Horror comics

In honor of the DC Showcase House of Mystery volume that's due out tomorrow, I thought I'd run down some good horror comics that have been published, or some comics that will be published in the future:

Tomb Of Dracula (Marvel) - Probably one of the scariest comic books that I read as a kid. I saw Lugosi & Lee in their respective interpretations of Dracula, and none prepared me for the comic version. Marv Wolfman created a vicious bloodsucking psycho that created more than one nightmare for me, and artist-ultimo Gene Colan made the visceral details ooze from every panel. Now collected in a four volume, black & white Marvel Essential series, of which I have the first two volumes. Still as strong as it was when I was hiding under the covers.

House Of Mystery (DC) - DC had a pretty decent collection of horror titles, such as this one, "Ghosts," and "House of Secrets." Only "Mystery" really gained my attention, and I think that was based on the strength of the lead character Cain, the caretaker of the House of Mystery. The premise of the series is that each room told a story, based on the inhabitants that stayed in the house. The house itself was like a major character, as well, since it seemed to exude a personality of its own. Like most of the comics I read in the '70s, part of the appeal of this book was a secondary running storyline called "I, Vampire," which featured a vampire named Bennett who was after a female vampire who led the Cult Of The Blood Red Moon. It was incredible stuff.

Infinite Kung-Fu (independently published) - Kagan McLeod's epic story of martial arts survival in the land of the dead is one hyperkinetic read. It's comic book impressionism at its finest. Production seems stalled at #7, but just recently it's been announced that this book has found a publisher at Fantagraphics, a champion publisher for pristine indy books. So now, the countdown to the Martial World is on.

Walking Dead (Image) - Creator Robert Kirkman calls this series "the zombie film that doesn't end." Taking a page from Romero, Kirkman floods his zombie-infested earth with as many flesh-eaters as he can, but then long stretches of exposition between characters occurs, which makes the readers actually give a crap about these lone survivors in a world beyond anyone's reasoning. I have the first trade, and definitely plan on getting more, as major plotlines need to be tied up. And just like life, some folks make it out alive, and some folks don't, and usually not who you expect.

Can't forget Kirkman's "Marvel Zombies" either. (Image from "Marvel Zombies #3.")

Boneyard (NBM Publishing) - A story about a guy who inherits a cemetery, only to find it's a money pit. Not too mention the fact that it's overrun by swamp things, werewolves, vampires, and demons from hell. But they're not half as bad as the townsfolk who want them out. It's a horror book played for humor, and while I usually don't care for "funny books," this one's got pretty good soul. Not silly, mature enough to entertain, yet lighthearted enough not to hate on it. Plus, Richard Moore can draw big titties.

Flinch (DC: Vertigo) - DC tried the horror anthology again with this book, but being under the Vertigo title turned it into a veritable "oh shit, oh fuck" dialogue crapfest, which was a shame, because when it was on (Jim Lee's contribution about a guy who builds a rocketpack) it was solid. Then there was the story about an ersatz Viagra turning old men into insane psychorapists. That's what we call a "nadir."

Tales From The Crypt (EC Comics) - William Gaines, founder of Mad Magazine, started here first. Not only was "Tales From the Crypt" good, but so were its companion books, the "Vault of Horror" and the "Haunt of Fear." But "Tales" was the grandaddy of them all. And the Cryptkeeper was what every Cain, Zacherly, Boris Karloff in "Black Sabbath" all tried to be. Of course, the forces of hell didn't lose out to good, they lost out to Frederick Wertham & the Comics Code Authority, in what I consider to be one of psychology's worst contributions to our culture. The Comics Code Authority, some argue, was especially set up to target EC Comics, and they went under almost immediately following Wertham's witchhunt. But of course, leave it to William Gaines to rock the house; when a member of Congress asked Gaines about the type of judgment that went into designing a cover image of a woman being dragged by her hair by a madman with an axe, Gaines said something to the effect that he judiciously stopped short of drawing blood and tissue and gore dripping down from the neck; as the image stood, you couldn't tell if she was truly dead ... as if having a live woman being dragged around by an axe-wielding maniac was a more untainted image.

Jason Vs. Jason X (Avatar) - A two-issue mini being put out by Avatar in February. Avatar is one of those indy publishers, so "February" might mean "summer 2006 for all we know." I don't know the logistics of how you get two Jasons to meet each other, but somehow it happens. Much like the whole "Friday the 13th" canon, the more you think about it, the less sense it makes, and therefore it's less fun. So, ride the wave & don't ask too many questions.

Army Of Darkness Vs. Re-Animator (Dynamite Entertainment) - Now, I'm all in favor of monster mash-ups as the next guy ("King Kong vs. Godzilla," "Freddy vs. Jason," "Frankenstein Meets Wolfman," the aforementioned Jason series, et cetera), but this one is just a lot more lame than it ever should have been. It's one of those comic meetings that probably would work much better as an actual movie, because Bruce Campbell as Ash just doesn't "read" well, and I'm sure that the creative team's idea of Jeffery Combs as Herbert West is far beyond how Jeffery Combs actually plays Herbert West.