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While I’d originally planned to just do one post about some slightly spooky halloween comics, I ended up having way more I wanted to highlight. So the trick on me is a treat for you- here’s the first of three specific halloween themed posts for this week.

Getting into comic books can be super intimidating. It’s hard to know where to start, at what point, and with what character. So here’s a handful of creepy comics that may have already wormed their way into your world, by rotting your brain with their television adaptations.

The Walking Dead

Image/Skybound Comics

AMC’s The Walking Dead has become the Zombie story other zombie stories are judged by. Focusing on Rick Grimes and his attempts to survive the walker apocalypse, the popularity of the television series has far surpassed the comic book. Not everything is the same, so if you’re looking for stories about Darryl, the comics aren’t going to do it.

But all the same, it can be really neat to see how they changed the story to better fit the television format from the comic art. Issue #1 is available to read on Image’s Website for free. You can stream the final season of the show on AMC’s website.

IZombie

DC Comics/Vertigo

If you’re looking for something with a little more alive in your undead reading, DC/Vertigo’s iZombie is another series that had a television series loosely developed off the concept. The books focus on Gwen, a zombie who ends up with memories from the people whose brains she’s consumed. She ends up investigating their deaths while also dealing with the supernatural creatures in her town. This series is stylized very differently from Image’s The Walking Dead, so it certainly has more humor and slightly less gore, but it’s still intended for an adult audience. The now-defunct CW series is now streaming on Netflix, but much like The Walking Dead, a lot has been changed. Gwen is now Liv, and yes. She’s Amber from Netflix’s A Christmas Prince. You’re welcome. You can read the entire run of the comic with a subscription to DCUniverse.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #21-23/ Marvel Zombies

Marvel

As a former Disney Cast member and current comic nerd, I love seeing all the new things coming to Disney Parks as part of Disney’s acquisition of Marvel and the Fox merger. It’s my two favorite things in the world combining. One of the highlights of Disneyland’s Oogie Boogie Bash this year was the unexpected arrival of Zombie Captain America, from the Disney+ What If… series.

While the Marvel Zombies have their own book series, they first appeared in the pages of Ultimate Fantastic Four, as a young Reed Richards is lured to an alternate reality where the heroes of the Marvel Universe have been infected by a virus that’s turned them into Zombies. These three issues just begin to scratch the surface of the Marvel Zombies storylines, but it’s really neat to see the where the first traces of the virus took root. You can read Ultimate Fantastic Four #21 and several other Marvel Zombies stories on the Marvel Unlimited app with a subscription.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Archie Comics/ Archie Horror

Teenagers scare the living shit out of me. Especially this one. While I grew up on Melissa Joan Heart’s sweet Sabrina, Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina took their cues from the first five issues of this creepy comic. Instead of focusing on Sabrina’s zany behavior, Chilling Adventures dives headfirst into the occult factor of the Archie Afterlife stories.

The comic series returned for issue nine after being on hiatus during the show’s production and kicks off the new “Witch War” arc with zombies, hell, and vengeful spirits. If you were a fan of the show, keep an eye out. Archie has also announced a spin-off comic series called The Occult World of Sabrina that will serve as a continuation to the Netflix series. 

Sweet Tooth

DC/ Vertigo

And finally, you can’t have halloween without a little something sweet right? Netflix’s version of this Jeff Lemire series focuses on found family, the importance of nature, and self-acceptance. The comic however is a little more sour.

Far more blood, guts, and religious commentary are used to tell the story of Gus, one of humanity’s hybrid children, born after a virus begins infecting people across the globe. Gus and “Big Man” Jeppard face man and monster as they both try to understand what’s happened to the earth and why the hybrids are being born. The Netflix series is acceptable to watch as a family, but the comics? Save them for after the little ones are in bed. And if you’ve already checked out the original 40-issue series, check out Sweet Tooth: The Return, the six issue limited run by the same creative team instead. Both are available on the DC Universe app with a subscription. You can also check out my review of Sweet Tooth on Netflix here.