C3 Halloween: DC’s Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun

Happy Halloween, my friends! The signature spooky season has finally reached its absolute summit; the souls of the past are swirling high & low throughout the land and the populace is having a festive time within their many guises. On that note, I welcome you to the final entry of 2024’s special grab-bag version of the… All throughout this “Oops! All Anthology” edition, we’ve tackled various horror-themed comics that’ve had multiple stories to tell within their bounded pages.  From WildC.A.T.S. teammates delving into their past spooky encounters & brief glimpses into monstrous beings from the late 2000s that all have their own series at Image to an independent company from Southwest Pennsylvania doing its own take on an E.C. horror book and various DC figures having their own chronological encounters, we’ve seen various businesses handle this format in their own unique ways.  As a final bit of terrifying treats to hand out, we’ll be staying put at DC for our last go-around as we learn what other notable figures from their vast universe will have their own rendezvous with the otherworldly.  As such, we’ll be taking a look at a certain comic called… Published in October 2023, this book has eight tales to tell (just like last time) and some spooky ventures to share.  As such, let’s shamble on in and see what this has to offer. Our first story focuses on a familiar faceless detective, yet it’s not Vic Sage within the trench coat.  Either way, there’s some blood being spilled on the runway and somebody’s got to deal with this in “A Look To Die For (Writer: Ellen Tremiti, Artist & Colorist: Tyker Crook).  We open within the Gotham Arts District as Det. Renee Montoya is actually on patrol for the opening night of the city’s Halloween Fashion Week.  Despite a series of models falling to some mysterious deaths earlier in the month thus leading to some increased security for the event, it’s not preventing the attendees from enjoying the festivities.  Just as she narrates about how she actually agreed to work on crowd control for this occasion, she hears a series of loud noises as she discovers several large pieces of frozen meats that’ve fallen onto some innocent bystanders.  She then spots the culprit standing on a meat-packing truck over on the nearby parking garage gloating about this before she dashes inside in order to become her heroic identity of Question and engage the perp.  However, the fiend managed to get into the truck and drive off.  Fortunately, the criminal purposefully left behind several pieces of paper as she picks one up and reads it as it mentions that the criminal will unveil its master scheme one day from then over at Robinson Park.  Afterwards, she heads back to the crime scene in her heroic guise and begins to ask some models about a possible motive behind this attack.  However, they ultimate tell her that this was a highly creative moment that’s spreading like wildfire across the various social media platforms and that this is most likely a statement that’s far-more “real”.  Despite getting these responses, Renee simply narrates about how there’s a key connection that she’s missing.  We then shift ahead to the next night over at her apartment as she looks over various articles on her tablet in her continued effort to discover a key link to this whole ordeal.  Just then, she comes across a certain model that she recently talked to even though the article mentions how she lost her live a week ago. She then digs into the obituaries and discovers that all three models that she talked to mere hours ago were all actually deceased.  With her stunned by this revelation, she dons her Question identity and makes it over to Robinson Park for the final night of Gotham Fashion Week.  As she looks out from behind the curtains, she notices the familiar butcher’s truck on the far side of the runway.  With no time to wait while also not wanting to draw any unwanted attention, she soon discovers a hood & cape with an accompanying mace attached to a sash as she simply puts those on over her regular outfit and pretends to be a model.  With this quick-thinking act surprisingly working, she reaches the other side of the runway before she leaps off and approaches the butcher’s truck where the culprit is revealed to be Lazlo Valentin a.k.a. Professor Pyg.  She then demands to know why he’s been using corpses for his scheme before it’s then revealed that Pyg wasn’t operating on his own.  It turns out that he had teamed up with James Craddock a.k.a. Gentleman Ghost who used his Mortis Orb in order to take the souls from those fashion models.  In return, James helps Lazlo out with his ultimate end goal of using the various models in order to form them within his Undead Exhibition.  Question then responds by taking out her firearm and wounding Valentin’s leg.  However, Craddock uses his Mortis Orb to control two models and have them subdue Montoya.  He then manages to disarm her, yet she’s able to swing her sash around in order to use its attached mace and shatter the Mortis Orb.  With his control over the models eradicated, Gentleman Ghost is then wrapped up within the sash before he and Professor Pyg find themselves defeated.  Afterwards, the story ends with a bystander complimenting her look as Renee narrates about her having a new appreciation for Gotham Fashion Week. Our next tale sees a far-more familiar Emerald Knight teaming up with another notable hero in order to deal with a monstrous event within his hometown as he looks to deal with “The Shadow Over Coast City” (Writer: Kenny Porter, Artist: Riley Rossmo, Colorist: Ivan Plascencia).  We begin in Coast City, California at 11:35pm as a group of purple creatures are attacking a man while Hal Jordan a.k.a. Green Lantern learns from his Power Ring that it’s managed to find the convict that had recently escaped from its Sciencell.  