Comics to Astonish in Mount Airy Celebrates ‘Spooktacular’ Holiday With Free Special Issues

Celebrating its sixth year, Halloween ComicFest is an annual event when participating local comic shops across North America and beyond celebrate the Halloween season by giving away free comics.

“The event takes place the Saturday on or before Halloween each year -- this time on Saturday, October 28 -- and is the perfect opportunity to introduce friends and family to the many reasons why comics and comic shops are great!” stated Keegan Conrad, owner of both the Mount Airy and eastern Columbia specialty stores.

“Comic shops are the perfect location to get into the ‘spooktacular’ season, from zombies and vampires to monsters and aliens,” Conrad added. “Comic shops have it all when it comes to Halloween fun!”

The 2017 celebration is even more exciting since the Netflix original cable television series Stranger Things 2 is partnering with this year’s event by bringing participants in-store activations, branded merchandise and more.

Major publishers like DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics and IDW Publishing put out free comics for fans to enjoy during Halloween. Also available are all-ages mini-comics, perfect to give out to trick-or-treaters or as party favors to inspire the next generation of comics readers.

One giveaway will feature the first chapter of DC Comics’ Batman: Night of the Monster Men series. As the storm of the century heads toward Gotham City, Dr. Hugo Strange unleashes colossal creatures that stomp through the streets and terrorize the people. Can the Dark Knight, Nightwing and Batwoman stem this tide of destruction, or will the Batman “family” finally meet its end?

Not to be outdone, Marvel Comics is releasing Darth Maul #1, in which the Sith assassin from the Star Wars movies, who has been bred on hate, fear and anger and steeped in the ways of darkness, prepares to exact revenge on the Jedi knights.

Another well-known Marvel character gets his own issue when the mighty Thor, as written and drawn by comics icon Walter Simonson, pits the hammer-wielding warrior, Sif and the Warriors Three against Loki, Thor’s evil brother, while Asgard mourns the death of Odin the all-father. As a result, the characters must “Ragnarok and roll” before the new Thor movie is released on November 2.

IDW Publishing is producing a title featuring a different group of popular characters, the current roster of Ghostbusters who must track down a spirit that’s going to extremes to drive its family from New York City on the day after Halloween, better known as the Day of the Dead.

Also celebrating the occasion is Dark Horse Comics, which is producing a one-shot featuring Hellboy as written by his creator, Mike Mignola, who pits the unusual hero against horrible figures of British folklore, Rawhead Rex and Bloody Bones.

Meanwhile, New England Comics is promoting the move to a television show on Amazon by The Tick by releasing the complete first appearance as it was released in 1988, but now in full color.

Archie Comics “doubles down” by providing two issues featuring the company’s well-known characters, from the free title featuring The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch to a pack of digest-sized comics containing stories from Archie’s Madhouse Returns.

One of the most interesting one-shots will come from Zenescope Entertainment, which notes that the legend of the Bogeyman has been passed down for generations as an evil entity that comes for children who are naughty. But what if the Bogeyman really exists, and what if he wants something else from his victims?

Another “Mature” comic will introduce Black Betty, a new character who isn’t your average girl and can kill anything from demons to werewolves or anything else that goes bump in the night … if you have the money.

The ComicFest will also feature titles for “all ages,” including a special edition of DC Super Hero Girls that shows what happens when the students of Super Hero High go on a one-of-a-kind field trip to study history up close and personal until a time machine mishap sends Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl and their fellow classmates elsewhere in the past. Will these adventures affect their future?

Other titles appropriate for younger readers are comic packs featuring the adventures of Casper, the Friendly Ghost, a Donald Duck Halloween Scream and a Pokemon special in which years have passed, and two characters are now training in the new techniques of Mega Evolution.

Also producing issues for the pre-Halloween event are Action Lab, Aftershock Comics, Viz Media, Kodansha Comics, Viz Media, Benitez Productions, Youneek Studios and Yen Press.

Conrad also stated that both the store at Mount Airy at 1312 South Main Street, Suite 5, and the shop at 9400 Snowden River Pkwy #112 in eastern Columbia will be open from 12 noon until 8 p.m. on Saturday, and any leftover issues will be available on Sunday.

For more information, you can call the Mount Airy shop at (301) 829-1017 or the Columbia store at (410) 381-2732 or check out the stores’ website at http://www.comicstoastonish.com/.

Also, if you want more information on the Halloween ComicFest, check out that website at https://www.halloweencomicfest.com/.