Halloween comes early for Archie Comics in August

Lil’ Jinx hosts an Archie Horror one-shot, while a classic Archie story revisits the world of “Mirrordale.”

Archie Comics is starting the Halloween festivities early this year — well, early for most people. My wife actually starts decorating for Halloween at the beginning of September, and she’d probably go even earlier if I let her.

But I digress — Archie’s solicitations bring news of three Halloween-themed projects for the publisher. First up is Jinx’s Grim Fairy Tales, an anthology of spooky stories hosted by Lil’ Jinx, a character created in 1946 by Joe Edwards.

“Jinx is a character we’ve been wanting to explore more and we’re so excited we finally get the chance to . . . and what better way than having her as the cool babysitter who scares kids with creepy stories?” said Jamie L. Rotante, Archie’s senior director of editorial . “I mean, her name is JINX, how perfect is that? We were so happy we were able to blend the framework of spooky fairy tales and Jinx as our eager narrator and protagonist.”

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Sunday Comics | Happy Halloween!

Check out spooky webcomics by Janie Lee, Grant Snider, Sarah Hopkins and more.

Here’s a round up of some of the best comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below.

It’s my last legal day of the year to share spooky things with the universe, so I thought I’d dedicate this edition of Sunday Comics to all things Halloween. Or, to be more specific, to Halloween-themed webcomics, whether they provide tricks, treats or just plain old creeps.

Let’s start with Camp Counselor Jason, a series of comics by Junkmix, aka Janie Lee, that features a different take on Jason Voorhees and other horror icons. In Jason’s case, the Cap Creek Lake murder machine from the Friday the 13th movies isn’t the maniac you find in the movies — instead, he “becomes a camp counselor to make sure no kids ever drown on his watch.”

He’s still got his machete and hockey mask, though.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Prepare for Halloween with a look at this week’s spooky comics

Check out new comics and graphic novels coming out this week by James Tynion IV, Matthew Rosenberg, Eddy Barrows, Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale, Mike Mignola and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital this week. And this week things get spookier than normal — so spooky, in fact, with so many horror-themed comics, that I’m doing two editions of Can’t Wait for Wednesday — this super scary one and a regular, not-so-scary one coming tomorrow.

Check out the spin-tingling highlights below, or visit Diamond’s website for this week’s almost complete list of new comics arriving in stores. You can visit Lunar Distribution’s home page to see DC’s releases and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

I should also add that the list of what is actually arriving at your local shop can vary from what’s on anyone’s official website for a myriad of reasons — so always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Things get spooky in this week’s new releases

New comics arrive this week from Steve Orlando, Cian Tormey, John McCrea, Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Christopher Sebela and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital this week. And this week things get spookier than normal as your favorite comic companies start releasing all sorts of horror and Halloween-themed comics. I’ve even got previews of a couple of them.

Check out a few highlights below, or visit Diamond’s website for this week’s almost complete list of new comics arriving in stores. You can visit Lunar Distribution’s home page to see DC’s releases, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

I should also add that the list of what is actually arriving at your local shop can vary from what’s on anyone’s official website for a myriad of reasons — so always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

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Sunday Comics | Leftover Halloween candy

Check out recent comics from Jim Rugg, Roger Langridge, Ellen Forney and more.

Here’s a round up of some of the best comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below.

I know Halloween was yesterday, but all the candy from last night is still good, right? It didn’t expire at midnight, and neither did this Halloween-themed Street Angel comic from Jim Rugg (which is actually a few years old at this point, so don’t eat it. Just read it).

It features the title character doing her thing on Halloween night as she teams up with a new friend.

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‘Red Rain’ Batman sinks his teeth into ‘Secrets of Sinister House’ one-shot

DC’s annual Halloween anthology features new stories by John Layman, Paul Dini, Rafael Albuquerque, Tom Raney and more.

DC’s annual Halloween anthology will return in October with a new story set in the world of Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, among other stories.

Rafael Scavone and Rafael Albuquerque will co-write the story about vampire Batman, with art by Rafael Albuquerque. Albuquerque’s the co-creator of American Vampire, so he’s very familiar with fanged monsters. Released in the 1990s and created by Dog Moench and Kelley Jones, Red Rain was one of the earliest “Elseworlds” stories published by DC. It spawned two sequels.

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Comics Lowdown: Halloween edition

Tricks and treats from Marvel, Todd Klein, Kerry Callen and more!