It then informs Hal that Prisoner 8201890 is capable of turning a planet’s population into his own “children” via forced de-evolution, yet the process can be undone via its capture.  From there, Jordan attacks the monstrous beings in order to help the man who turns out to be Jason Blood.  Green Lantern then tells him to find some shelter since he can deal with this, yet Jason says that the being which has created these otherworldly entities has come from Hell, thus allowing him to properly engage the perp as he proceeds to transform into Etrigan The Demon.  As they fight and subdue the opposing monsters, Etrigan tells Green Lantern that he can deal with this by himself, yet Hal informs him that the escaped convict has fled to his hometown.  As such, it’s his duty to capture the fiend and save his fellow citizens.  Etrigan says that only magic can stop their foe, yet Jordan mentions how he’s read the criminal’s rap sheet and that there weren’t any mentions of either Hell or magic.  As such, he wants the Demon Knight to stay of this ordeal.  However, Etrigan resumes his vicious assault on the creatures despite Green Lantern telling him that they’re all captured humans that’ve been transformed into their monstrous figures as he’s able to protect them with his Power Ring.  Hal then vows to go after the Demon Knight once this scuffle ends, yet Etrigan mentions that his attacked has attracted the Brood towards them. Just as the main being shows up to attack them, the Demon Knight says that it’s escaped from Hell in order to spread its terror out into space.  With both Etrigan and Hal unwilling to compromise with each other, they decide to individually attack the massive creature.  However, the Demon Knight’s great strength and Jordan’s constructs are unable to deliver any significant damage to the monster while it’s able to assault them.  Thankfully, they come to realize that they need to join forces in order to finally bring their foe down.  Etrigan mentions how a binding spell would help them, but it won’t work since he doesn’t know their adversary’s name.  Thankfully, Green Lantern’s Power Ring is able to look up Prisoner 8201890’s actual name as it’s revealed to be Amphazeep, Frog Demon of the Depths.  From there, they set their plan into motion as Hal creates a spell circle with his Power Ring while speaking his oath before Etrigan uses the spell in order to banish the creature back to Hell.  With the captured humans transformed back into their regular forms, the tale ends with them promising each other to unite should the situation ever call for it again. Our next narrative sees a certain hero’s family member standing up against a neighborhood injustice within the spooky season in a yarn called “This Day, Anything Goes” (Writer: Michael W. Conrad, Artist: Christopher Mitten, Colorist: Ivan Plascencia).  We open at school where a young girl named Maxine is being picked on by a trio of boys tossing their food and milk at her.  As for the latter, she’s able to tap into the agile speed of a cat and dodge it before silently walking away.  During all of this, the narration reveals that she’s talking about this to (whom I assume it) the school’s guidance counselor as she admits that she doesn’t mind it since she mainly likes being alone.  Although those kids were being mean and constantly teasing her, she hasn’t told her teacher or her parents since she doesn’t see it as a big deal.  When she’s then asked if she feels safe, she admits that they can’t hurt her and that if her older brother Cliff was still alive, he would’ve fought them while also providing her with some protection.  She then says that even when she’s being bullied, she doesn’t think about her deceased brother in those moments.  From there, the session concludes with the therapist asking her if she has any plans for Halloween as Maxine simply saying that it mainly depends on what her parents say.  Later within the Baker household, Buddy a.k.a. Animal Man has informed his wife Ellen that Maxine wants to go trick-or-treating by herself.  Ellen is far-too concerned with letting their daughter go on this solo venture, yet Buddy says that he’ll ease her worries by simply watch their daughter from afar.  As he mentions how Maxine is growing into a smart, capable and mature person, she’s discreetly sneaks out at night before tapping into her father’s shared ability called “The Red” in order to gain the agile speed of a wolf before heading out to take care of a task.  We then shift to the next night where it’s Halloween where Maxine gets told by her mother to be home by eight as she simply walks across the street without looking.  Afterwards, Ellen sees that her superhero husband is actually wearing his regular costume with a trench coat over it as she tells him to keep a low profile while he looks after their daughter.  From there, he taps into “The Red” as he uses the agile abilities of various different animals in order to discreetly catch up to Maxine before he notices some trick-or-treaters fleeing from her as he initially believes that it’s due to her scary costume. However, one of the kids calls her “a witch” as he begins to suspect something being up as he taps into the aerial ability of a bird in order to keep a high-angle eye on her while he narrates about how he suspects his daughter has told other kids that her dad would go after anyone that messed with her.  We then flashback to the previous night where those same bully boys come across a young lad named Bobbie as the head goon named Isaac pushes him over while falsely assuming that he’s somehow going to cover his house in toilet paper since it’s Devil’s Night.  Just as they’re about to pelt Bobbie with some eggs, Maxine approaches them as she uses “The Red” to threaten them with some deceased animals before telling the bullies to flee.  As the bullies get chased off by the reanimated corpses, she helps Bobbie up and gets thanked for helping him out before she tells him that she even has a moniker called Animal Girl.  