shaxper
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Posts: 22,860
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Post by shaxper on Oct 28, 2014 23:28:45 GMT -5
Here comes the Big One! The CCF Long Halloween: Week 5
 Place your #1 choice here, along with a detailed description! Suggested formatStory Title: Creative Team: From: Publication Year: Explanation of choice: |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,860
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Post by shaxper on Oct 28, 2014 23:37:20 GMT -5
shaxper's #1: “Childhood's End” writer: Budd Lewis pencils: Richard Corben inks: Richard Corben colors: Richard Corben From: Eerie #60 Publication Year: 1974 Explanation: I've written in my previous entries about what a sucker I am for the second person point of view and its ability to place you inside of the monster's head, lending a totally different and far more unique experience to a horror story. I've also written about how I love when a horror story contrasts innocence with darkness. Thus, Richard Corben's "Child" character is pretty much the perfect horror concept for me. "Child," a sort of Frankenstein Monster Jr, had two previous adventures in which the horrified reactions of those around him contrasted sharply with his innocent, doughy face and simplistic inner thoughts. From a second person perspective, it sometimes felt as if you were expected to imagine being him, but more often felt like the narrator was taking pity on this poor, unfortunate creature and attempting to nurture it like a mother with its distanced but sympathetic commentary on his plight. You could almost feel the narrator trying to hug "Child" with its words, but of course all "Child" could ever hear were the taunts and panicked cries of those he encountered. In truth, the character was really just a reimagining of the Boris Karloff Frankenstein monster: the mind of a child in a terrifying, undead body that everyone it encountered automatically feared and hated. And, while Corben's art and colors were gorgeous, the first two stories felt...well...not all that new. It was a powerful rehashing of a premise we already knew. But then came this final installment. For this one, Corben teamed up with a different writer -- Warren go-to-guy Budd Lewis -- and, together, they gave "Child" a remarkably touching goodbye. His death was always inevitable; there was really no question that it was coming, but it's treated so beautifully here, beginning with the narrator asking "Child" (who, of course, cannot really hear him) whether he is divine, and ends with the Child snapping out of a murderous tantrum, a band of villagers firing bullets at his head, and discovering he has the ability to forgive the sick, dying boy that was once the source of this rage. It's that beautiful final moment, where "Child" truly does achieve his divinity in his final moment before death, that this story becomes something almost holy to me. And that second person perspective, struggling so desperately to love and nurture a boy who cannot hear it...  Thanks for playing, everyone, and Happy Almost Halloween. Go read some good horror stories before Friday!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2014 23:51:45 GMT -5
My #1 Pick.... American Gothic by Alan Moore with Stephen Bissette, John Totleben, Stan Woch and Rick Veitch (Saga of the) Swamp Thing #37-50 (DC Comics) June 1985-July 1986   It may be cliche, but for me this is as good as horror gets. When I was younger I liked bits of horror here and there, a little Lovecraft, the elements of horror in Howard's writings, the Universal monsters, but horror as a genre didn't interest me at all. This was the story that changed that, this is the one that opened my eyes to what horror could be beyond the boring and cliched slasher films that dominated 80s horror when I was in high school. Collect some of my favorite characters, introduce a great new character in Constantine, a supernatural threat that slowly grows from insidious threat to menace of epic proportions and then have Alec Holland/Swamp Thing at the center of it all to humanize it, ground, it and make it feel real for the people going through it. Add in mind-blowing visual art with Moore's prolific talent and you have a winner. -M |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,860
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Post by shaxper on Oct 28, 2014 23:54:31 GMT -5
I read Swamp Thing #50 years ago and remember being floored, but I didn't have the background on what was happening, so I couldn't fully understand it.
