In the News section today, we talk about essential horror heroes like Constantine, Swamp Thing, and The Spectre. What are DC Heroes are must-reads for horror fans?
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ZATANNA!
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Solomon Grundy!
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Swamp Thing is the guy If he is not around Deadman
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Swamp thing and the Spectre are my must reads to anyone maybe along with phantom stranger and deadman
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I love the Creeper. Some cool horror stuff was incorporated into his lore in the 2000s, like that his laughter registers on a frequency keyed into a primitive part of the human brain that triggers a primal animal terror, making people react viscerally like monkeys to the roar of a tiger.
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As both major companies have lots of analogues, I think DC’s supernatural elements set them aside from Marvel the same way that the X-Men do conversely. So because of that I think they should lean into these elements more. JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK was one of the better books of the New 52 and both it and Frankenstein Agents of S.H.A.D.E. would be great to relaunch. DeadMan, Constantine, Swamp Thing, Blue Devil, Zatanna, Shazam, Sandman, et al should all be front and center! The JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK animated movie is among the best movies (in my opinion) DC has produced. MORE MAGIC!!!
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Offhand…Etrigan. He’s one of my very favorite Kirby DC characters.
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Well other than those 3, I’d say Frankenstein is a good fit. Otherwise, a good portion of the Vertigo imprint could be considered Horror. Same goes for Cain and Abel form the House of Mysteries/Secrets series are pretty horror based, just not heroes.
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A lot of people seem to be talking as if horror and magic are the same thing, which is not quite true. Then again, I also can’t really think of a major horror character that’s not magic, and most of the magic-themed characters have showed up in horror books at least every now and then.
I haven’t read many (any, as far as I can remember) DC horror books, but at least my favorite character who’s been used regularly in the horror setting is the Phantom Stranger. Maybe Zatanna, though I’m only uncertain because I tend to think of her as more in line with a “traditional” superhero than a horror character.
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The Phantom Stranger…good stuff man. Good stuff.
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The Spectre in Adventure Comics.
Supposedly Editor Steve Orlando had been mugged and ordered a particularly vengeful approach to the character.
He would turn a criminal into wood and then silce him into pieces, as the poor soul retained consciousness.
How the approach works can be seen in the short follwing the superman and shazam team up movie in our library.
As Jim Steranko said in his book on super heroes, no social work for him.
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The Spectre is my favorite
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Who wouldn’t? Bill Lumbergh plays him!
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Sandman
The Demon
Swamp Thing
Frankenstein
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Constantine & Swamp Thing all day, bro
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Booster Gold. <3
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Deadman, Shadowpact, The Demon
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Definitely Deadman, Constantine, Sandman and The Spectre! The MUST READ would be Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing (can’t wait for the show).
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