Afterlife with Archie, Book One: Escape From Riverdale by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Afterlife with Archie, Book One: Escape From Riverdale by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Artwork by Francesco Francavilla, 160 pages

I remember reading Archie comic books as a kid and how much I enjoyed the adventures of Archie, Jughead, Veronica, Betty and the whole gang.  I could not resist reading a horror version of the original comic books.  I love that Jughead turned into a zombie after being bitten by his dog Hotdog who Sabrina the witch brought back to life from the dead.  It was so appropriate to read this on Halloween when the setting for the book is the Halloween dance at school.  What will become of the townspeople of Riverdale as slowly people are being turned into zombies?  Can Archie, Veronica and Betty find safety at Veronica's house or will they have to leave their beloved town?

Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft, by Joe Hill, ill Gabriel Rodriguez

 Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft, by Joe Hill, ill Gabriel Rodriguez, 168 pages

This is the first volume of Joe Hill's horror series and it does not disappoint!  There's definitely some gore and adult situations, but also some general spookiness and well-crafted character development.  It is basically the story of a family devastated by a horrible murder and their relocation; but beyond that it is a story of evil, vengeance, guilt, and family.  This has alot of real potential, for horror fans out there.

Crossing Midnight, v 1, by Mike Carey

  Crossing Midnight, v 1, by Mike Carey, 128 pages

Initially, I thought this was going to be a work of Japanese comic art- but it's actually Mike Carey, of Unwritten fame, doing a sort of homage to Japanese horror comics.  The premise is thus: two twins are born, one before midnight, the other a moment after.  Weird things happen to them, but when they are in high school, a man comes to them in the middle of the night, intent upon taking one of the twins.  It is up to the other twin to figure out why he wants her and how to stop him.  There are definitely horror and fantasy elements here- and if you don't want to see a fairly gruesome scene with a cute shiba inu, don't even bother starting the book.  It was alright, but nothing exceptional.

The Horror! The Horror! Comic Books the Government Didn't Want You to Read, by Jim Trombetta

The Horror! The Horror! Comic Books the Government Didn't Want You to Read, by Jim Trombetta, 303 pages

This was a really amazing book- featuring analysis of why horror comics came under so much scrutiny in the 1950s that the Comic Code Authority was created as a means of censoring them.  Page-sized excerpts of 1950s horror comics were included and analyzed, lending a truly scholarly tone to the study of comics.

Whether people like comics or appreciate them as "legitimate" literature, surely proponents of freedom of speech would agree that they have every right to be written and published.  People forget that the Comic Code Authority was alive and in action all the way into the 21st century.  Censorship is a real, current thing-- even if it is not government-imposed.  So with all apologies to Voltaire, while you may disapprove of the content of many comics, you should defend the rights of comic artists and writers to create them, and readers to read them.