We then return to Halloween as Maxine meets up with Bobbie just an Animal Man catches up and quickly hides behind a bush.  As the two of them head off to do some trick-or-treating, Buddy calls up Ellen to inform her about their daughter making a new friend before some random kids mistaken him for a Peeping Tom.  He says that he’s an actual member of the Justice League, but they ultimately pelt him with some eggs.  From there, the narrative ends with Baker tapping into “The Red” in order to gain the primal presence of a gorilla in order to scare them away. Next up, we return to Batman’s neck of the woods where his initial Boy Wonder finds himself within a blood-curling investigation called “The Dark Bite” (Writers: Christopher Sean & Laneya, Artist: Dexter Soy, Colorist: Veronica Gandini).  We begin within the city of Blüdhaven as Dick Grayson a.k.a. Nightwing notices a fleeing perp who’s also stumbling as he catches up and corner the figure.  He then recognizes the guy as a familiar neighbor named Greg before the man asks him how he knows his name before he wearily falls over.  Nightwing says that he recognizes him as a DJ who recently performed at the Blüdhaven Music Festival before asking him what had just happened to him, to which Greg explains that he was walking home when somebody grabbed him from behind and shoved a bag over his head in order to prevent him from seeing his kidnapper.  He then blacked out before regaining his consciousness within the woods where he heard some chanting before he suddenly felt something sharp on his neck.  Later, he woke up alone in the park before hearing a distant howl from a wolf as Dick discovers some bite marks on Greg’s neck as he promises to get to the bottom of this just as the paramedics arrive.  Later, Grayson reaches Blüdhaven Park as he retraces Greg’s steps and gets to the area where he was dumped off.  He soon discovers a pocket watch before he also finds some kind of sacrificial circle as he assumes that it’s somehow connected to the attack on Greg.  Just then, he hears some distant howls before he finds this whole situation familiar and decides to get in contact with a familiar ally.  We then shift over to a different part of Blüdhaven where Jason Todd a.k.a. Red Hood is fighting a pair of women who’re both wearing skimpy attires.  During the scuffle, he gets contacted by Nightwing who informs him that he’s come across something that seems similar to a case that he’s working on as he mentions a victim with bite marks on his neck that possibly came from an animal along with some supernatural-looking ceremonial relics.  As Jason finally defeats the two fierce females, he asks Dick for his location in order to ultimately meet up with him.  Todd eventually catches up to Grayson over on Blüdhaven Main Street who’s dealing with a monster that terrorizing some Halloween festivities.  As such, Red Hood takes out a handgun and fires at it. It’s then revealed that he didn’t fire an actual bullet at the being, but a dart containing a sedative meant to subdue a demon.  However, it doesn’t have any effect on the mutated being as it simply pulls it out and tosses it away.  Nightwing then tells Red Hood to refrain from using his guns since they have to restrain their target, to which Jason assures him that it won’t kill their foe since they contain various antidotes that he’s been working on and that he has three more.  From there, they engage their adversary as Todd fires a dart meant for a vampire, but the monstrous adversary catches it with ease before tossing it aside.  Our heroes struggle to get their opponent under control before Dick manages to acquire the anti-vampire dart and jam it into the being’s back, allowing the sedative to disorient the figure enough for both of our heroes to each subdue him with a swift facial kick.  Afterwards, the monster turns back into Greg before our main men discover that the anti-vampire dart actually worked on him.  From there, they head up to the rooftops in order to talk about what they’ve just went through.  Red Hood explains how this isn’t the first time that he’s come across a similar situation and that it’s progressively getting worse.  Grayson agrees on the grounds that they can’t ignore it anymore and that they must find the mastermind behind this whole scheme before they both head out.  From there, the narrative ends with Nightwing narrating about how these otherworldly occurrences is simply “Just another Halloween in the ‘Haven”. For our next tale, we find the Man of Tomorrow dealing with a figure that’s looking to atone for their past sins in “The Spoils” (Writer: Gregory Burnham, Artist & Colorist: Javier Rodriguez).  We open within the thunderstorm-filled skies of Metropolis on October 30 at 4:09pm as an ominous narrator mentions how after half-a-century, there hasn’t been any living soul who’s been willingly able to “play with us anymore” before mentioning that “the perfect playmate” will possibly be presented to them.  Meanwhile with Kal-El a.k.a. Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman, he’s having a phone call with Lois Lane via Bluetooth in combination with his super-hearing as she informs him that because he’s out on his superhero duties, their son has enlisted her as “Subject A” for his science fair project called the “Jon Kent Polygraph Machine”.  She also tells her Kryptonian husband to fly over to the old Met Detention Center in order to take some notes and help her with an article that she’s writing.  He says that it’ll take him an hour to complete his task as they acknowledge that the building is supposedly haunted before he arrives at the abandoned facility and looks for a way inside.  The ominous being then narrates about how they can always rely on an “inquisitive visitor”, especially since it fits its quota of one person per year.  