House of Horror 14 - On Marz No One Can Hear You Scream

darkstarz · February 22, 2021, 4:32am

Greetings horror hounds,

Over 70% of the United States is currently covered in snow for the first time since 2003! I am hoping these comics and events will help keep you warm.

If you have not seen my message to everyone in House of Horror, Ron Marz the writer of Batman/Aliens (one of many great titles) will be doing a Q+A on 2/24/21!!!

Also, if you have seen my message you already know we are going to read Batman/Aliens. This is a fun book that had me on the edge of my seat. If this were a movie there would be plenty of jump scares. Up next we are returning to House of Horror favorite, Plunge! Plunge issue 5 is sure to be a great read as I have learned to trust anything Joe Hill does at Hill House. I do have to mention that this book is rated 17+ and is absolutely not for the kiddos! However, we do have Scooby-Doo 46 on our reading list and everyone of all ages can enjoy it. The last book that we will read is Vertigo Visions: The Phantom Stranger.

Books to read
Batman/Aliens 1 (1997) (rated 12+)

Batman/Aliens 2 (1997) (rated 12+)

Plunge 5 (2020) (rated 17+)

Vertigo Visions: The Phantom Stranger 1 (1993) (rated 17+)

Scooby-Doo 46 (1997) (rated 0+)

If you enjoyed these books and are excited about DC Black Label books on DCUi I strongly suggest you join That Black Label Life.

If you haven’t joined the House of Horror all you need to do is click the “join button” here!
If you are new and would like to catch up on what we have read you can check out the House of Horror library here !

There are a few new horror comics hitting comic store shelves this week! We might not be reading the books right away and some of them might even be discussed in other clubs upon release. Think of this as a preview of what might be lurking in the dark corners of House of Horror.

Released on 3/2

darkstarz · February 18, 2021, 4:44pm

Batman/Aliens was a lot of fun. The first issue was a lot of world-building while introducing you to Deadman’s Hand, the team of soldiers that Batman encounters. The second issue is where the gold is though. Between issues 1 and 2, Batman fell asleep and he dreams he is leaving the movies with his parents. Instead of being shot, his parents die by Xenomorphs coming out of their stomachs! The jump scares don’t end there. There are twists and turns that I was not expecting but I enjoyed the ride!

Ron Marz did a great job weaving a story in a very unlikely crossover, bringing Batman into the world of Aliens. Bernie Wrightson was highly effective in adapting Marz’ script. Wrightson was no stranger to horror comics as he was the co-creator of Swamp Thing and the character Destiny (Weird Mystery Tales issue 1) that would later be used in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman universe. He did leave DC to work for Warren Comics and worked on Creepy Magazine and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The artwork in Batman/Aliens ranges from majestic to out-right scary.

I do have a quick question that I will leave in a poll, are you interested in doing an Aliens watch along? This is currently on HBOMax in both the regular and extended versions!

Would you participate in an Aliens watch along?

Yes
No

0 voters

If you do want to participate in an Aliens watch along, which version would you want to watch?

Theatrical Version
Extended Version

0 voters

Angel.Azrael · February 19, 2021, 4:48pm

Batman/Aliens sounds right up my alley. Gonna give that one a read.

darkstarz · February 19, 2021, 7:12pm

Please do! This was a great read with great artwork.

Angel.Azrael · February 20, 2021, 5:18pm

Just got some free time and finished both 1 and 2. The journeys end results were a bit predictable but it was still a very fun read full of classic alien story clichés. Also, you are right about the artwork. Those xenomorph’s were wonderfully drawn.

darkstarz · February 21, 2021, 2:58am

I am happy you enjoyed this! Have you read any of Plunge yet? It is rated 17+ but it is worth a read if you are fine with that rating.

Angel.Azrael · February 21, 2021, 6:25am

I have not read that yet. For a matter of fact, I’ve hardly read anything Black Label. I might check it out though. The 17+ rating is not very bothering for me cause I’m not to chicken but, things such as possessed dolls and kids give me the creeps.

darkstarz · February 21, 2021, 7:25am

You are in luck, for the time being. Plunge has neither of those!

darkstarz · February 23, 2021, 5:39am

I should be thinking about getting some sleep but comic need to be read and Plunge 5 is the perfect late night read. This issue is chock full of absolute craziness in all of the right ways. There is betrayal, even if it wasn’t a surprising betrayal, a death, and a plunge into the deep sea!

