountains. The stuff you find might be unique and maybe even a little rare but it's so flawed that there's very little value to it unless you polish it up. In my case, that would mean having it graded. But I don't care, I was extremely happy to find this monster book from 1970 even if the cover is almost about to fall off.
    This issue has 4 stories. The first is the cover story involving a giant mud monster who has returned to turn earth with plans of turning our planet into it's private global kingdom. By Jack Kirby along with Dick Ayers, this is one of the last Kirby stories before the King left for DC. An interesting read with touches of the King's mastery and a bit of an ending ripped from the Classic Trek episode "Charlie X.'
     The next story by the legendary Steve Ditko, involves an American sailor enthralled by the ship of an Asian warlord. The sailor goes as far as to shanghai the crime lord to commit piracy but it turns out that the criminal leader also has magical powers. This story had an ending that I figured out pretty quick but it was still an entertaining read.
    Then a country bumpkin helps a trio of aliens repair their ship in return for a special treasure. But when the earthling discovers that the visitors are planning to return with an invasion fleet, the man promises to make things right. It was okay but clearly the weakest story of the bunch.
     Lastly, a man wanting to buy a haunted house is encouraged by the realtor to spend a night in there. It's a classic version of an old ghost story but with a great twist. 
    I think the biggest surprise to me about this book was it's age. I really thought Where Monsters Dwell was a Marvel book from the early 60s- like pre-Fantastic Four early. I had no idea that it ran in the 70s. But man, was I glad I found this- it was worth early penny of the dollar I spent on it and then some. What a great way to start my Halloween haunted reading for the 2016 season!!!
   
   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
 

Scooby-Doo Team-Up #13

   Shaggy being brave?

  Scooby on a quest for rengeance... I mean, vengeance?
  
  Daphne able to do wicked somersaults?

   Something is up with the Mystery Machine gang and that can only mean one thing: the ghosts of the DC Universe have arrived. 

    When the Phantom Stranger comes to the gang's house on Halloween, the detectives are whisked away to a ghost town in the deserts of Nevada. Their mission: to find where all of the ghosts of the DCU have been disappearing to and who is behind their apparent ghost- nappings.

    Featuring a veritable Who's Who of DC Universe spooks, this issue was tons of holiday fun. Along with Phantom Stranger and Deadman, this issue features Kid Eternity, JEB Stuart (from the Haunted Tank), the Spectre and many more.

   The only problem I had with this issue was when it was released. The story takes place on All Hallow's Eve. So in theory, this book should have released prior to October 31st. Yet, Scooby-Doo Team-Up #13 was released just yesterday- November 4th. What is this, the Treehouse of Horror? Halloween specials should come out before Halloween- I consider that slight unforgivable.

    Despite the poor timing of when this issue hit shelves, I still consider it Worth Consuming and I rate it a 10 out of 10 stars. There's nothing wrong with the art or quality storytelling by Sholly Fisch and it's not the production team's fault this book didn't mean the Halloween 2015 deadline. 

Ghosted, Volume 2: Books of the Dead

Once upon a time, Jackson Winters planned a heist in Las Vegas. The job involved robbing a casino and then making off with riches beyond compare with the love of his life. But the job went sour, the entire crew was killed and Winters imprisoned. Word on the street according to Jackson was that ghosts killed his cronies. 

   When you claim that ghosts are why your big score went bust, people tend to look at you as a little cray-cray. But in Jackson's case, it attracted the attention of a paranormal activity buff and the criminal was busted out of jail, and promised his freedom if he would help the ghost hunter catch a ghost. That job didn't go so well either, but it allowed Winters the opportunity to fake his own death and start anew.

 Despite being a free man, Jackson Winters has a lot of targets on his back. He has a chance to finally get a couple of those targets removed when he agrees to go into the Mexican jungle to rescue the granddaughter of the owner of the very casino he tried to rob. This new deal will take Jackson to an abandoned temple where he discovers a virtual paradise of babes, sex, and vice. 

