Redartz: Welcome, comics and Halloween fans. Enter freely and of your own will...
Comics and Halloween; both so full of fun, it's only natural they'd pick up elements of each other. Kind of like Reese's Cups- "You got chocolate in my peanut butter"; "You got peanut butter on my chocolate". Today we will chat about some of those blending experiences. And I might have to run out and grab some Reese's cups for our Halloween candy dish...
One obvious area where comics and Halloween intertwine is, well, comics. I've gotten in the habit of, each year, selecting a few appropriate books to leaf through on Halloween night. There might be a "Tomb of Dracula", or a "Swamp Thing", probably some old monster reprints. But there also will be some Archie Halloween tales, definitely a "Sugar and Spike" issue (Sheldon Mayer never failed to salute All Hallow's Eve on the cover of his classic kid kaper). And most assuredly, there will be an issue of Simpson's "Treehouse of Horror".
Speaking of the denizens of Springfield, that brings us to another annual aspect of Halloween: the specials on tv! My wife and I unfailingly catch "The Great Pumpkin", and Garfield's Halloween Special (both on dvd, conveniently). On the Sunday night nearest Halloween, we always devour "Simpsons Treehouse of Horror", a Halloween tradition for many years now. Those episodes are among the series' best. This season wasn't any different...
What else does Halloween have to offer? Trick-or-treating, and costumes, of course. One of my earliest Halloween memories was of dressing up as Casper. Surprisingly I never went as Spider-Man, but in college I did attend a Halloween party dressed as Mr. X (from the 80's Vortex series by Paul Rivoche). I sadly have no photographic record of that occasion, but I looked pretty much like this (bald head wig included):
Now, at our house this year, there won't be any tricks, but there will be treats. But not just candy; also comics! Giving away (age appropriate, of course) comics with the candy might bring a smile to some of the neighborhood kids. It will help clear a few from my 'dispose of' pile, and it may just help create a few future comics fans. And I'm not alone in this: last week I stopped by our local comic shop, and they were selling bags of Casper Halloween comics, already prepped for trick-or-treats! Man, I'd have loved that when I was going door-to-door as a kid.
So we can see there are many ways that the fun of comics and the fun of Halloween can combine. Perhaps you have some more examples. Do you have any Halloween traditions? Any favorite Halloween-themed comics? Maybe you were the one who did dress up as Spider-Man. Tell us your thoughts, and I'll give you an extra handful from the treat bowl!