After Kal-El uses his super-vision, he finds a wide-enough hole in the roof as he flies inside before the mysterious narrator mentions how it’s never had a visitor like Superman in a long time and is looking forward to this “enjoyable” encounter.  As he investigates the closed compound, Clark informs Lois about a portrait that he’s just found showing Dr. Clarence Tyler III before she informs him that Clarence was both the facility’s warden along with a philanthropist who used his own wealth and influence in order to build up South Metropolis.  As he continues his investigation, Superman is unable to find any ghosts aside before Lois is forced to hang up due to her required presence for their son’s science project.  Once Kal-El arrives within a room, the ominous narrator mentions how it’s letting our hero get comfortable within the space before proceeding to cause some sudden noises as Superman gets lured over to another area.  Suddenly, he’s approached by a monstrous apparition as the mystery narrator like it how our hero didn’t show any signs of fear.  Despite taking a fierce slap across his face, Clark isn’t remotely phased by it before he retaliates while the ominous narrator remarks how he’s different from the past victims and that his power is unlike any he’s previously seen. After a brief tussle, the being narrates about how Superman can possibly help out within “something much more substantial”.  As such, the apparition lures Kal-El towards the furnace-filled basement while narrating about how our hero can help release it from “this prison of purgatory”.  With the being positioning itself onto an explosive canister, Clark uses his Heat Vision on the creature before it dodges in time while the beam causes the canister to blow open a wall as the narrator mentions how this is helping expose his horrid past that was previously hidden even since his demise from decades ago.  Superman soon discovers a trophy room consisted of several skulls, newspaper clippings of missing victims and lot of extracted teeth among other things.  The ominous narrator mentions how all of these “trinkets” were extracted from over four decades worth of victims and that it’ll allow the living world to finally solve loads of previously unsolved mysteries dating back to nearly a whole century ago.  The being then makes itself known to Kal-El and says that it’s not asking for forgiveness for its heinous crimes since it preyed on vulnerable victims and that it’s been burdened by all of these spirit-weighing sins.  As it reveals itself as Clarence, he admits his hope that by revealing his offenses, it’ll provide some much-needed closure towards the victims’ families and that their souls can finally rest.  Superman says that he understands before calling up Lois in order to tell her to come down to the facility in order to show his discovery.  Later, Lois gets interviewed by a reporter named Brenda as she reveals what’s been revealed about the Met Detention Center.  She explains how between 1938 and 1974, dozens of prisoners within the facility would disappear and never be seen again.  From there, she also disproves a long-standing myth of a prisoner escape pipeline thanks to a discovery that fellow reporter Clark Kent found for “an unrelated story”.  Thanks to the discovery of a hidden vault, it’s finally revealed that Dr. Clarence Tyler III had moonlighted as a serial killer.  From there, the tale ends with Clarence narrating about his victims’ souls being able to ascend into the afterlife.  Despite his own crimes finally being made public, his own soul has remained within the condemned institution.  As Clark notices him via his super-vision, Tyler mentions how his own soul isn’t being liberated and that he’s doomed to roam those empty halls for all eternity. We then move on to a lesser-known team as this story features one of its members dealing with the sins of his past in a certain yarn called “Not Fade Away” (Writer: Alex Galer, Artist: Fabio Veras, Colorist: John Rauch).  We begin with Cliff Steele a.k.a. Robotman in the middle of a phone call with the Doom Patrol’s leader named Dr. Niles Caulder a.k.a. Chief as the former mentions that he doesn’t want to go, yet the latter convinces him to go through with it for “them” since not too people have understood what he’s gone through.  Ultimately, Robotman heads into a bar where a party is being held for the Doom Patrol.  He makes his way up to the counter where he meets with a few of his fellow teammates, particularly Garfield Logan a.k.a. Beast Boy and Steve Dayton a.k.a. Mento.  Cliff then mentions how they and their teammates managed to survive a certain situation while “everyone else didn’t”, yet Garfield tries to cheer him up by reminding him of the importance of their day before he announces a toast to the patrons in order to honor the team’s original four members who sacrificed their lives in order to save the town of Codsville.  During this, Steve mentions how he still blames himself for what happens, since he was also being harsh towards Logan along with fellow teammate Rita Farr a.k.a. Elasti-Girl.  Cliff mentions how both the world & people change as the latter have either moved on in some fashion or have wound up dying while they just wind up where they are and just be stubborn to do anything other than look back.  Afterwards, Steele turns down Dayton’s request for a ride home in favor of simply walking back to his place.  He walks past several people lying drunk on the streets, including one dressed up as him before he reaches his stoop and tries to call up a fellow teammate named Crazy Jane.  Even though he does get in contact with her, she’s presently in her identity of Flaming Katy and decides to call back later.  Afterwards, he gets a video call from Dr. Will Magnus and his Metal Men who tells him that even though things didn’t go as he wanted them to, the former is still proud of Robotman for still attending the party.  