   But this is Ghosted and in this horror series from Image, nothing is as it seems. 

   I liked volume one very much. But I think this volume was even better. This story was pretty cut and dry as opposed to the first storyline that involved a series of double and triple-crosses that left me scratching my head. Plus, there are plenty of great twists and turns that builds on the latter volume without making it a rehash of the haunted house adventure Jackson partakes in to win his freedom. Plus, we finally learn what happened in the infamous casino heist that left Jackson ghosted.

    The art by Davide Gianfelice also got better in this volume. I loved how the variety of spirits Jackson encounters each have their own different look and appearance. It was almost like series creator Joshua Williamson had a different artist draw each ghoulish creature. It gave variety and texture to a thrilling story of pain, redemption, and of course, GHOSTS...

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars. 

Dead Boy Detectives, Volume 2: Ghost Snow

  

 Edwin and Charles, the greatest pair of sleuths under the age of 13 in the afterlife have become a trio with the addition of the living and breathing wild child, Crystal Palace! Together, the group meets Clementine, the half-sister of Charles, in hopes of solving the mystery behind his mother's murder. As they search for clues, they trio stumble upon a conspiracy so sinister that it affects the stability of the Neitherlands, a mystical annex between this world and the next. With love blooming between Crystal and one of the Dead Boy Detectives, will they be able to focus long enough to solve all of these mysteries and possibly save the life of someone close to Crystal who was presumed dead and buried?

   Volume 2 was riveting. However, this is one of those series that if you take too long in between reading volume 1 and 2, you may find yourself needing a refresher because there is just so much going on. The combined work of Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham is so perfectly crafted, that my memory gaps were not a bother. Litt does a good job keeping the reader abreast as to what's going on without being obsessively repetitive as Marvel was notorious for doing in the 80s.

   Plus, the Masterful pencil work of Fables artist Buckingham was so hauntingly beautiful that it almost made me want to see just what a 'Ghost Snow' looks like- almost but not quite. The covers are awesome too and you finally get to see the mosaic the Buckingham has been crafting as little puzzle pieces at the end of each issue. Wicked Awesome Stuff!

   Volume 2 marks the end of this series of Dead Boy Detectives. This is the third volume so hopefully this isn't the end of their story. With Vertigo rolling out almost 2 dozen new series over the next couple of months, the odds are good (but not great) that this trio of supernatural detectives will return someday soon.

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Big Book of the Weird Wild West

How much would you be willing to pay for a Western anthology series featuring the artwork of legends such as Dick Giordano, Joe Orlando, Marie Severin, Paul Kuppenberg, Joe Staton, and many, many more? 

 

$50? $75? $100? What if I told you that all of these comic legends could be bought for $14.95 or less? 

   Featuring the writing talents of John Whalen (Un-Men), Rick Klaw (Wild West Show), and others, the Big Book of the Weird Wild West contains dozens of short stories about the oddest lawmen, dumbest outlaws, and strangest habits of the old west that Hollywood and the history books just don't you about. 

   This book was published by Paradox Press, a short-lived imprint of DC Comics from the 1990s. Paradox published a number of anthologies like this one in which each volume was devoted to the odd, the strange, the macabre, and the just plain weird. I love the Factoid Books series. For a history buff than loves his world the weirder the better, these books are the perfect fun reads in sequential art form.

   But as these are books about true events, the Factoid Books or 'Big Books' do not sugarcoat their reports. A little titillating, sometimes gory, and filled with adult themes and language, these books from Paradox are suited for the Vertigo Comics crowd. In other words: for teens and older. 

   I found this copy when I was working at the book sale at my local library. But volumes of this series can be found on Amazon for good prices. You might also come across these books at your favorite used book shop. These are treasured gems in my graphic novel collection and for some reason you can almost always find a copy or two at your local comics shop usual for half off cover or better.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Silverblade #4

    In the last issue, a seance gone horribly wrong resulted in the death of a family in the Hollywood hills. Used in the ceremony was an old costume of deceased actor Brian Vane's. During the late 60s, Vane was a crimefighter called the Winged Avenger. Like TV's Batman, the show was hokey but it was a camp classic. It was also the last series Vane worked on when he killed himself so it's the perfect conductor to summon the actor's spirit. Only, the man leading the seance, an elderly Native American named Blackfeather had other intentions and used the costume to become the vessel for a malevolent entity called the Executioner. 

