House of Horror 15 - Justice League Horrors Week 1 (3/4-3/10)

Greetings Horror Hounds!

If you are anything like me, you are probably pretty excited for the extra-long Justice League Snyder Cut coming out this month on HBOMax. To celebrate this re-release of one of my favorite movies we are going to be focusing on some of the horrific stories found in the pages of the Justice League! House of Horror is also changing back to a weekly format!

Before we get started, let’s welcome our newest members! @kstrack4, @Monkey3s, and @keithbbailey.60996 I hope each of you finds your stay in the House of Horror as pleasant as possible, just don’t mind the creatures under the beds or the ghouls in the corners.

:st_swamp_thing2: If you missed a House of Horror event have no fear! Here is a list of every HoH topic! Feel free to jump into the conversation no matter how old the topic is! :st_swamp_thing:

Every House of Horror Ever!!!!

House of Horror 1 - House of Mystery
House of Horror 2
House of Horror 3 - Renegade Robins Crossover!!!
House of Horror 4 - Harley’s Crew Crossover!!!
House of Horror 5 - Halloween Celebration!
House of Horror 6 - Vampires!
House of Horror 7 - Member Picks Vol. 1
House of Horror 8 - Winter Specials - Harley’s Crew Crossover
House of Horror 9 - Happy Holidays!
House of Horror 10 - Happy New Year!
House of Horror 11- Week Before DC Universe Infinite!
House of Horror 12 - Plunging Into The Infinite
House of Horror 13 - A Frightening Valentine
House of Horror 14 - On Marz No One Can Hear You Scream

Before we get into the horrors that the Justice League has found itself in, I thought it would be fun to try something different. As many of you already know, The Swamp Thing 1 was released this week in stores and fine digital outlets. You can discuss this brand new book, spoilers and all here!
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On top of Justice League books, we are going to read House of Horror seal approved Plunge 6! Seriously, I love this series and I strongly suggest John Carpenter’s Lost Themes II be on in the background. The music is eerie and completely fits the Plunge vibes. I do have to say that Plunge is rated 17+ and is absolutely NOT for the kiddos. Also if you dig Plunge, you might want to check out That Black Label Life for more Black Label goodness!

Without further adieu, we are going to read JLA/Spectre: Soul War! This is sure to be a fun read as JLA and Spectre team up to stop a villain from attacking psychics across the country!

If you want to read even more Justice League you should check out the Justice League Book Club where they are reading Metal right now!

:books:Books to read:books:

JLA/Spectre: Soul War 1 (2003) (rated 12+)


JLA/Spectre: Soul War 2 (2003) (rated 12+)

Plunge 6 (2020) (rated 17+)

:st_swamp_thing: Discuss :st_swamp_thing2:
Don’t forget to tell us what you liked or hated about the books we are reading this week!

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 3/9
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Thanks for the JLBC plug, @D4RK5TARZ! :+1:t2:

SN: Miss Cleo ads. I remember seeing those during USA Up All Night. Good stuff.

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Thanks for having me. Love horror comics.

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Thanks for joining!!! I have a lot of fun books planned this month!

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New Swamp Thing in my hands right now.

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If you have not read Plunge yet what are you even doing?!? This week’s book was the last chapter of the Plunge saga and I need MOAR!!!

This entire story has been an edge-of-your-seat page-turner that I was becoming impatient for the next book to drop on DCUI. I am sure this has been noticeable as I included the newest book as soon as I could. Joe Hill weaved a mind-bending story that Stuart Immonen adapted with horrifying artwork, especially when it counted.

There was not a page wasted or word bubble of inconsistent writing. If the rest of Hill House reaches even a fraction of the greatness that Plunge and Basketful of Heads hovered over, we are in for some great stuff!

Rating:
5 out 5 Lovecraftian tentacle monsters

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Plunge tomorrow, tonight new Swamp Thing. Very engaging first issue. Look, tone, story this could easily be a Hill House book.

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Wowsers! I just finished JLA/Spectre: Soul War and enjoyed this heady tale. The first thing that I noticed was how great the art was. I am guilty of really digging 90s comic book art and Soul War is a perfect example of what I crave.

The story was unbalanced, especially in the first half of part 1. I am sure everyone has had the experience of pressing play on a brand-spanking-new album from one of your favorite bands and it just doesn’t vibe with you. Then about halfway through the album, you see the potential and by the end of the album, you dig it and want to listen to it again with a different perspective. Once I got through the first half of book 1 is when things started to click in the same way a new album from a much-loved band. By the time I got to book I was all in. Maybe this Megazord version of JLA and Spectre had something to do with it.


Who knew Hal Jordan could pull off wearing Wonder Woman’s boots?

Things only got trippier from there and the horror soon followed and those horror scenes were definitely there. The idea of an alien species collecting psychics to take over the world is definitely early to mid-90s b-movie horror. Throwing in some of the world’s greatest superheroes is a stroke of genius.


This scene is definitely cool and wreaks of Flatliners without the made-for-film science.

I can’t say I was expecting body horror in this comic but maybe I should have been considering Plastic Man was on the JLA.

This is just great-looking monster art with hints of psychedelia.

