I Luv Halloween, Vol 1

A Halloween themed manga written by Keith Giffen. I couldn't pass it up. And yet like a driver who picks up the hitchhiker from Hell, I kinda wish that I had kept on driving. 

I Luv Halloween has got to be the must inappropriate, goriest romp starring kids that I have ever read. Imagine the movie Gummo, if it was set during Halloween. (I really want to compare this with the film Kids. However, there's nowhere as much animal murder and cruelty in that controversial film compared to Gummo.)

The book is about a group of 4 boys as they go trick-or-treating. After getting apples at their first couple of houses, the boys decide to break the curse by putting razor blades in one of the fruits and unleash the unmitigated fury of the law on one of their stingy neighbors. Meanwhile, one of the boy's sisters has broken free from the group and has begun a reign of unintentional terror, killing the neighborhood bully, bludgeoning a cheerleader and her boyfriend and much, much more unspeakable acts. 

If I thought Giffen was trying to do a straight out horror story on par with Children of the Corn, I'd probably not feel like I need to take a shower just for writing this review. But the kids in the book do most of their gruesome acts with a sense of innocence. It's almost like the worst Murphy's law bad luck of all time following these kids and they just go through life not understanding just how destructive they are. Remember how Steve Urkel would ask 'did I do that?', whenever something went wrong? Well, these kids, for the most part, don't even know that they are doing terrible things. Well, the sister might. There's definitely something not quite right about her...

The artwork is by Benjamin Roman. At the time this book was published, in 2005, he was a relative newcomer with this being his very first professionally published work. His art style is extremely exaggerated. Roman would fit in quite well at MAD Magazine. I wonder what became of him...

This one isn't a keeper for me. I wasn't a huge fan of it. There's a lot going on that I'm not even sure happened or not as several of kids are not very reliable narrators. And yet, there's 2 more volumes and I just need to find out what is true and what is the fever dreams of a group of horny preteens. Plus I just need to know what is wrong with the sister. She just not quite right in the head.

Not the coming of age tale you'd feel comfortable sharing with your kids or grand kids. I fact, if you didn't feel uncomfortable after reading this book I'd think something might be wrong with you...

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.

Headless Horseman Halloween Annual 2023

Let me start by addressing the elephant in the room. The Headless Horseman, who is the horror host of this anthology special, is female. I know that is not supposed to be an issue in this gender fluid generation. However, when something doesn't match syntax, tone or pre-assumed expectations, it makes my brain itch. That's not being a boomer. It's my OCD. Go figure. I want things to be written (and advertised) correctly, but could care less if my house is messy or not. 

If the host is supposed to be the Headless Horseman from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, then sure, I'm justified in my confusion because that character was the ghost of a Hessian soldier. And I'm pretty sure that the soldier was male. If this is an all-new character or a character from the Hellboy universe or Eric Powell's The Goon, which most of the art of this character closely resembles, then I have no issue with the gender of the Horseman. Just don't call this character a HORSE... MAN!

Now when it comes to the host, I had no issues with them. There were those punny elements you'd get from those B-movie theater hosts. They look awesome. And They spin a good yarn. I just don't know who this Headless Horseman is...

There are 5 stories in this issue. It starts with a tale set inside a fantasy video game. Not very scary, but it's got a great moral and awesome ending. There's a weird fable about a woman with writer's block. A group of teens go trick-or-treating with the new kid and his mom. Only there's something very, very wrong with mom. There's a wolf on the prowl as a little girl, dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, gets separated from her mom during trick-or-treating. And then there was the fifth and final story.

Up to this point, other than initial confusion over just who this Headless Horseman really was, this anthology was going great. That story about the new kid and his mom freaked me out and even though I didn't really get the writer's block story, I saw merit in it. But then Dark Horse had to go and ruin everything by getting political.

The story in question is about 4 kids dressed as monsters who are visiting a haunted house on Halloween night. The exhibits in the exhibition are really lame. It seems like the real horror is in getting old. Then I start to realize that the kids aren't dressed as monsters. They are monsters! So it's a haunted house about what humans do and the idea of what constitutes the contents of a haunted house for monsters and ghouls seemed like a novel idea. And then we get to that room!

Every year the haunted house has a new room. This year's room is full of right-wingers spouting off their agenda. Did we really have to throw MAGA into the mix? The concept was doing well up to now. It didn't need to get frighteningly real with the internal strife affecting our country. When I'm not reading comics and writing reviews about them, I'm a public school teacher. It's culinary, so I don't teach tricky subjects like race, gender or religion. But I still see a diverse mix of kids that will one way or another be highly affected by the results of the 2024 election. I deal with those fears everyday and I witness countless teachers and staff bailing out in anticipation of a Red Wave. When it comes to horror right now, I need vampires, zombies and psycho killers. I don't need tales of right-wing militants or uber-Dems. Those kind of frights already keep me up at night.

This one-shot is listed as an annual. So I see potential that there might be another issue next Halloween. I would be fine with that. Editors at Dark Horse, just leave the politics for election night if you make this an annual occurrence!

Worth Consuming! 

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars. (But it could have been a 9 out of 10 if not for how that final tale ended.)