    Now, the Executioner in the guise of the Winged Avenger is wreaking havoc over the skyline of Hollywood. Thankfully, there's Jonathan Lord to the rescue. In the form of his most famous character, the Silver Blade, Lord is currently a fierce gargoyle with the ability to flying. Which is perfect, since the Winged Avenger can fly too! 

   Another really good chapter in a maxi-series that I think is finally going somewhere. Obviously, the Executioner is an enemy of the Falcon spirit and the Falcon sensing that someone was about to unleash it, bestowed special powers on Jonathan Lord in hopes he'll combat it. But only when the Winged Avengers tries to kill friends of the former actor, does Jonathan finally take action. 

   Speaking of action, this issue was jammed packed with it. The aerial scenes between the two flying combatants were some of the most visually stunning this side of Spidey taking on the Green Goblin or even the Vulture. Gene Colan shows that he truly is a master in those pages.

    Another neat feature starting to pop up in the issues are bits of articles, selected filmographies, and important documents that shed a little light on the characters in this story. Those extras help to make this story seem like it was plucked right from the Hollywood tabloids and I suspect that Alan Moore borrowed this concept in his numerous 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' series. (He was working at DC at the time of this book's publication, so it is possible. But if I have offended Mr. Moore for this suggestion, I do apologize.)

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Silverblade #3

   For the past two issues, a demented filmmaker has been trying to kill Jonathan Lord and his 'son', who is actually Jonathan blessed with some mysterious powers to made him decades younger. Well, for someone near and bear to him, the third time will be the charm as yet another group of hired assassins attacks Lord's compound of Shangri-la. Yet another twist in a series that I haven't got a clue as to where's it's headed, I'm really enjoying this series. 

    The book starts with a whole family being murdered during a seance, then Lord and his new girlfriend are called in to investigate, and then when you think this is going to become a supernatural thriller, the movie turns into Lethal Weapon with hire goons reaping major carnage on the shores of Malibu.

 One other interesting turn has Lord's manservant, Milestone, being harassed by a group of spirits. First is the mystical entity that was inside the Maltese Falcon statue that gave Lord his magic powers. The second is that of Brian Vane, a fellow actor on the original Silver Blade with Lord and Milestone. Vane witnessed the seance attack as it took place in the very house in which he committed suicide. This ghost knows who killed the family and now armed with the Falcon Spirit and a former colleague, Silverblade is on the hunt for the two pairs of killers- one human and one otherworldly. 

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars
   

Haunted Histories: Creepy Castles, Dark Dungeons, and Powerful Palaces (Family Comics Friday)

Though the narrator and his pet raven are fictitious, the haunted histories are real- for the most part. There are some ghost stories and the whole biz about ghosts being real is up for debate. But, the tales of crazed rulers, creepy castles, and methods of medieval torture are quite real. It's also wicked fun.

Some subject matter isn’t appropriate for kids under the age of 12. But, it’s a really interesting look at history told in a way that makes kids like to learn. Just like Grossology or Schoolhouse Rocks, I’m all for educational media that makes learning fun, even if the stuff in this book is more for a junior Hannibal Lector that fodder for the kid what wants to be president when they grow up. 

What’s more, it’s written by a college professor, just don’t tell your kids that!

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Haunted Histories can be purchased on Amazon in both new and used paper formats. There is also a Kindle Edition.

Red Light Properties: Previously-Haunted Real Estate by Dan Goldman

When I saw this at my local library, I thought this was going to be a funny comic. The premise is that there’s this family realty business in which they buy up haunted properties, exercise the spirits and the sell the listing with a guarantee to be 100% haunt free. I saw it as a Wolff & Byrd: Counselors of the Macabre type comic. I figured I’d get a few laughs. I was wrong.