While Basketful of Heads wanted to tease/remind us that Joe Hill is the son of Stephen King, I believe he has come into his own. Yes, he happens to also write horror but his voice is very distinctive. This chapter in the Plunge saga has only cemented this for me. I can’t wait for issue 6 and then I can’t wait to binge read this whole story once the entire series is on DCUI.

msgtv · February 24, 2021, 1:35am

Gotta Plunge
Also, didn’t realize we were getting the new Swamp Thing in stores so soon. I’m there for it.

darkstarz · February 24, 2021, 3:34am

I put it on my pull list last week and my LCS guy wasn’t aware it was coming out yet.

darkstarz · February 24, 2021, 11:37pm

In case you missed the Ron Marz Q&A, here is a response from Ron Marz regarding how Batman/Aliens came to be:

Live Q&A w/ Ron Marz, Comic Writer of GREEN LANTERN, SUPERBOY, & More, Wed 2/24 @2pm PT/5pm ET!

Live Q&A w/ Ron Marz, Comic Writer of GREEN LANTERN, SUPERBOY, & More, Wed 2/24 @2pm PT/5pm ET!

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions. How did Batman/Aliens come to be, considering it is a crossover with DC and Dark Horse? How do you prepare yourself when taking on a project like this compared to something like Endless Winter or Green Lantern?

Batman-Aliens came out of conversation I had with artist Bernie Wrightson when we were driving back from NYC together. Bernie lived 1.5 miles down the road from my house, and we were close friends. Bernie suggested the pairing, and we both liked the idea a lot, so Bernie contacted Bob Schreck, who was an editor at Dark Horse at the time to pitch the idea.

We honestly never expect them to really approve it, since we would need Dark Horse, DC and 20th Century Fox to approve … but lo and behold, they did! We then realized we need to come up with an actual story, not just the idea of the crossover, so we put our heads togther and came up with the story as it exists. Bernie said he didn’t want to draw buildings or cars, so that’s why it’s set in the jungle and Mayan ruins.

I got to go over to his studio regularely and watches the pages come together. Just a wonderful experience. One of the originals hangs in my office now. I miss Bernie dearly.

darkstarz · February 25, 2021, 8:02pm

Reading Vertigo Visions: The Phantom Stranger was sobering, to say the least. The grim setting of Hell was an interesting choice and how it was portrayed was even more interesting. I will admit, it took me more than a few pages to get into this story but then before I knew it I had finished the book. When I first started reading this, the art was off-putting. After reading comics with a more slick style, it was jarring at first to get used to cross-hatch shading and minimalist coloring. It did grow on me and I loved this page:

The colors were vibrant and alive across each panel.

Regarding Phantom Stranger, I am not too knowledgeable about him but from what I have read in the past, this version seemed darker, maybe even lost at times. Granted, he was the one leading Naomi through the nursing home, he seemed more passive than I remember him being. I am hoping DCUI will see more Vertigo Visions titles in the future!

What are your thoughts on Vertigo Visions: The Phantom Stranger?

I am sure when many people saw Scooby-Doo on the reading list it was probably passed over. However, there is a method to my madness. Considering that Plunge was written by Joe Hill, I couldn’t resist a Scooby-Doo story about a horror novelist being haunted.

The novelist bares a certain resemblance to a writer but I just cannot put my finger on it.

All joking aside, the first story wasn’t bad. It is short at 10 pages. The second story was also short but I didn’t enjoy it as much. It wasn’t bad but it was kind of weird and reminded me of one of the lamer episodes of the cartoon series.

msgtv · March 1, 2021, 12:56am

Well Steve Kingman, just read issue 5 of Plunge by your son Joe Hillman. Someone must have already snapped up the tv and film rights to this and Basket. Just fantastic.

darkstarz · March 1, 2021, 1:03am

I am hoping you are right. These books have been fantastic and we still have an issue or two of Plunge. (I can’t remember if there are 6 or 7 issues)

They would be perfect on HBOmax as I can’t think of what other networks would be able to do them justice.