Just as he heads inside, he’s suddenly confronted by the mental images of a familiar transgender lesbian known as Kate Godwin a.k.a. Coagula and Dorothy Spinner (both of whom are deceased and were past members of the team).  Kate tells him that they could’ve been “a good family” while comforting Dorothy who assumes that it’s her fault that things didn’t turn out that way, while Cliff says that he only placed them with his mother out of his own fear that he would screw things up, yet they died while he lived.  Just then, more mental images of deceased friends turn up as Joshua Clay a.k.a. Tempest tells him to let go as Steele admits his regret of letting Chief hang with them after what he did to them.  Afterwards, Scott Fischer a.k.a. Blaze a.k.a. Scorch says that he was already dying before a fateful bomb ultimately took his life while Mi-Sun Kwon a.k.a. Nudge tells Robotman that he never looked for Grunt following the ordeal and simply moved on.  Cliff runs upstairs in order to not deal with all of this, yet more deceased teammates mentally pop up as Shyleen Lao a.k.a. Fever brings up how she met her bloody end by being kidnapped and then was shot in the head before blaming Steele for never coming for her or even providing her with a proper funeral.  Even Wayne Hawkins a.k.a. Karma tells him that he’s good for nothing as Robotman admits to him that he never knew about his death as he runs into his bedroom while all of his deceased teammates surround him.  One last dead comrade proceeds to show up as Theodore “Ted” Bruder a.k.a. Fast Foward also tells him that he was unaware of his death as Cliff’s guilt continues to pile.  Suddenly, his past self (who had also died before he was reborn within a new body, which was mentioned earlier during a bar conversation) appears alongside them. He then asks his present self if anything good came out of all of this, to which Kate reminds that “plenty of good” did emerge in the end.  While most of the deceased comrades remain silent, Wayne chastises him for believing that he has it bad when he’s still living.  Steele admits that they either hate him or not before he asks what they want from him, to which they each grab their respective editor’s notes that informs the reader about the past issues where they each lost their lives and toss them at him.  Robotman tries to deal with his situation as he calls up several Doom Patrol members, starting with George & Marion a.k.a. the Bandage People.  However, they tell him that the ghosts that he’s seeing aren’t coming from them.  He then gets in contact with Elihu Washburn (who’s the ghost of a Confederate soldier, by the way) and informs him that his ex-girlfriend is haunting him.  He then asks his skeletal comrade if he can take her along with her friends from his house, he’s unable to comply as Cliff calls up Arani Desai a.k.a. Celsius who’s actually alive again before asking her if she’s responsible for the spectral visitors in his home, yet she’s not able to help out since she’s fighting a foe named Sven Larsen a.k.a. Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man who’s furious for being removed from India’s superhero team called “The Doomed” due to him eating a few people.  Steele then calls up Valentina Vostok a.k.a. Negative Woman to learn if she’s responsible for the apparitions that he’s seeing, but it turns out that she’s on a stealth mission as she tells him to never call her on this line ever again.  With enough power in his cell phone for one more call, he contacts Beast Boy & Mento and explains his situation to them.  Fortunately, the latter knows someone who can help him.  Eventually, help arrives for Robotman in the form of the Hellblazer himself: John Constantine.  Cliff asks him for help in getting rid of those deceased friends, but John tells him that they’re never going to leave him.  As they sit on the stoop, the story ends with Constantine telling Steele that this is something that he has to live with and while it’s not going to be easy, it’ll ultimately get better. Next up, we’re focused on Czarnia’s Main Man and his actual daughter as she looks to save her relationship by helping her dad get properly dressed for the season in “Happy Hal(Lobo)ween!” (Writers: Adam F. Goldberg & Hans Rodinoff, Artist: Danny Earls, Colorist: Patricio Delpeche).  We open within the New York City borough of Brooklyn as Xiomara Rojas a.k.a. Crush calls up her girlfriend named Katie but gets her voicemail instead.  Because Katie hasn’t been responding to her text messages, Crush is wondering about the state of their relationship before her dad suddenly blasts his way into her apartment.  Lobo tells her that he’s been invited to a Halloween party over at the House of Mystery and that he needs her help in coming up with a proper costume for him to wear.  She asks him when he ever cared about the holiday, to which he actually admits that he doesn’t, yet he hasn’t been invited to many parties in the past and that he likes parties.  She initially refuses to help him, but he then reveals that he’s holding her girlfriend hostage within a secret location and that he’s strapped some explosives to her, which are connected to a dead-man’s switch.  As such, Crush is unable to turn his offer down as she begins her father’s costume search by bring up his former outfit from his time with the Omega Men.  However, she dislikes the look due to it being too snug on him.  She then brings up how several people have mentioned that he looks like a certain character that Hugh Jackman has famously portrayed.  Lobo agrees before he surprises her by dressing up as Jean Valjean from “Les Misérables” (specifically the 2012 film version).  However, she takes an immediate disliking to his attempted singing while also saying that this outfit wasn’t what she was talking about.  From there, Lobo continues his Hugh Jackman-themed trolling moment by dressing up as P.T. Barnam from 2017’s “The Greatest Showman”.  