Halloween: 30 Years of Terror #1

Halloween: 30 Years of Terror #1 (Devil’s Due Productions)
By Stefan Hutchinson, Danijel Zezelj, Jim Daly, Brett Weldele, Jeffrey Zornow, Lee Ferguson, Tim Seeley

Devil’s Due returns to their popular comics based on the Halloween franchise with an all-new special celebrating the 30th anniversary of the original film. Five short stories, all written by Stefan Hutchinson (the man who was behind the 25th anniversary documentary about the franchise) delve into lots of different aspects of the mythos. The first tale slips in-between scenes of the original movie, putting us in the heads of the old couple Laurie sends her babysitting charges to for help. A highly effective silent story gives us the point of view of one of Michael’s victims. The third story is a little less clear — we seep into the dreams of a woman in a sanatarium, and although it’s never made explicitly clear, I think the character is supposed to be Laurie Strode. Perhaps someone who’s a bigger Halloween fan than I am could tell for sure. Next is a really weird tale, a snippet from an old horror comic about a “Tarantula Man.” I’m not entirely sure where Hutchinson is going with this one — the cartoonist who reads the old comic is clearly inspired by Michael Myers, but the connection is tentative. It’s a really good story, I’m just not sure where it fits. The book ends with a tale of Dr. Loomis, the Javert to Michael’s Jean ValJean, and Hutchinson does a great job of explaining the horror he must have felt every day of his life. The Halloween comics have really been good, and as long as Hutchinson stays with them, I’m confidant they’ll stay that way.

Rating: 8/10