Halloween may come only once a year, but sinister and suspenseful stories can
be found on a regular basis in the world of comics. Here is a selection of
books — some scarier than others — to satisfy a thirst for horror. Among them:
a collection of vintage science-fiction comics, a coming-of-age take on The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow and a series about the survivors of a cataclysm.
اضافة اعلان
The Nice House on
the Lake (DC Comics)
“How do you think the world will end?” is not a typical icebreaker, but it
is the question that a man named Walter asks some of the people he encounters.
In issue No 1, he invites several of them to visit his lake house, which turns
out to be a safe haven from an apocalyptic event that occurs shortly after
their arrival, something which Walter knew was imminent.
The rest of the
series, written by
James Tynion IV, drawn by Álvaro Martínez Bueno, and colored
by Jordie Bellaire, is devoted to the survivors recalling how they met Walter
and adapting to their new circumstances. Walter can provide them with nearly
anything they desire, which can be good and bad. The series is building to a
conclusion in Issue No 12 on December 13.
Ice Cream Man (Image
Comics)
There are supernatural elements in this series, but at its core are
stories about human feelings and failings: frustration, longing, regret, pain,
and more. The through line: a malevolent ice cream truck driver named Rick, who
pulls strings in the background. Each new issue, written by W. Maxwell Prince,
drawn by Martín Morazzo, and colored by Chris O’Halloran, brings something
unexpected. One story about a plane crash has both scary and comically absurd
moments, while another less-dire issue is presented in tiers of red, yellow,
and orange, each color following a divergent life path of a character just
after he has bought ice cream.
The Night Eaters:
She Eats the Night (Abrams ComicArts)
Come for the haunted house, creepy dolls, and human-devouring creatures,
but stay for the family drama. This story, the first installment of a trilogy
written by Marjorie Liu and drawn and colored by Sana Takeda, revolves around
Chinese American twins Milly and Billy and their parents, Ipo and Keon, who
immigrated from Hong Kong.
The siblings are
struggling through adulthood and the weight of parental expectations. The story
mines a lot from mama Ipo, who has her reasons for being so stern. In one
scene, Billy, impressed with Ipo’s toughness, remarks: “That’s third-world
strength.” His sister quickly corrects him: “Global south. We don’t use third
world anymore.”
Hollow (Boom!
Studios)
If The CW network wanted to turn Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow into a teenage-friendly show, it would look something like this graphic
novel, Hollow, which is more gently spooky than intensely macabre. Written by
Shannon Watters and Branden Boyer-White and drawn by Berenice Nelle, the novel
follows today’s residents of Sleepy Hollow, where everyone is fascinated by the
legend of the Headless Horseman.
There is a mystery
afoot, but also a coming-of-age story for Isabel Crane, a fresh face in town
who needs to navigate life in a new school. Some of the characters at first
seem like they are cast from teenage drama cookie-cutter molds, but they defy
expectations. There are nice moments for the adults, too.
Home to Stay! The
Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories (Fantagraphics)
Drawn by a who’s who of talent, including Joe Orlando and Wallace Wood,
this hardcover collection features adapted stories from celebrated
science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury. The tales can be dense — voluminous
captions and lengthy word balloons, often in the same panel — but potent. One
of them, about a blind woman and her faithful dog, seems out of place until a
sad and gruesome twist.
Another surprise
is how Bradbury got into comics, which is told in a back-page essay. In 1952,
he was notified about an unauthorized adaptation of his short story Mars Is
Heaven! in EC Comics. He did not have the $2,000 in legal fees needed to sue at
the time, so he opted instead to write a letter to EC suggesting that it simply
forgot to send him a check for the work. It promptly paid him, and a
partnership was born.
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