He then admits that lots of Jackman’s well-known roles came from musicals before Crush is able to immediately dislike his outfit by reminding him that he would have to wear a top hat.  She then says that while she’s legally allowed to say the name of whom people remind Lobo of, she does mention that it’s Hugh’s absolutely famous character and that it’s a hero named after an animal. He then gets an idea before he smashes through the wall and returns as Taron Egerton’s titular character from 2015’s “Eddie the Eagle”.  Crush then reminds him that he has to wear a ski jumper’s helmet, to which her dad that he never wears any helmet of any kind upon his “luscious locks”.  She then tells him that she wasn’t remotely mentioning Eddie the Eagle while also reminding him that Jackman played Eddie’s coach (Bronson Peary, to be exact) in that film, to which Lobo admits that he never even saw the movie.  Crush then admits to being mentally tired as she ditches the whole Hugh experience mentioning about another hero that he looks likes.  From there, Lobo returns dressed up as Aquaman (looking somewhat like the DCEU version) while he complains about how ridiculous he looks.  Crush then tells him that if he’s not mistaken for the real Aquaman, then she’ll personally blow up her girlfriend for him.  Lobo agrees as he gives her the dead-man’s switch before revealing that Katie is right next door within their neighbor’s apartment.  Afterwards, Crush gives him a trident to go with his costume before he heads out.  Later, he’s riding his motorcycle towards the costume party before he’s confronted by Nanaue a.k.a. King Shark who mistakes him for Arthur Curry.  Lobo tries to tell him that he’s not Aquaman and that he’s on his way to a Halloween party, but King Shark doesn’t believe him before they engage each other in a fight.  And so, the narrative ends with Crush & Katie overseeing this scuffle as the former says this is what her dad gets for attempting to blow her girlfriend up. For our book’s final tale, we once again return to Gotham as we draw our eyes upon a different kind of bat-themed figure who’s encounter with an unlikely woman sees them helping each other within a supernatural encounter in a certain yarn called “Out Of The Shadows” (Writer: John Arcudi, Artist: Shawn McManus, Colorist: Dave Stewart).  We begin within the newspaper clipping-filled walls of Rose Costa who had previously worked for three decades within the Gotham City Public School System.  In said time, she’s discovered what heroism was and that it’s face was that of Batman due to the influence that he’s created.  As we then find her walking down the mainly empty streets, we learn from the narration how this is one of her sleepless nights and that she’s out hoping to come across the Dark Knight based on the newspaper-covered encounters.  After hearing an ominous howl followed by a swift gust of wind, she then looks up she spots a particular bat figure looming on top of a building sign.  She intially believes it to be Batman, but she then becomes terrified once it’s revealed to actually be Dr. Kirk Langstrom a.k.a. Man-Bat.  As she attempts to run away from him, the narration mentions how this is possibly a cruel joke to her yet her only instinct at this moment is to flee and survive as she ducks into an alley.  However, she’s then approached by a different kind of terror as a werewolf pops up from the garbage and leaps towards her.  Fortunately, Man-Bat flies in at just the right time and grabs the creature before telling Rose to get inside. However, she’s far too stricken by fear to comply before the werewolf manages to fatally scratch Kirk’s left leg in order to free itself before it chases after Rose.  Although Man-Bat manages to gat up and tackle the Lycan, the creature recovers and pins Langstrom who tells Rose to run away while he starts to take out a sedative.  She tells him that he’s hurt and that she can help him, yet Man-Bat is able to kick the werewolf off before injecting the beast with the shot which causes the creature to transform back into a regular man.  Despite his victory, Kirk’s leg wound is proving to be near-fatal for him.  As Rose sticks with him, he explains that the former werewolf is actually a former colleague who used Langstrom’s Man-Bat research onto some wolf physiology yet he also lost control following his transformation.  Fortunately, Kirk was able to create an antidote fairly quickly in order to counter it.  After they properly introduce each other, Man-Bat’s leg wound starts becoming fatal since his femoral artery was cut while Rose reaches her most fearful moment of all.  We then shift ahead sometime later with her back in her apartment as the narration expands on her time within the Gotham City Public School System as it’s essentially revealed that she worked in the nurse’s office.  With all of the time she’s spent at her school-based occupation, she’s been waiting for her own life to get going.  From there, the comic ends with her hanging up a newspaper clipping where it’s revealed that she managed to get Kirk to a hospital where he was able to make a full recovery.  Afterwards, she heads off to sleep while the narration mentions how she now sees herself in a different light. Overall, this anthology book did a wonderful job with balancing its superheroics within horror and the Halloween season in general.  “A Look To Die For” is mostly grounded in reality since it starts off as an investigation into a meaty and blood-soaked attack on a major fashion festival.  Once Renee ends up interrogating the models that she ultimately discovers were already dead yet were being reanimated, that’s when the story’s supernatural touch starts coming into play especially when it’s revealed that the Gentleman Ghost had been helping Professor Pyg with his major plan.  As for the primary foe, his scheme can fit into the kind of horror that coincides with body mutilation and torture.  