Halloween ComicFest 2014

Did you know that today, October 25, 2014, is Halloween ComicFest day? You can visit your local (participating) comic book shop today and get a free comic book! Such funny-book favorites as Batman, Scooby Doo, Archie and My Little Pony are participating in free special-edition comic books. Below is the cover of the Scooby-Doo Team-Up issue that's available, a special edition of the first issue (featuring Batman and Robin) of that title. If you are not familiar with this hard-to-believe-they're-publishing-this-and-I-mean-that-in-the-best-possible-way comic, check out Joe Torcivia's blog for a fun overview. And for more info on Halloween Comicfest click here. This post is part of the 2014 Countdown to Halloween blogathon. Stop by right through October 31st for more spooky silliness.

Always A Bride, Never A Bridesmaid

Miss Piggy isn't the only character to appear on a comic-book cover costumed as the famous Bride of Frankenstein. Daisy Duck takes a backseat to no one when it comes to glamor and so is wearing a version of the classic Bride costume herself.  Of course, this particular party monster has to put up with the indignity of dealing with a mummy who is coming unraveled. This cover (Pencils by Francisco Rodriguez Peinado, inks by Enriqueta Perea) haunted the October 2008 issue (#695) of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories. It's all part of the 2014 Countdown to Halloween blogathon. If you like what you see, please don't be as quiet as the mummy's tomb—please leave a comment or two!

More TV Monsters Next Door

As mentioned, both The Addams Family and The Munsters debuted in 1964. These two monster-family comedies are often lumped together but The Munsters differed in that they were actually a traditional sit-com family with everyday values—they just happened to be monsters. And since this series came from Universal the producers were actually able to use copyrighted designs such as the classic famed Karloff Frankenstein monster (square head, neck bolts, etc.). The Munsters inspired much merchandise and below is an example. Happy Golden Anniversary to The Munsters!  

McHalloween

For some a Halloween tradition are the McDonald's treat buckets given away at  the eatery. These Halloween Pails, as they are called, have traditionally been given away as Happy Meal premiums. I collected Happy Meal prizes but never these. The Book of Life-themed Halloween Pails offered this year (see below) are the first I have ever obtained myself. For a lot more background on these unique Halloween premium please pay a visit to the Euclid Boo blog—it's one of 200-plus blogs (including Tulgey Wood) participating in the 2014 Countdown to Halloween blogathon.

Marvel Merry Marcher Monster Society

In the 1970s, Marvel had their own version of the Frankenstein monster (Dracula and Wolf Man too) and in this issue of Marvel Team-Up from 1972, "Patches" (as Spider-Man, always the wiseguy, calls the Monster) is paired with the web-crawler. As is so often the case with comic books, the cover below (by Mike Esposito, inks, and Ed Hannigan, pencils) is a come-on, as the Monster doesn't want to kill Spider-Man in the actual story within but only tries to help.

Halloween Hijinx With Archie

Archie Comics marches on with this World of Archie comic digest for 2014. Here, Archie is neither dead nor undead (as he is in some of the recent alternate universe Archie comics)—he's just his same old lovable self, and (as you can see in the cover below) so is Jughead. 

A Hallmark Muppet Halloween

Long-time Muppet licensee Hallmark has issued some fun Halloween items over the years. Here is a wall decoration, featuring Kermit apparently as a vampire and Miss Piggy as a witch concocting a love potion.

A Lulu Of A Halloween

Halloween was a favorite subject of the classic Little Lulu comic books. The spooky-season stories took the form of Lulu spinning tales of Witch Hazel and her niece Little Itch for little Alvin.  Another Witch Hazel?  That certainly was a popular name for a witchy woman, for both Disney and Warner Bros. had their own Witch Hazels. Here is a cool and ghoul-ish gallery of some Little Lulu Halloween-esque covers.  

Lost In Space Monster-Palooza

As noted during last year's Halloween blogathon, October 16 is Lost in Space Day—that is, it was on that date in 1997 (in the first episode of the classic TV, broadcast on CBS on September 15, 1965) that the Robinson family (plus one robot and one “reluctant stowaway”) blasted off and were almost immediately lost…in space.  To tie in this October event with Halloween, here’s a ghastly gallery of eerie entities and alien atrocities confronted by Will Robinson, the Robot and Dr. Smith. It’s all part of the 2014 Countdown to Halloween 2014. Please keep knocking on Tulgey Wood’s door—there’s plenty of the good candy in the days ahead. (And don’t soap the windows—please leave comments instead!)

WHOOO Goes There?

Think poor Snow White was fearful during her frightening flight through the forest? Her friends the Seven Dwarfs seem pretty spooked here—and they have lanterns! This wonderful art was published on the cover of the Walt Disney Studios in-house newsletter, Disney Newsreel. This issue was published on October 29, 1982, just in time for Halloween that year. It's the latest treat in the 2014 Countdown to Halloween blogathon, all month here at Tulgey Wood.