Beavis and Butt-Head #10

    I'm not what you would call a fan of Beavis and Butt-Head. I never watched the series, though I did watch Beavis and Butt-Head Do America during a lazy Sunday some years ago during summer vacation from school. It was okay, had some funny moments but it didn't turn me into a fan.
    So why am I reviewing an issue of the Beavis and Butt-Head comic from the fine folks at Marvel? What can I say? It's a holiday comic. I have a special section of my collection devoted to comics featuring Christmas, Valentines, Independence Day, even Easter. Okay- I don't think I have any Easter comics... Yet!
     So let's talk about the issue. It's Halloween day and the guys realize that despite that they are too old for trick or treating, it's a great opportunity to score some free candy... and maybe score with some vampire chicks. As night falls, the boys crash a friends party, get mixed up with some pranks gone wrong, and end up haunting a haunted house.
    The art was crude and the jokes were even cruder and while I wasn't big on this comic, I did think it captured the spirit of Beavis and Butt-Head quite well.
     I DID enjoy the segments in which the guys criticize comics kinda like how they would ridicule music videos. I thought that was very clever. 
    Am I a fan now? Not on your life. Do I feel like I wasted the dollar I paid for this? Not on your life. An okay Halloween themed read that entertained but didn't thrill.
    Oh, one more thing. My issue had a really bizarre printing error. The middle page(s) of the book were somehow folded around in a way that half of the page on the right somehow wound up near the very front of the book. I really can't figure out this goof but if it happened to one, it might have happened to others. That's probably why I found this book in a bargain bin. But it's something to be aware of if you need this issue to complete your Beavis and Butt-Head collection.

   Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Spook-A-Rama (Family Comic Friday Halloween ComicFest 2015 Edition)

   

Young Cory loves monsters. They were a bonding point with his late father who adored classic horror films. Desperate to keep the memory of his dad alive, Cory dresses up as creepy creatures and plays pranks on the local townsfolk.   

                         
     A friend of his mother's (the town vacuum salesman) has a plan to make a man out of the youngster by having him work in the company's mailroom. But when Cory meets up with his hero famed horror director, Wilbur Atchison, at his movie studio, the boy's world will be turned seriously upside down.

    This week, I choose to examine 'Spook-A-Rama' a free comic book offering at this year's Halloween ComicFest. Written by Philip Kim with art by Rick Koslowski, I had the chance to buy a pack of 25 of these to give away to trick-or-treaters this year. But I wasn't very sure about the content and I passed it up. So, I downloaded a preview of the comic online and from what I read, I am kicking myself for not grabbing this when I had the chance.

   The art was very good and the story, what little I saw was intriguing. The book is based on the classic horror magazine 'Famous Monsters.' I remember this publication as a kid and I thought it was great. It was filled with images of the classic Hollywood Universal monsters as well as fiends from Hammer, Toho, and other studios devoted to horror and sci-fi. If you were a kid who loved monster movies that weren't in the vein of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then this magazine called out to you every trip you'd make to the 7-11.

   Parents, if you are anti-horror film, then this book wouldn't be ideal for your child. In fact, from what I read, this book is not all-ages. I would say that it's more suited for older trick-or-treaters; around 10 and up.

   Unfortunately, I can't give very much more background on this book, other than to make you aware of it. I've tried to do some further research on this book to see if it's a preview of a larger work or continuing series due to do be released at a later date. But I came up with nothing more than the mini-comic preview that I included a link to. (Even Amazon is noticeably quiet about this book!)

    I'm hoping to hit a comic book store on Halloween morning. If I do, I'm planning on snagging up a copy of this book. (It's good to have goals.) If I can obtain it, I'll give it a read and will include an update. Feel free to comment me with any further info about Spook-A-Rama you might come across as well. Happy Haunts- er I mean reading!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating of Preview pages: 9 out of 10 stars.

Getting Creepy (A Family Comic Friday EXTRA!)

  It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween...

   Starting next Friday, for the next 4 weeks, I will review 2 books. One will be a spooky themed book and the other will be a selection from the 2015 Halloween ComicFest!

   What is Halloween ComicFest, you ask? It's a day very similar to Free Comic Book Day, only Halloween themed. With Halloween falling on a Saturday, it's going to be a big one! How better to start it with a couple of free comic books from your friends at your local comics shop?

    By the way, do you know a special trick-or-treater who has food allergies? Are you the type of host, like myself that prefers to give gifts instead of candy on Halloween? Well, those special edition comics I will be reviewing are also books that you can purchase in packs of 25 from your local comics shop as well. To locate a store near you or to find out more about Halloween ComicFest, click here.

   Happy Reading!!!

A Great Idea for Kids Who Have Food Allergies

As someone that has a food allergy and is gluten sensitive, I am very understanding of people's food allergies. I learned today that there's a new initiative to help parents with children who have dietary restrictions know which homes are giving allergy safe treats. It's called the Teal Pumpkin Project. Homes that will provide allergy free foods or alternatives like toys, puzzles, or like me, comic books, are asked to put a Teal pumpkin outside.

  Now, it's too late for me and it's probably too late for you to do this too, but I've included below an image that you should be able to print out and stick on your door or mail box. Be sure to use colored ink!