With both of them united, they seem to want to display a grotesque body display in order to counteract the high-end fashions on display within the present show.  There seems to be some kind of statement about what counts as true beauty to any individual person, yet there’s not much beneath that surface in order to truly draw much in the way of deep conclusions with that theme.  Even still, its primary strength is allowing Montoya to shine both a detective as well as fighting the good fight within her faceless heroic persona.  After having reviewed at least two past Gotham-based stories where she’s some degree of a background or supporting character, this tale allows Renee to truly shine thanks to a well-paced script, nice artwork and narrative twists being presented at the right moments in order to help this comic get off to a fairly strong start.  All-in-all, this fashion-based yarn with Montoya’s Question is mainly fabulous throughout.  “The Shadow Over Coast City” essentially provides the tried-and-true lesson of proper communication and teamwork will help resolve any major situation.  Because the alien invasion is taking place within his hometown, Hal automatically believes that he should call every single shot when it comes to dealing with this crisis.  While he’s initially distrusting of Etrigan due to his eagerness to smite the enemy spawns that’ve taken control of several human victims, Jordan’s initial desire for him and Jason to individually handle this go poorly since the monster doesn’t get defeated and they wind up getting beaten up for their troubles.  Obviously, the horror that’s prevalent for this story is one of body horror.  The main monster goes after innocent individuals and consumes them within its genetic make-up in order to transform them into its mindless soldiers.  Ultimately, it takes a mystical method in order for this creature to finally meet its end as Blood’s magical connection allows him and the Emerald Knight to finally prevail before they agree to future team-ups.  While the themes of compromise, communication and proper teamwork are the strongest & most prevalent elements here, the rest of the narrative still holds together with a bright color palette, fluid action and a semi-exaggerated yet coherent artwork.  Ultimately, it’s neat to see two heroes who don’t regular fight alongside each other tackle a small crisis that fits in their respective wheelhouses in a wonderful way.  “This Day, Anything Goes” not only allows Animal Man to shine within a short story, but it mainly lets his daughter Maxine take the primary lead for this Halloween-based narrative.  As the reader discovers throughout the course of this tale, she’s dealing with some schoolyard bullying especially when this malevolent factor turns its attention towards a young boy that she’s starting to like.  Ultimately, her connection to her father’s ability of connecting to “The Red” (which sustains every animal life) allows her to invoke the spirit of the season and bring back some deceased creatures in order to scare the would-be tormentors straight.  Somewhat interconnected with this is her level of trust with her parents, especially since her mother Ellen doesn’t want her to be out too late and especially not without any kind of supervision that she trusts.  Through his own stealth-based observation, Buddy understands what his baby girl is doing and ultimately sees that she’s been brought up the right way.  Though there is some kind of dour feeling throughout this story concerning with Maxine and what she reveals about her personal situation to (again, whom I assume is) the school guidance consoler, it’s thankfully never too overwhelming and is properly balanced with some levity and humor at the right moments.  Coupled with some good pacing, a nice range of color and artwork that’s somewhat rough & sketchy yet is still easily able to make out & fits this slice of the DC Universe, this allows the reader to begin their descent towards the world’s darker side while still being pleasant enough to gradually ease them towards it.  With “The Dark Bite”, it has a genuine supernatural tone and opposition throughout this tale since someone whom Nightwing has known was the monstrous victim of some kind of underground occult group.  Given how this turns into a situation that requires him to bring in Red Hood in order to assist him, it felt like they would’ve come across the main culprits and their main motivations as well.  However, both Dick and Jason are only able to scratch the surface via Greg’s transformation into a vampiric beast.  Maybe if this was retooled into more of a singular tale for this book or if was expanded into a mini-series released in October, then maybe this premise could’ve had some legs to stretch with.  As it is though, it’s fine since it provides some good action, fine pacing, well-handled artwork and a pretty strong supernatural feel within its overall story.  Even though it’s still enjoyable with what we’re given, it suddenly stops by the time the reader gets to the end.  As such, it’s among the lower end from what this comic provides despite not being the absolute worst to come from this book.  Moving on to “The Spoils”, it’s a unique twist for a spirit that’s haunting an abandoned building for all eternity looking to have the Man of Steel himself help out into resolving its unfinished business.  After all, Superman is a symbol of hope towards the innocent side of the human race and it makes for a different change of pace to see an antagonist not trying to cover their crimes since they were already dead and they’re stuck in their status of being trapped within the living world, not being allowed to move on felt unique.  By the end, the living realm gets to learn about Clarence’s crimes yet he’s still trapped within his eternal punishment.  It seems like he forever lost his chance for some crucial forgiveness as it seems like he didn’t learn his lesson until after he died and his soul became permanently trapped within the former prison.  