EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY #280: A COMIC FAN'S HALLOWEEN TREAT

[Blake Petit]

Last year, as I am wont to do, I urged you guys to try handing out comic books to the happy little ghouls who come to your house on Halloween night. Sure, kids are all about the candy on Halloween, but isn’t it always fun to have a little something that can last after the rest of the goodies have been scarfed up and turned into a fertile breeding ground for diabetes? For years now, there have been a few offerings of inexpensive ashcan-sized comics through Diamond – bundles of 25 comics for only a few bucks that make for perfect giveaways. This year, I finally managed to find them in Previews in time to order them to give away not only to trick-or-treaters, but to my own ninth-grade students. But really, what sort of educator would I be if I didn’t sample the goods myself? So this week, I’m going to give you guys the rundown of five Halloween ashcan comics available right now that you may still be able to get your hands on. (There may be others I’m unaware of, but these are the five I got.)

Donald Duck: The Halloween Hustler. This special is written and drawn by Marco Rota, with English dialogue by David Gerstein. Unfortunately, I can’t find a credit for the cover art, which is a shame, because that is one awesome cover! If any of my friends from Gemstone Publishing happen to be reading this, please, tell me who did that cover so I can give them proper credit!

Anyway, in this tale Donald is harrumphing his way through another Halloween, until he happens to run across a master of disguise who agrees to join him for a little mayhem. The book really works well: it’s funny, it gives a nice introduction to most of the major players in the Duck corner of Disney’s universe (although one would imagine kids would be familiar with most of these characters already), and there’s a nice punchline at the end that will make the story memorable. As all-ages Halloween tales go, this one is great.

Archie: The Mystery of the Museum Sleep-In. Writer George Gladir and legendary artist Bob Bolling team up for this year’s Archie Halloween special. A stroll through the Riverdale Natural History Museum reminds Jughead of an old program where kids could sleep in the museum overnight. His cousin Jake, who works there, offers to sneak Jug and Archie into the museum that night, just to reminisce about old times. Jake and his buddy Hank, however, see a chance to have a little fun with our boys.

From there, the story is kind of predictable – the guys get scared, they learn about the trick, they plan a trick of their own… and in the end, the trick is on everyone. Still, it’s a funny story, and Bolling’s artwork is absolutely timeless. Hopefully, if this goes to the right kids, it will have the impact it deserves.

Bone: Happy Halloween. Jeff Smith reprints part of his 1300-page Bone epic in this little special. Specifically, we get a brief story about Fone Bone, Thorn, and Gran’ma Ben facing off against a pair of stupid, stupid rat creatures. Like the digest versions of the comic currently being published by Scholastic, this special is in beautiful, rich, full color by Steve Hammaker.

I’m one of the biggest Bone fans there is, but I do feel this book misses a couple of opportunities. The issue doesn’t really read well as a stand-alone story, but more of a morsel of a tale, a Story McNugget, if you will. I hope that some kids will read it and want to get the rest of the story, but I’m afraid that many will simply be turned off by not getting a complete story in and of itself. I also wish that Smith had taken the opportunity to advertise the digests. He does have an ad for the ginormous 1300-page one-volume edition, which is awesome, but I don’t know how many kids would pick it up. I do believe kids – based on my observations of my ninth-graders – would easily get into the color digests, but I’m afraid a book that long (even a comic) will scare off a lot of potential readers.

A Peanuts Halloween. Similar in format and design to the Unseen Peanuts special from last year’s Free Comic Book Day, this Peanuts Halloween is just what you’d expect. Fantagraphics, publisher of the marvelous Complete Peanuts series, has collected many of the classic Halloween comics from this immortal strip into one cute little package.

Almost the entire collection revolves around Linus’s repeated attempts to find the pumpkin patch that will play host to the Great Pumpkin, a holiday apparition that never quite seems to show up, but that’s hardly a complaint. The Great Pumpkin stuff is not only some of Schulz’s most memorable, but also one of his most lasting contributions to popular culture. This special does go both the Complete Peanuts and Unseen Peanuts comics one better in one respect, though: the Sunday comics in this book are in full color, while in the other two collections they were in black and white.

Cowa! This offering from the publishers of Shonen Jump is a snippet of a manga series by Akira Toriyama about a little vampire boy and his friend, a ghost named Jose Rodriguez, who have an adventure of sorts on their way to buy a watermelon. The art is kind of simplistic and the story is even moreso, but the characters are cute, and who among us hasn’t, in the month of October, wished we lived in a giant Jack O’Lantern?

To be honest, this was my least favorite of the five comics offered this year, but I’m hardly the target audience, am I? I suspect that when I offer my students their choice of comics, the blurb that says “From the creator of Dragonball Z” will help this one go fast, and I kind of wish I had bought two bundles of this one just to meet the expected supply… oh well.

Anyway, friends, these are all comics that most certainly will appeal to some of the kids who march by your home come the end of the month. Check with your local comic shop vendor and see if it’s still possible to get your hands on these bundles. They’re cheap, they won’t rot your teeth, and kids will remember getting them long after they forgot that 13th Snickers bar of the evening. Comics on Halloween is the way to go.

