31 Days of Halloween 2021 Days 25-27: Capsule Review Catch-Up Part 3

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

Finally getting caught up to the present today, this time with a batch of comic/graphic novel reviews. So if you only care about the movie reviews, you can skip this one. Hopefully you don't, though.

 

Day 25: ‘Lords of Misery’ Written and illustrated by Eric Powell. While I’m a bit sad that we haven’t gotten a Spook House comic from Eric Powell this year, at least we have an extra special team-up event featuring The Goon and a band of misfit anti-heroes unwillingly recruited to battle an ancient evil. Past incarnations of the Lords have always managed to triumph, but at the cost of their lives.

 

We already know at least The Goon and his sketchy sidekick Franky survived the fight, seeing as this story takes place before the latest issues of their regular ongoing, so it’s a bit anticlimactic. That doesn’t make it any less fun, though. All the usual things that make The Goon a must read title are here – the hard-boiled humor, the aura of supernatural horror, the film noir tough guy anti-heroics, and of course, Powell’s first rate artwork. Pick it up. 3 out of 4 stars.

 

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 13: Explore the Roots of a Psycho in 'Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

If you know your serial killers, then you’re probably already aware that grave robber and murderer (and possible cannibal) Ed Gein served as an inspiration for PSYCHO, THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. But his own story is just as interesting as any fictionalized horror film.

 

Writer Harold Schechter has previously told Ed’s story in his book 'Deviant' (1998). Now he has teamed up with one of my favorite comic book artists, Eric Powell, to tell the story in graphic novel form. The results are a bit mixed, but ultimately worthwhile.

Return to the Microverse: Revisiting and reviewing Micronauts Issue 1 (1978)

By Bob Ignizio

Recently, my local comic book shop Carol & John’s Comics came across a stash of seventies and eighties comics. Like multiple copies of random single issues. And they’ve been putting these quirky finds up for sale, and for substantially less than what the Comic Book Price Guide says they're worth.

Regardless of their monetary value or lack thereof, these comics have great nostalgia value for someone my age. In particular, I was pleasantly surprised to see several issues of Marvel’s Micronauts comic among the offerings. I was a huge fan of this series as a kid, but haven't owned a copy of these comics in years. No way could I pass these up.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Spook House 2019 Halloween Special

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Review by Bob Ignizio

Time for a comic book break. For last year’s 31 Days of Halloween, I reviewed the first issue of ‘Spook House 2’, a four issue anthology miniseries that operated under the concept, “scary stories fit for kids”. This year ‘Spook House’ is back, but sadly only as a one issue Halloween Special. But hey, a little ‘Spook House’ is better than none at all.

The first story this time around features Megaghost, star of his own Albatross comic. In “It’s the Candy Kaiju, Megaghost!”, young magician Martin Magus goes trick-or-treating with his ghostly pals. But his arch enemy Ultra Ghoul has plans to ruin the festivities by unleashing a giant monster made of puked-up candy. Gross? Sure. But it’s the kind of gross that kids love. Gabe Soria’s story features the same blend of humor, horror, and action that makes his regular Megaghost comics must-reads, and Gideon Kendall’s art recalls “Jolly” Jack Davis while still having a personality of its own.

31 Days of Halloween 2018 Bonus: 'Spook House 2' Provides Kid Friendly Comic Book Scares

[I wanted to write something about my favorite kid friendly horror comic for Halloween, so I did.] 

Writer/artist/publisher Eric Powell is probably best known for his action/horror comic book ‘The Goon’, in which thuggish anti-hero The Goon and his diminutive sidekick Franky battle zombies, witches, and other forces of evil. That book is on hiatus at the moment, but you should definitely check out the collected trade paperbacks. They’re a lot of fun.

At the moment Powell’s primary focus is another action/horror book called ‘Hillbilly’, but he’s also found time to do something that is all too rare these days. His Albatross comics company has given a home to ‘Spook House’, a horror anthology miniseries of “scary stories fit for kids.”