The ending was pretty excellent and I can see many Batman fans really digging it. This is a book that isn’t very popular and often forgotten or overlooked but maybe it shouldn’t be. I want to thank @Vroom for pointing me in the right direction as I would never have found this.

What did everyone else think of this story?

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Hey sorry for the late response. I am trying to get used to using the community and exploring. I have been a member of DC Universe since the launch, and I just haven’t been involved with the community, but I am trying to get more and more involved. Thank you for the shoutout!

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While I am on the community often I don’t really explore it as much as I probably should. Great to have you here and I hope you enjoy your time in the House of Horror!

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I have a question. Are the Hill House books connected? And in an order that should be read?

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This is gonna be a weird answer. They are not connected but they are connected. Now for the explanation.

Plunge is not connected to Basketful of Heads or Daphne Byrne or Dollhouse Family. However, there is a back story that is connected. @hashtag-goodtobejo at the Black Label society has made a reading order for Sea Dogs.

We are not really focusing on that story in the House of Horror as we have been focusing on separate titles by themselves and not in release date reading order.

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That is awesome, thank you. I plan on finishing Basket Full of Heads this week. And as I will navigate this group. For some reason I can’t login to the community on my phone so I am limited of when i can get on.

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You should contact the help desk folks about that. I know it will go to your browser and then you have to sign in from there. I can’t wait to read your thoughts on Basketful of Heads!! I know there were some people here that would normally not read that title and really enjoyed it.

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I set a goal of reading one book a month this year, which has cut into my time for comics, but its something that I wanted to do and with that I am reading Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. All of that is to say that I am really excited to read Hill House and specifically Joe Hill. I have a huge list of things I am working through but Hill House and books in this group are certainly going to find their way into my evenings.

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Ok, so I finished the books. There was some stuff to like and a lot that I couldn’t get into. The League was brought together to handle a problem, the Trans, an extra dimensional entity that consumes the thoughts of planets inhabitants. I think I got what the trans were supposed to be but by the end I didn’t really care.

This is another team book that feels more like they were on a committee rather than a team. They voted whether to handle the issue that came to their doorstep. When it came to working together they just did their own things when they got into it and occasionally watched each other’s backs. I feel like the Harlem Globe Trotters work more like a team than these guys. There is no game plan there is no coordination, outside of Batman making ultimatums.

Speaking of plans. Why didn’t they leave someone behind to guard their bodies? Krypto, a robot, anything?

I know of Hal Jordan from movies and new 52 and I heard about the Parallax storyline but why on earth did they make him the Spectre. All he did was whine and run off by himself and get himself in trouble at every turn. At least Jim Corrigan knew what he was doing.

It felt like he brought the Justice League together to fix this problem because that was all he thought to do. He gave them no training on what to do, not that Hal knew what he was doing anyway. I get that they are used to improvising but they weren’t equipped.
Maybe a team with a little bit of magic or telepathic training would have been nice.

I feel like Martian Manhunter was WAY under utilized in this story. As with most stories that involve Batman he becomes the center of attention and ends up overcoming the obstacle with his tragic history. I’m sorry but Martian Manhunter is 1.) A telepath, he should have been right at home in the mental/afterlife and 2.) his tragedy is way worse than Batman. He lost his whole freak’n planet including family while he was an adult. If anyone has the will to go on with their life I’d think it would be J’onn. But he ends up getting transfixed by the Trans

Going back to Hal, why is Batman out willpower him. He was a green lantern, supposedly one of the universe’s best for goodness sake. Their job is to utilize willpower and imagination. Between that and the fact that he had the Specter’s powers he should have been able to do the job alone.

I liked that Plastic Man got his three panels of glory but again a character who their whole powerset lies in their imagination and he get’s taken out almost immediately after standing up to the Trans.

I can just keep going on and on, but at least the merged Justice League was kind of cool for that one panel.

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Regarding Hal Jordan, this was during his redemption tour. After Zero Hour and the whole Parallax thing, the Spectre was almost a logical step.

I agree that they could have had someone protect their bodies while they were doing the Flatliners thing but I am not sure even a robot would have been useful against the Trans.

How do i find threads for some of the older stories, for example Basketful of Heads?

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Hi there!

I have a library of every topic on the main club page. Some of the titles will point you in the right direction.

Every House of Horror Ever

House of Horror 1 - House of Mystery
House of Horror 2
House of Horror 3 - Renegade Robins Crossover!!!
House of Horror 4 - Harley’s Crew Crossover!!!
House of Horror 5 - Halloween Celebration!
House of Horror 6 - Vampires!
House of Horror 7 - Member Picks Vol. 1
House of Horror 8 - Winter Specials - Harley’s Crew Crossover
House of Horror 9 - Happy Holidays!
House of Horror 10 - Happy New Year!
House of Horror 11- Week Before DC Universe Infinite!
House of Horror 12 - Plunging Into The Infinite
House of Horror 13 - A Frightening Valentine
House of Horror 14 - On Marz No One Can Hear You Scream
House of Horror 15 - Justice League Horrors Week 1
House of Horror 16 - Justice League Horrors Week 2
House of Horror 17 - Justice League Horrors Week 3

Plunge will be HoH 12 and I think and if I am right Basketful of Heads is HoH 13 (Frightening Valentine).

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Thank you!

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