This is just the beginning, friends! It’s October first, the beginning of my favorite time of the year, and for the next 31 days you can expect tons of cool, creepy stuff from me. Special EBI columns, special 2 in 1 Showcase podcasts, and an avalanche of movie and book reviews, and even a new Halloween short story – all of that stuff is on the way. Check my own webpage, Evertime Realms, frequently for updates to the 2008 Evertime Realms Halloween Party! And congratulations! You EBI readers are the first guests of the year.

Favorite of the Week: September 24, 2008

It wasn’t an easy choice, but this week the favorite trophy is going to Superman #680. The conclusion of James Robinson’s opening storyline finds Superman on the ropes, nearly beaten by the menace of Atlas, begging with Supergirl to continue his work… but who should arrive to save the day? Krypto! Ah, Krypto… he’s a good boy, isn’t he? This story works on several levels – the Superman/Krypto relationship here is more entertaining than it’s ever been. It feels very real, very natural, for a farmboy like Clark to have that sort of almost fanatical love for his dog. At the same time, though… man, something isn’t quite right. It’s like there’s another force at work, something that… that… aw, who am I kidding? What could be wrong? Krypto’s a good boy.

Blake M. Petit is the author of the superhero comedy novel, Other People's Heroes, the suspense novel The Beginner and the novel-in-progress ”Summer Love” at Evertime Realms. He’s also the co-host, with the inimitable Chase Bouzigard, of the 2 in 1 Showcase Podcasts. E-mail him at Blake@comixtreme.com and visit him on the web at Evertime Realms.

[Chase Bouzigard]

I have to say i hate Robinson's SUperman more than Kurt's ANd that is saying something. Worse Krypto intrepertaion ever.
and no resoultion on Atlus.

[Mini]

If there's one thing that makes me laugh out loud it's those "stupid, stupid rat creatures!" lines that invariably pop-up

[Ben Lehnsherr]

Originally Posted by Chase Bouzigard

I have to say i hate Robinson's SUperman more than Kurt's ANd that is saying something. Worse Krypto intrepertaion ever.
and no resoultion on Atlus.

Yeah, same here. And I'm a big fan of Robinson. His Starman run is one of my favorite runs ever.....but this Superman arc of his didn't do anything for me, and the art wasn't much better.

[Chase Bouzigard]

Originally Posted by Ben Lehnsherr

Yeah, same here. And I'm a big fan of Robinson. His Starman run is one of my favorite runs ever.....but this Superman arc of his didn't do anything for me, and the art wasn't much better.

I loved starman and am getting the collected editons, but his Superman seems forced, I hope it gets bette with triangle numbers and New Krypton. But ifear it will just bring Jonns down on Action.

and you are right about the art as well

[Blake Petit]

Dude, it is the BEST Krypto story of all time. I don't know what you're reading.

[Chase Bouzigard]

Originally Posted by Blake Petit

Dude, it is the BEST Krypto story of all time. I don't know what you're reading.

No the best Krypto Story was by Lobe, way back when. this was a pale copy of that story. and come on we already knew Lois feelings tword Krypto, i sitll refrenice that story. And like Metropolis did not allready love Krypto.

[virtuadept]

Free comics for kids on haloween sounds like a good idea.

[Chase Bouzigard]

Originally Posted by virtuadept

Free comics for kids on haloween sounds like a good idea.

Bah it is a shame that thay still all the good candy, now thay are after my comics to, little $#!+$.

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by Chase Bouzigard

No the best Krypto Story was by Lobe, way back when. this was a pale copy of that story. and come on we already knew Lois feelings tword Krypto, i sitll refrenice that story. And like Metropolis did not allready love Krypto.

They DIDN'T. They didn't even KNOW him before, except as the dog who went batty and nearly killed Mongul. (Not that this would necessarily be a bad thing.)

Yeah, that was a great story, but this is nothing like it. And furthermore, it's not over.

[Mark Blicharz]

Originally Posted by Chase Bouzigard

No the best Krypto Story was by Lobe, way back when. this was a pale copy of that story. and come on we already knew Lois feelings tword Krypto, i sitll refrenice that story. And like Metropolis did not allready love Krypto.

This is New Earth. Metropolis had never met Krypto.

[Chase Bouzigard]

Originally Posted by Mark Blicharz

This is New Earth. Metropolis had never met Krypto.

New Earth can kiss my....

Make mine Marvel

[ramapith]

Originally Posted by Blake Petit

If any of my friends from Gemstone Publishing happen to be reading this, please, tell me who did that cover so I can give them proper credit!

Hey, how'd we leave off that info? It was laid out by S. Fajner, penciled by the Comicup Studio, and inked/painted by Francois Pasquet, originally for a French comic some seven years ago. Great, isn't it? Boo!

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by ramapith

Hey, how'd we leave off that info? It was laid out by S. Fajner, penciled by the Comicup Studio, and inked/painted by Francois Pasquet, originally for a French comic some seven years ago. Great, isn't it? Boo!

Truly great! Thanks for clearing that up!