The Year-End Review for 2011: The 10 Most Memorable Moments in Horror Comics

by: Stephanie Shamblin Gray

Another year is almost behind us, and it's time to reflect on the good, the bad, and the horrific. Here's a summary of the top 10 biggest news pieces and most memorable moments for horror comics in 2011.

The New 52 Caters to Horror Fans

DC Comics has not focused much on their horror comics in recent years, but this past September, all that changed. The launch of DC's "New 52" included several titles to appeal to the the horror community. This launch was intended to get long-time fans of the characters involved again, and also obtain new readers by starting with Issue #1 of each title. Titles to appeal to fans of horror include "Swamp Thing", "Justice League Dark", and two of the best reviewed titles of the entire re-launch, "I, Vampire" and "Animal Man". These titles are strong so far and have definitely brought in new readers, as well as earned nominations for various categories in the Horror Comic Awards. Hopefully DC will be able to keep the horror crowd happy and not scare them off with to much inappropriate intermingling with other, more caped, characters in the DC Universe.

The Passing of the Legendary Gene Colan

On June 23, 2011, the comics community lost a great talent, Gene Colan. He is best known to fans of horror for his work on "The Tomb of Dracula", "Blade"' and "Night Force". Colan penciled the entire 70-issue run of "The Tomb of Dracula" from 1972 to 1979 with writer Marv Wolfman which first introduced the character of "Blade" in 1973. The two collaborated again in the mid-80's on the 14-issue run of "Night Force".  Colan continued to be heavily involved in comics throughout his life and even took on vampires one more time in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayers" in 2002. His work has and will continue to inspire generations of fans and creators of horror and comics.

Oh My God! You Shot Carl! You Bastards!

Just when you thought is was safe to let your guard down, "The Walking Dead" creators shock us again with a full-page image of Carl immediately after he gets shot in the face. Seriously, it was like one-eighth of his head that he lost from the gunshot. And an eye. Who saw that coming? No matter how bad life is in the WD universe, it can always get worse. Kirkman and Company prove once again that no one gets a break in the WD from the terror, not even the readers.

Clive Barker Returns to Hellraiser for Comic Fans

It has been too long since we have been treated to any Clive Barker "Hellraiser" horror action. As BOOM! Studios is proud to announce, Barker has only touched the series three times: with the original story ("The Hellbound Heart"), the first movie, and the new comic. The "Hellraiser" comic has been just as good as everyone could have hoped and is even nominated for Best Ongoing Series in the Horror Comic Awards.

Horror Scores Big at the Eisners

For any reader unfamiliar with the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly called the Eisners, consider them the Oscars of the entire comic book industry. The awards ceremony takes place annually in July at San Diego Comic Con. While horror has been previously only sprinkled in for flavor in past years, this year it received practically all of the major Eisner Awards! The notable winners were as follows:

1. Joe Hill ("Locke & Key") - Best Writer
2. "Chew" - Best Continuing Series
3. "Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil" - (Best Single Issue)
4. "American Vampire" - Best New Series
5. Mike Mignola "Baltimore: The Plague Ships" - Best Cover Artist
6. Dave Stewart - Colorist ("Hellboy", "BPRD" and others)

It is a thrill to see the comics we enjoy and vote on here in the Horror Comic Awards are giving the Capes and Cowls some serious competition and finally getting the recognition they deserve!

"30 Days" of Disappointing Art

Unfortunately, no year goes by without some big disappointments. This year's unpleasant surprise came in the form of Sam Kieth's strikingly bad art in the latest installment of "30 Days of Night: Night, Again". When this legendary artist was first announced that he would be working with Joe R. Lansdale on "30 Days", fans were thrilled. However, when the first issue was released in May, fans were left scratching their heads. What could have gone wrong? What were we even looking at? Debates were happening on whether the image in a particular panel was a man, woman, vampire, or child. These things should be easily distinguishable, but were sadly not in this title.

Adaptations Gone Wild!

It seems like every year there are more adaptations of horror novels. There are the classics, such as Stephen King's "The Stand" and Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake books that have been running issues for years now. Perhaps it was the success of these books  that have enticed publishers to increase their stock of adaptations? Here is a sampling of adaptations that started this year:

1. "The Strain" based on the book by Guillermo Del Toro
2. "The Servant of the Bones" based on the book by Anne Rice
3. "The House of Night" based on the book by P.C. Cast
4. "Dark Swan: Storm Born" based on the book by Richelle Mead
5. "Grave Sight" based on the book by Charlaine Harris

That's a lot of adaptations! And that's not including the writers that already have ongoing adaptation franchises in comics such as Jim Butcher and Patricia Briggs. Whew!

Horror Comics and TV Shows (or Not)

"The Walking Dead" continues to thrill it's viewers and keep fans of the comic book happy with it's twists and changes, so why not make more TV shows based on comics? Recently, Chiller made their own adaptation titled "Steve Niles' Remains" from the comic book from Steve Niles called, well, you get the picture. But possibly the biggest news this year was for the little pilot that couldn't, "Locke & Key". Fox had solicited a pilot much to the fanatical joy of the L&K fan base, only to see it doomed from the start by a team including Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci, and Steven Spielberg. Basically, the pilot was a 45-minute movie that covered the entire first arc of the L&K series leaving the story no logical way to progress. How did this group of top tier producers go so wrong?

Biggest Cross-Over Ever: Infestation

Wanna talk ambition? Let's talk about IDW's "Infestation", an absolutely massive cross-over. How ambitious, you ask? Here are the franchises involved:

1. "Ghostbusters"
2. "Star Trek"
3. "G.I. Joe"
4. "Transformers"

These franchised are bound together by a single enemy: zombies. For nine weeks, we had a comic to pick up each week to complete this massive cross-over. Kudos to IDW for putting forth such an effort and showing the big boys how it's done! 

Preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse, CDC Style

Feel like you've been preparing for years for the zombie apocalypse through all the comics you are reading? Well, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) want to make sure you are doing it right. For that reason, they put together a comic book titled "Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic". This book will not only help you prepare for the forthcoming zombie apocalypse, but will also help you prepare for any other 2012 apocalypse. Mostly, it will make you think "WTH"?

And that's a wrap for 2011! Here's wishing everyone a fantastic and horror-comic-filled 2012! Comment on this article here.