By Andrew A. Smith
Tribune Content Agency
What makes Halloween fun are the three Cs: Costumes, Candy and ... Comics!
Diamond Comic Distributors Inc., the largest distributor of comics in North America, is partnering with local comic shops to give away free comic books on the last Saturday in October as part of the fourth annual Halloween ComicFest. As luck would have it, ComicFest this year falls on Oct. 31, when the barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead is at its weakest!
(I heard that in a movie somewhere, and it has nothing to do with ComicFest. I just think it sounds cool.)
Every year Halloween ComicFest gets bigger, like its summer counterpart, Free Comic Book Day, held on the first Saturday in May. This year, for example, ComicFest has famed TV horror host Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, as a spokesman (http://bit.ly/Elvira_PromotesHCF2015).
Diamond is also sponsoring the fourth "Greatest Halloween Costume Contest Ever," with the grand prize a $500 shopping spree at a local comic shop. Participants need only take a selfie while in costume and showcasing one of the 13 free comics or eight minicomics being given away, and uploading the image to Diamond. (There are five categories, and the contest ends Nov. 10. For specific details, go to the ComicsFest Facebook page, facebook.com/halloweencomicfests, or the website, halloweencomicfest.com.)
Diamond is also partnering with Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) and its Teal Pumpkin Project to raise awareness of food allergies. Now, what that amounts to is that Diamond is making available packets of the all-ages minicomics for sale throughout October to give away on Halloween instead of candy. Because, while peanuts and gluten can be frightening to some, nobody's allergic to comics!
Which brings us to the important part of ComicFest, those colorful pamphlets that weaken the barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead! OK, they don't do that, but they can spark the imagination, especially for the little monsters. There are eight minicomics this year:
* BITTEN: Based on best-selling young-adult author Cornelia Funke's "Little Werewolft," this short story is set in the world of the upcoming graphic novel "Bitten."
* BOON HALLOWEEN HAUNT: This anthology features three spooky tales involving Adventure Time, Steven Universe and the Lumberjanes.
* GARLICKS: This book features a new character, Olive, a curious butcher's apprentice who decides to crash a monster's party on Halloween Eve. Disguised as a goofy vampire alpaca, she meets an equally goofy vampire horse named Vourdain. But what is Olive going to do when it's morning and time for all monsters to unmask?
* GRIMMISS ISLAND: The Volcano Goddess threatens the Mama Woogees' tiny island! If that makes sense to you, you're already familiar with skull-headed little Grimmiss and his Dark Horse comic book.
* SKYLANDERS HALLOWEEN SPECTACULAR: Based on the popular video game, this book features the candy villainy of Pain-Yatta (groan) and a preview of the upcoming "Skylanders" Volume 4 from IDW.
* SPOOK A RAMA: This all-ages adventure features new characters in the spirit of The Goonies and Monster Squad.
* WORLD OF ARCHIE: At the best Halloween party in Riverdale, the monsters aren't wearing costumes! Inside joke: The cover features Betty commenting on Jughead's costume, "Jughead as a zombie? Who'd believe that?" For readers of the mature-readers horror comic "Afterlife with Archie," it's no joke!
* YO-KAI WATCH: Based on the video game, this story stars a boy whose watch allows him to see invisible ghosts and monsters called Yo-kai.
There are also 13 full-size comics, four of which are rated "Teen Plus" for adults to enjoy. They are:
* HARLEY QUINN #1 SPECIAL EDITION: This reprint of "Harley Quinn" #1 sees the Clown Princess of Crime trying her hand at roller derby.
* SABRINA #1: Archie has re-launched its Teenage Witch in a mature-readers horror title, and this repirint features the first issue, in which Sabrina must choose between her sorcerous heritage and her mortal boyfriend.
* VAMPBLADE FEATURING ZOMBIE TRAMP: This reprint features a contest between the undead escort of Action Lab's black-comedy title "Zombie Tramp" and a new character called Vampblade, who is a satirical cross between Dynamite's Vampirella and Marvel's Blade the Vampire Hunter.
* JUNJ ITO: FRAGMENTS OF HORROR: The famous horror manga artist Junji Ito presents three Halloween-themed tales, involving the funny, the terrifying and the naughty.
The other nine comics are presumably all ages, and include:
* ACTIONVERSE: Action Lab Entertainment ties together all its creator-owned superhero properties in this title, including Midnight Tiger, Molly Danger and Stray.
* ADVENTURES OF PSYCHO BONKERS: The publisher Aspen offers stories, puzzles, coloring pages and more.
* BATMAN ADVENTURES #1 SPECIAL EDITION: This Bat-reprint comes from a series based on "Batman: The Animated Series."
* BIRTH OF KITARO: A yokai story by the legendary manga artist Shigeru Mizuki.
* DOCTOR STRANGE OATH #1: This reprint stars Marvel's Master of the Mystic Arts, who is scheduled to get his own movie in 2016.
* DONALD DUCKS HALLOWEEN SCREAM #1: Nobody does Halloween better than Disney's ducks!
* GRIMM TALES OF TERROR: WEB OF DECEIT: This reprint features horror tales by creators at Zenescope Entertainment.
* STAN LEE`S CHAKRA THE INVINCIBLE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL: The character from "Angry Birds ToonsTV" enjoys some spooky tales around a campfire.
* ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN AND AVENGERS #1: Based on the animated TV shows, these adventures pit Marvel's heroes against Dracula and Dr. Strange's foe Nightmare.
To lay your claws on these comics, you need only find a participating local comic shop, and Halloweencomicfest.com offers a locator service to do so. And who knows -- if you read all these comics, maybe you'll weaken the wall between the world of the living and the world of the dead!
Reach Captain Comics by email (capncomics@aol.com), the Internet (comicsroundtable.com), Facebook (Captain Comics Round Table) or Twitter (@CaptainComics).
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