It’s that time of year again, boys and girls! The temperature has dropped, the leaves have turned from green to varying shades of orange and red; children dress in the guise of their favorite characters, and the flickering of candles show the yellow grins of the jack-o-lanterns adorning the porches of your neighborhood. It’s Halloween, folks, and while there’s plenty of people out there that like cute, plastic pumpkins on their doors, we here at Geeks of Doom like our Halloweens a little more horrifying. So, it’s with this, Halloweekend, that I will be bringing to you a series of horror-themed features that showcase the wicked side of geek entertainment.

In the first installment of what I like to call Halloweekend of Doom, I’m going to explore 13 comic books that should get you in the mood for the greatest time of year. The list is in no particular order, and this isn’t intended to be the be all end all of horror comics, but these comics are great to read during Halloween. I’ll cover some that can be considered family friendly, but the majority of these are strictly dark and for mature audiences.

One of my favorite comics out of the DC Relaunch was easily Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.. The comic is about Frankenstein. Yes, that Frankenstein. Well, technically Frankenstein’s monster, but let’s not split hairs. He is an undead monster who works for a special ops organization and is set to be the leader of a special group. And that special group is made up of other Universal Studios-style monsters like a werewolf, a vampire, and a creature that looks like she could be from a black lagoon.

Superboy #2
Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Pier Gallo
Cover by Phil Noto
DC Comics
Price $2.99
Release date: December 8, 2010

The brand new Superboy series continues with this second issue. It picks up right where issue one left off with Superboy and his buddy Simon and Krypto are captured by Poison Ivy in which she offers a team up with Superboy to help her get her powers back. They have to fight their way through an outbreak of trees and vines and flowers that have taken over Smallville. They must find the source of what’s going on in a farmhouse in which a farmer is hooked up to what looks like a bomb about to go off. Can Superboy resist the temptation of Ivy or will he fall under her spell?

In case you hadn’t heard, there’s a new Superboy series coming out this November.

What you see here is the absolutely gorgeous cover to the first issue with art by Rafael Albuquerque (Vertigo’s American Vampire). Click image here at right for full, larger view.

The new ongoing series will feature the talents of writer Jeff Lemire and artist Pier Gallo and according to DC’s Source Blog, will take Superboy “on a journey to a side of Smallville not even Superman knows about.”

This will be Lemire’s first crack at a monthly superhero book and I’m really interested to see how he handles it.

Sweet Tooth #10
Written and Drawn by: Jeff Lemire
Colors by: Jose Villarubia
Letters by: Pat Brosseau
Vertigo Comics
Price: $2.99
Release Date: June 2, 2010

I am continually drawn into Jeff Lemire‘s genius mysteries for tons of reasons. One of those reasons is compelling characters as seen in previous issues of Sweet Tooth with Jeopard and also his series Essex County. Another big reason is the aforementioned mystery best seen in this issue, Sweet Tooth #10, and also his series The Nobody that gives me something rarely attempted in comics, a serious science fiction story.

I have become captivated with all aspects of the story especially the mystery of Gus and this “infection.” How can you not feel for Jeopard and Gus at this point as well? I am rooting for both characters as well as hating these scientists for their cruelty. The problem with hating them though is not knowing how they got to where they are now, especially if they have to continuously watch people die and all they really want, from what we can see, is to cure this infection.