I still plan to read Moore's Swamp Thing from the beginning some day soon.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 29, 2014 10:21:26 GMT -5
shaxper's #1: “Childhood's End” writer: Budd Lewis pencils: Richard Corben inks: Richard Corben colors: Richard Corben From: Eerie #60 Publication Year: 1974 Explanation: I've written in my previous entries about what a sucker I am for the second person point of view and its ability to place you inside of the monster's head, lending a totally different and far more unique experience to a horror story. I've also written about how I love when a horror story contrasts innocence with darkness. Thus, Richard Corben's "Child" character is pretty much the perfect horror concept for me. "Child," a sort of Frankenstein Monster Jr, had two previous adventures in which the horrified reactions of those around him contrasted sharply with his innocent, doughy face and simplistic inner thoughts. From a second person perspective, it sometimes felt as if you were expected to imagine being him, but more often felt like the narrator was taking pity on this poor, unfortunate creature and attempting to nurture it like a mother with its distanced but sympathetic commentary on his plight. You could almost feel the narrator trying to hug "Child" with its words, but of course all "Child" could ever hear were the taunts and panicked cries of those he encountered. In truth, the character was really just a reimagining of the Boris Karloff Frankenstein monster: the mind of a child in a terrifying, undead body that everyone it encountered automatically feared and hated. And, while Corben's art and colors were gorgeous, the first two stories felt...well...not all that new. It was a powerful rehashing of a premise we already knew. But then came this final installment. For this one, Corben teamed up with a different writer -- Warren go-to-guy Budd Lewis -- and, together, they gave "Child" a remarkably touching goodbye. His death was always inevitable; there was really no question that it was coming, but it's treated so beautifully here, beginning with the narrator asking "Child" (who, of course, cannot really hear him) whether he is divine, and ends with the Child snapping out of a murderous tantrum, a band of villagers firing bullets at his head, and discovering he has the ability to forgive the sick, dying boy that was once the source of this rage. It's that beautiful final moment, where "Child" truly does achieve his divinity in his final moment before death, that this story becomes something almost holy to me. And that second person perspective, struggling so desperately to love and nurture a boy who cannot hear it... Thanks for playing, everyone, and Happy Almost Halloween. Go read some good horror stories before Friday! This was very nearly my third choice but I went with "Your Name is Frankenstein!" instead. I love Corben's art, and you're right this is the best installment of the bunch, the way the child dies is beautiful. I guess I'll reveal the method of my madness, I had like forty titles on my original list and I just couldn't seem to get that down to five until I came up with the idea of grouping the titles into vampire, werewolf, Frankenstein, Batman, sci-fi horror, creature feature and psychological, and those last three groups battle it out to get it to five which I then ranked from one to five. Still difficult but much more manageable. |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
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Post by Crimebuster on Oct 29, 2014 11:53:24 GMT -5
This will come as no surprise, as I have used this in previous countdowns. But: 1.) "Nightmare Nursery" - Life with Archie #125 This will come as no surprise, as I've used this before in other countdowns. Ol' Arch and the gang find themselves in a heap of trouble when they housesit for Mr. Lodge at an old mansion that turns out to be haunted. Seems that back in the day, the young daughter of the people who lived there ended up throwing herself off a cliff into the ocean. Why? Because a satanic teddy bear possessed her. And now it's got its soft little claws into Betty's mind!  The final panel is creepy as hell.  I almost went with an all-Archie countdown. There are a few other good ones. But this is tops for me. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2014 12:01:11 GMT -5
bronzeagebrian's #1: "Cottonmouth" Writer/Artist: Stephen Bissette From: Gore Shriek #1 Publisher/Year: Fantaco, 1986 This short story by S. Bissette is my #1 pick only because it's the scariest one I've ever read. I've had nightmares about this one, no doubt about it. That's probably because I was around 12 years old when it came out and a friend showed me an issue of Gore Shriek #1. I flipped through the comic quickly, uninterested in most of the shock-horror stories within. But this little three-page story at the back of the book somehow caught my interest. Instead of explaining it I'm just going to post the three-page story here:    Don't swallow! Oh boy, this one frightened me. Even though it's a revenge story, for some reason I had visions of waking up in this kind of scenario (which scared me to death as a kid). It's a different kind of torture, more psychological than physical (although I'm sure the physical part is hell) and for that reason it works. And Bissette's artwork is great, those undead women are creepy and the look on the guy's face on the last page is classic.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2014 12:14:27 GMT -5