In terms of the characterization, Clarence gets the most development due to the short story nature while Superman and Lois are each comfortable within their long-standing positions here.  In addition, the story gets backed by some moody artwork, nice pacing and a reasonably good motivation that gets Kal-El into the defunct prison in the first place.  As such, the Last Son of Krypton gets some solid time to shine within this spooky spotlight with a soul-stirring twist of a story and is absolutely worth checking out.  “Not Fade Away” not only allows the Doom Patrol to get some well-deserved spotlight, but it mainly focuses on Cliff Steele as he deals with the deaths of several past team members from a past mission.  This serves as his personal horror as those deceased comrades are not only spectral beings, but they serve as reminders of Cliff’s personal guilt for not doing everything possible to ensure their survival.  Granted, the story doesn’t specifically mention the event or events that led to those comrades losing their lives, but at least it makes itself presentable to those who aren’t immersed with every last tale involving these quirky members and their various ventures.  It was a nice touch for the editor’s notes to mention all of the past issues in which those various teammates met their own unfortunate ends while also being unexpectedly hilarious that they threw their own editor’s notes at Steele, since it would fit their sometimes oddball situations that they’ve found themselves in over the years.  In the end, it takes England’s famous occult magic-using hero to remind him of the all-true lesson about how we must all accept our past mistakes, learn from them and keep moving forward.  Ultimately, this narrative is greatly supported by well-done artwork, well-handled pacing and well-focused character work upon Robotman.  It allows those who’re only casually familiar with the team (especially if their only exposure was their four-season TV show from 2019 to 2023) and crafts a tale that singular and foreboding, yet personal and understandably comforting by the end.  In terms of the book’s penultimate story known as “Happy Hal(Lobo)ween”, it’s more of a comedic story with a looming Halloween party as its main backdrop.  Its humor plays upon popular culture, specifically with reminding its readers of Hugh Jackman, a few of his past performances and especially of his noteworthy role of Wolverine which (of course) isn’t legally allowed to be mentioned due to said character belonging to their biggest rival.  As Crush reluctantly tries to get her bounty hunting dad towards wearing the outfit of said superhero for the upcoming festivity, the story does a solid job of allowing Lobo to troll both her and the readers while also reminding them of certain non-superhero films that Hugh was recently in.  Whether or not it was ultimately Crush’s intention of ultimately deciding to have her dad dress up as Aquaman in order for King Shark to mistaken him for Arthur Curry, thus allowing her to get back at her father for kidnapping her girlfriend is anyone’s guess.  This situation was sudden and short-noticed, yet there was some time that has passed during the whole costume process and may have allowed her to come up with this minor revenge scheme on the side should it progress towards that.  Either way, the whole story was powered by good comedic timing, likable (even if jerkface) characters and a good range across its colorful palette.  It allows a fairly new half-Czarnian female to shine within a story that sees her butting heads with her “Main Man” of a father and makes for a hilarious romp from start to finish.  Finally, we get to “Out Of The Shadows” where we have a short story that sees its audience follow a regular human and serve as a central protagonist while they ultimately cross paths with the more-recognizable character that managed to draw its viewers to this tale in the first place.  We’ve previously seen this format done in the DC Showcase animated shorts when it came to both the Phantom Stranger and Death, yet this comic book attempt with this narrative format is able to shine on its own despite a similarity or two.  Just like those aforementioned tales, we have a person who’s just drifting through life and not having much in the ways of grand accomplishments or purpose.  Ultimately, a chance encounter with the featured character presents them with a situation that allows them to make some kind of noticeable difference upon their whole life.  While Man-Bat alone would make for a good featured lead within a Halloween-centered tale by himself, the addition of a fellow scientist who turns on him in a certain way in order to become a werewolf further adds to the horror, ultimately allowing Rosa and Kirk to help each other in critical moments as the former ultimately gets a satisfying feeling of importance through her recognition of her timely save.  Ultimately, Rosa’s key assist closes this narrative and the comic on the whole on a positive note as it assures the reader that no matter how big or small it ultimately becomes, anyone can make a difference within the grand scheme of it all.  With some decent pacing, good artwork and a small cast of characters fueled by understandable motives, this provides a thrilling yet ultimately calm closure with plenty of small-scale optimism to boot.  In conclusion, this captures the horror scene on a better scale than DC’s 2022 effort, yet both are still worth checking out.  Either way, give this book a read for the biggest treat of the season.  Well, that wraps up 2024’s multiple short story-fueled look at horror-based anthology comics.  As our souls continue to stir upon our uneven world, may you always find good examples of the genre to keep your spirits soaring throughout the years. All featured characters are owned by DC Comics.