Happy Halloween!

Blik, from the Brock Press, courtesy of the mysterious Jules Van Pelt.

“Early on I fell in love with the Dragon Lady from Terry and the Pirates. She feared no one. She was impervious to all attacks. I thought, oh, that’s the way to be. Wouldn’t that be nice, if I could be like that, but I had hair like wet spaghetti, crooked teeth, moles all over my face, I was scrawny, my skin was yellow. I was ashamed of myself. I thought I was a useless slob. How dare I, how dare I relate to this magnificent creature who controlled all that she viewed. Well, yeah, I could play make believe, right? How kids do. And that was sort of the beginning of Vampira.”

Not five minutes into Vampira: The Movie, a documentary on the queen of horror hosts, and I’m confounded that I never made the connection.

Image courtesy of Edward Gorey, from his Rose City travelogue, The Willowdale Handcar.

According to the Archie Comic Publications Guidelines For Use Of Characters, subsection (g), they shall never be shown engaging in violent or abusive behavior.

Bahlactus allows for certain exceptions.

Watching the spaghetti western Have a Good Funeral, My Friend … Sartana will Pay the other night prompted me to crack out the first volume of the latest Jonah Hex relaunch.

I’ve been a Jonah Hex fan for as long as I can remember, picking up random issues at garage sales all through my childhood. My fascination with the character even extended into his post-apocalyptic spin-off title, Hex. I can’t say for certain, but that comic may have been my first exposure to the sub-genre, which would explain why I thought it was a completely original concept as opposed to a rip-off of Mad Max, Escape From New York, etc.

I even tracked down a copy of DC Super Special #16, the comic that revealed the final fate of Jonah Hex and solidified my adoration for the character. I only had that issue for a short time, as I lent it out to a fellow Hex fan who moved away before I could reclaim it. I hope it has a good home.

My Californian counterpart Mike Sterling once again demonstrated that he is a man of discerning taste with a three-part series of posts devoted to Jonah Hex’s outcome. The links above definitely contain SPOILERS, though I like to think that knowing Hex’s ultimate destination only adds to the enjoyment of reading about his past.

Foreshadowing by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Luke Ross from Jonah Hex #3.

My pal Sloan has posted the ten pages he completed during this year’s 24-Hour Comics Day, Hoyt Monahan, Mall Cop. It probably wasn’t intended, but the story is practically an expose of the Seaway Mall during its heyday.

I still have my own 24-hour comic floating around somewhere. I should dig that up for the next International Read A Comic Book Naked Day.

I’m on the hunt for cool Halloween stuff.