Before we get into what we are reading @LaserPuff and I would like to give @AK_Bandit and @rpspider73.231 a warm House of Horror welcome. Please don’t mind the dust, sometimes older comics, even when brought back for a 4 issue one-shot series can collect dust.
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!
This week we are going to check out National Comics from 2012. During the New 52 era, DC decided to release 4 books under the National Comics banner that would give 4 lesser-known characters a new twist.
Don’t forget to DISCUSS what you read!!! Did you read these books when they came out? Did you want more than the single issues that we got?
A few new horror comics are 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 5/25
Did you check the newest addition to the House of Horror? The floors are a bit creaky but I promise they are sturdy. @LaserPuff has taken the helm of the Fresh Frights and I have been enjoying the fresh comics featured! What is Fresh Frights, you ask? These are only the freshest horror jams on DCUI!!! While we might be checking these books out at a later time, I know many of you Horror Hounds are sure to be flipping the digital pages of these books before we get to them as a club!
I would love to see more of Rose and Thorn! I feel like they pop up every once in a while to keep me happy but they deserve a full on back story in let’s say a DC Horror jam.
I ended up reading Looker first, it was fun. It was high fashion meets the world of vampires and demons. Emily Briggs is a new vampire with her crew of confidantes who tries to protect the world of fashion from the clutches of evil. She doesn’t have power and knowledge of Andrew Bennett. She uses her powers along with her knowledge of the rich and famous to help those in her community of super models. All while running her fashion agency, Looker.
I read Madam X. I really feel like this has so much potential for a law show. The idea of a fortune teller working for a law firm works on so many levels. I really like Madam X’s fall from grace. Makes her more interesting.
Eternity, was pretty good. Kid Eternity can communicate with the dead which you think would be fairly convenient as a coroner. The story is pretty cool. There is a twist at the end that I really enjoyed.
I am reading the 4 books now and will post as I finish each book.
Eternity has a Constantine vibe that I am definitely down with. The story was fun and kept me fully interested. The crime being solved while telling the story of what happened to the dead guy had a few twists I wasn’t expecting. Jeff Lemire did a great job with this story. If only he has written more horror comics…
I really liked Looker, a lot! If there is one thing I am noticing with this New 52 National Comics series is that I want more after reading each title. One thing that caught me off guard with Looker was how much it reminded me of Witchblade, which I absolutely love and totally suggest the Ron Marz run of that series. The action and story both fit that mold and that isn’t a bad thing, in my opinion. The aspect that I really dug was that Looker has sort of a team and they seemed like good supporting characters. I guess we will never know how good of supporting characters they are.
Now onto Madame X. There is a cool vibe to this book and I enjoyed it but it felt like it wasn’t sure of itself. Most of the book reminded me of Doorway to Nightmare where Madame Xanadu was not the main character. I guess, I mean this read more like a horror anthology story than a full-on Madame X(anadu) book. There is nothing wrong with that and I really enjoy anthology horror but it didn’t feel even to me.
Now for the last book of the National Comics one-shots, Rose & Thorn. This could have been a GREAT book if it wasn’t regulated to a cliffhanger ending in a one-shot. The building of the world and characters was good but I was left with only a taste of what could have been.
After reading all 4 books for the first time since they came out was an interesting experience. I have concluded that these were all possible ideas for ongoing series in the Edge line-up and instead of throwing them away they released one issue of each. Horror comics in the early 2010s weren’t selling unless the name Kirkman was attached to it. You can make an argument for Swamp Thing, Animal Man, and a few others but I have to wonder if the Edge line-up was a reaction to Image and Walking Dead mixed with the shuttering of Vertigo.