Yes, the premise I gave you is true. However, the majority of the story is rooted in tragedy. The Tobin's have been married for a while but today is the first day of their separation. The wife is convinced her assistant is sleeping with her husband. Mr. Tobin probably would sleep with the help if only he didn’t have to stay in a drug induced state in order to see and vex the spirits of the afterlife. Caught in the middle is there son who might have the gift of second sight or is just incredibly bright and good at noticing stuff.

Despite this not being what I thought it was that does not mean that this wasn’t an engrossing tale. I devoured the book in less than 2 days. It was almost like reading Little Miss Sunshine in which everyone’s lives are so screwed up and yet there’s a beauty and poignancy to it all. Plus, some of the scenes are incredibly powerful and really hit you in the gut like the scene where Mr. Tobin discovers that a house with frequently breaking windows isn’t haunted by ghosts but by the tragic rape of the young girl who was the apartment’s last occupant.

There’s a second volume due out pretty soon. While I felt that this was a modern classic, I’m not sure if I want to go back down that road again. There’s a lot of swears, some nudity, and lots of drugs and angst. I think it’s possible that Red Light Properties: Previously-Haunted Real Estate works best as a single work. I fear that to expound further might only lessen the impact that this premier volume left on me.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

SPOILER- I don’t want to ruin the surprise but check the cover to this book out in the dark. It’s freaky cool and I’ve never really seen a glow in the dark cover before. Believe me, it scared the crap outta me at first.

Johnny Boo & Harold in Tricky Treaters (Family Comics Friday)

Sorry about not posting yesterday folks, but as you may remember, I’ve got a broken foot and spent some time on my back propping up. Also, I got some really good news about a project that I hope to be able to talk more about soon. But, I needed to devote some energy to that and so that’s why we’ve got this special Saturday Edition of Family Comics Friday.

Gone are the days of Casper the Friendly Ghost, Wendy the Good Little Witch, and Hot Stuff. Their publishing rights disappeared when the comics company, Harvey Comics, closed up shop in 1994. But, the spirit of those comics lives on. In the past few years, Dark Horse Comics has been reprinted some of the tales from the Harvey kid’s line. Every once and a while, a character like Richie Rich pops up in a new series by an independent published. And I guarantee you that in every comic convention in America (except for ComiCon in San Diego) you can find tons of Harvey Comics in bargain bins for a $1 or less.

Despite all of this, that is no way means that new kid-friendly comics starring ghosts, vampires, and other spooky characters aren’t available on the market right now.

In this 2012 Halloween Comicsfest Exclusive (BTW next Saturday is this year’s Comicsfest at your local comics shop, so check it out!) we get a short story about a young ghost named Johnny Boo and his pet ghost, Squiggle. Here, Johnny Boo tries to hide all of the ice cream from trick-r-treaters but ends up in a little bit of a mess. Then we meet Harold, a long-necked vampire with 2 bats for friends. The bats don’t quite get things right and when Harold forgets to decorate for Halloween, the bats do the unthinkable and gross out a bloodsucker.

Johnny Boo has at least 6 volumes of comics on the market. A new volume is due out this month. As for Harold, this is the first on only story I can find about him. It’s possible that he stars in the Johnny Boo series in his own mini-feature. The Johnny Boo series is published by top Shelf Productions and run for $9.95 a pop. Johnny has also been featured in Top Shelf’s annual Free Comic Book Day release for at least the past 4 years. Those issues can be found online for a couple a bucks each.

One other thing, the Johnny Boo books are published like a typical comic book is with 2 staples. These volumes are released like a digest with a solid paste paper spine. So, if you go to the kids section of your local comics shop, be sure to look on the collection shelf and not the new release section. Better yet, ask your friendly neighborhood comic book clerk for help finding them.

Johnny Boo is for ages 5-10.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.