It’s the scariest day of the year, and to help celebrate we’re doing something a little different with Comics Lowdown today.

Let’s start with something better than candy — better than candy? — comics! Every year Diamond Comics Distributors celebrates Halloween ComicFest, an event for comic shops similar in spirit to Free Comic Book Day. You can check out the official website to see pictures from this year’s celebrations. Also of note: many comic shops are selling packs of comics that you can give out to Trick or Treaters. So check with your local retailer to see what they have on hand.

And if you’re looking for some scary comics to read today, publishers have unleashed a horde of Halloween-themed stories today. Polygon spotlights the return of Wytches, as Scott Snyder and Jock return to hex you with a one-shot today. Speaking of hexing, Hex Wives, the new title by Ben Blacker and Mirka Andolfo from Vertigo, debuts today, along with the last issue of Wayward, a new issue of Stranger Things and some more Ice Cream Man, if you’re looking for something both sweet and creepy. In addition, new publisher Ahoy Comics has Edgar Allen Poe’s Snifter of Terror, featuring the work of Tom Peyer, Mark Russell, Shannon Wheeler and more, while Marvel has an Avengers Halloween Special and DC kicks off The Witching Hour crossover.

If you’re looking for a longer read, Doctor of Horror and Other Stories from Fantagraphics collects old EC horror stories, while Dark Horse has released H. P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories by manga creator Gou Tanabe.

Finally, if you’re looking for some deals, check out Dynamite’s Fall horror bundle on Groupees and ComixTribe’s Halloween flash sale.

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Inktober spotlight: Skottie Young

The creator of ‘I Hate Fairyland’ turns his pen to Carrie, Freddy, Leatherface and more this October.

In addition to being the spookiest month, October is also Inktober, an art challenge where artists from all over the world create a different ink drawing every day of the month. While the official Inktober site provides a list of “prompts” to help inspire artists, many of them choose their own themes.

With many comic artists are participating this year — you can find a lot of them on Twitter or Tumblr using the #inktober hashtag, and we’ve been posting a bunch on our own Tumblr — we thought we’d spotlight a few of the “can’t miss” ones we’ve seen so far.

Skottie Young is an award-winning creator whose work includes I Hate Fairyland, Rocket Raccoon, Marvel’s Oz adaptations and Little Marvels. For Inktober, he’s been drawing horror icons in his unique style, including Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, Carrie and the not-so-scary Casper the Friendly Ghost. You can find some of them below, and see more on his Tumblr.

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Check out Colleen Coover’s ‘Rose’s Heart’ on Webtoon

The ‘Bandette’ creator shares a spooky story from 2012, which will also appear in the upcoming ‘Gothic Tales Of Haunted Love.’

Multiple Eisner Award winner Colleen Coover just announced a new issue of her wonderful comic Bandette is coming out in October, which is awesome news — but if you’re jonesin’ for a fix of her gorgeous artwork right now, you can check out a gothic horror story she did back in 2012.

“Rose’s Heart,” Coover’s homage to “the horror tales of the comics of the 1970s,” is now available on Line Webtoon for your reading pleasure. It’s a quick read best experienced on your mobile device, but it’ll get you through the next few weeks until the new Bandette story is available.

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DC Comics recruits horror writers for ‘DC House of Horrors’

The Halloween-themed one-shot arrives Oct. 25.

DC Comics will once again bring some frightening fun to the DC universe with a Halloween-themed one-shot titled DC House of Horrors.

The anthology will feature stories by horror writers Brian Keene, Weston Ochse, Edward Lee, Mary SanGiovanni, Wrath James White, Nick Cutter, Ronald Malfi and Bryan Smith. They’ll work with Rags Morales, Bilquis Evely, Howard Porter, Scott Kolins, Dale Eaglesham and other artists “for some short stories that will keep you reading late into the night.”

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Trick or Treat with ‘Street Angel’ this Halloween

Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca’s orphan ninja celebrates the season in this Halloween tale.

Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca have posted several Street Angel comics on the web over the past year, and this month brings a Halloween-themed comic featuring a ghost, trick or treating, and of course candy.

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Cats break out the jugs and washboards in Chris Schweizer’s latest papercraft

Chris Schweizer wants your desk to be festive for all holidays, not just Christmas. Following last year’s Paper Nativity set, he’s created a fun, fall-themed Black Cat Jug Band.

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