BATMAN: The Long Halloween Volume 1 to Volume 13 Cover for Batman: The Long Halloween #1 (1996) to Cover for Batman: The Long Halloween #13 (1996)Batman: The Long Halloween Vol 1 #1December, 1996 Executive Editor Mike Carlin Cover Artists Tim Sale Writers Jeph Loeb Pencilers Tim Sale Inkers Tim Sale Colourists Gregory Wright Letterers Richard Starkings, Comicraft Editors Archie Goodwin, Chuck Kim Appearing in "Chapter One: Crime" Featured Characters: Batman (Bruce Wayne) Supporting Characters:Harvey Dent James Gordon Catwoman (Selina Kyle) Villains:Gotham Organized Crime Carmine Falcone Sal Maroni Milos Grapa (First appearance) Holiday (First appearance) Other Characters:Johnny Vitt (Dies) Carla Vitti (First appearance) Alberto Falcone Richard Daniel (Only appearance; dies) Barbara Gordon Gilda Dent Locations:Gotham City Plot Overview ... from Wikia. The Long Halloween is heavily influenced by film noir and films such as The Godfather. The series continues the story of Carmine Falcone introduced in Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. Set early in Batman's career a few months after the events of Year One, the story revolves around the gradual transition of Batman's rogues' gallery from simple mob goons to full-fledged supervillains. It is also the origin of Two-Face, adding along to the story in Batman: Annual #14. It follows the events in a few months following Year One and examines an entire year of Batman's career as a crime fighter, so it could be considered a "Year Two"/"Year Three", in some form. This story has been accepted into continuity after Zero Hour erased the events of Batman: Year Two from the canon. The plot follows Batman's struggle to find a mysterious killer, while Harvey Dent's and Jim Gordon's marriages are strained during the process. As the story unfolds, Carmine Falcone hires "freaks" (Poison Ivy, the Riddler, the Scarecrow, and the Mad Hatter) in an attempt to stop the Batman and restore power back to the family, only to discover that the freaks are more powerful than he expected. My ThoughtsOne of my favorite mini-series involving Batman and it's well-written and I find it one of the most gripping tales of the "freaks" ... Poison Ivy, The Riddler, The Scarecrow, and the Mad Hatter ... very unique team-up of Batman's Rouge Gallery to assist Carmine Falcone bidding to take over Gotham City. Great Series of books and most of all - it's loaded with extra characters and this makes all entertaining for the reader itself. This is only book/series that I can think of that dealt with Halloween with DC Comics.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 29, 2014 13:57:17 GMT -5
I don't know about only, I can think of quiet a few, but Long Halloween was a decent read.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,860
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Post by shaxper on Oct 29, 2014 15:54:25 GMT -5
I enjoyed Long Halloween, but I never thought of it as a horror story, per se.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 29, 2014 16:25:26 GMT -5
True, I always thought of it more as a thriller.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 29, 2014 19:18:23 GMT -5
And after a day of monster movie madness I give you: Thwhtguardian's #1Hellboy: The Wolves of Saint August Written and illustrated by Mike Mignola
Colored by James Sinclair
Edited by Scott Allie
Originally published in 1994 in Dark Horse Presents #88-91 (later Hellboy #5) In 1993 my Father brought me to the San Diego Comic-Con while we were out west visiting his brother and there I fell in love with the character known as Hellboy after receiving a copy of San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2, it was four pages in black in white and it detailed a fight between Hellboy(whom I pictured as being gray as I thought he was a gargoyle) fighting a dog that turned into Anubis. The action was fantastic and the dialog was funny. After that every time we went to the comic shop I would always ask for Hellboy, but the guy at the counter had no idea what I was talking about and so I remained Helboyless until my birthday (in August) a whole year later when I unwrapped Dark Horse Presents #88 and screamed aloud to see Hellboy on the cover. I devoured those 8 pages and I have yet to miss an appearance to this day. The sentimentality from above alone would warrent this top spot, but it's far more than that as this story(especially the extended colorized version in Hellboy #5) is seriously one of the best Hellboy comics Mignola has ever put out, possibly even one of the best comics period. The story is just plain haunting, with the myth of the Royal family turning into werewolves and eventually being murdered by the towns folk, to the bloody revenge and the poor haunted werewolf girl is just plain creepy. The art is beautiful, the characters lively and the mood is something straight out of an old Universal horror movie. And the pacing? Well see for yourself:   When people ask me where they should start with Hellboy, this is the comic I give them. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2014 19:27:08 GMT -5
</div> This is the most metal thing I have ever seen. |
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Post by DubipR on Oct 29, 2014 20:49:07 GMT -5
DUBIPR'S #1FAUST #1-12 Written by David Quinn Drawn by Tim Vigil Published by Northstar Press & Rebel Studios (1989 to 2001) The reason I chose Faust 1 to 12 as my first choice is because this is perhaps one of the finest post-modern horror comics put out. The story's a bit convoluted but it packed a such a wallop in terms the horrors within man, the spirit and journey into our deepest thoughts and just bats**t insanity of bloodshed, violence and sex that I ever encountered. David Quinn's script of a mental patient having an affair with his nurse. Demons, gross monsters of all perversions, and naked bodies that would rival any EC comic. The real draw of the book is the amazing artwork by Tim Vigil. Vigil's wonderful attention to detail is on par with Bernie Wrightson's work. It's just so lush and nothing gets marred as Vigil draws the bloodshed and craziness.   While it took close to 12 years for the last 3 issues (13 to 15 came out after our requirements), the series as a whole is so chock full of demons, gore, blood, eyeballs, body parts, naked body parts....it's creepy but so fascinating to see the immense detail Vigil laid out there.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 29, 2014 21:03:53 GMT -5
That is some crazily detailed art. That musculature is out of this world.
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