Ghastly Awards - June 2013 Update

Horror comics are becoming more and more frequent in our reading culture, and the Ghastly Awards are here to recognize, through Horror Comic submissions, those that shine the brightest. We encourage all Comic Creators to take the time to head over to www.ghastlyawards.com and submit your work for 2013 Ghastly Award Nomination consideration.
    

Creators please remember that you can submit your Horror Comic work through out the calendar year! For the month of June 2013 the judges are recommending you take a look at: 

Locke & Key: Omega #5 (IDW) - With Tyler fighting for his life and Kinsey having to make one of the most difficult decisions she has had to make it seems that Dodge's plan will soon be realized, but in true Locke & Key style will this ending be in Dodge's favor? The intensity and emotion that this comic has wielded only gets better and this issue is no exception. The ending is drawing near and the showdown between Dodge and the Locke kids is coming to a close and only a turn of the key can decide their fates. - Spaced (www.twitter.com/Spaced4SimonPeg) 

The X-Files Season 10 #1 (IDW) - It’s been 11 years the lacklustre television non-conclusion and 5 years since the horrendous second big screen outing, but Mulder and Scully are back - albeit in comic form. Not exactly picking up where the show left off (wisely sidestepping the last couple of seasons), our favourite X-couple are now living in Virginia. Sure they’re using fake names but they’re leading a happy if somewhat mundane life. Until a mysterious, hooded cult, complete with creepy kid come gunning for them. The comic does a good job of capturing everything that worked well on the show: the banter between the leads, undertones of a larger conspiracy, and a spooky atmosphere punctuated with a couple of good scares. Fans of the show will be pleased. – Pedro Cabezuelo (http://www.rue-morgue.com/)

Crossed: Badlands #30 (Avatar Press) - Damn if I'm not loving this series again. Not the usual "this is some really sick stuff and I love that they've got the junk to publish this".  I'm talking love as in this storyline has really got me suckered.  As in this is quite possibly my favorite Crossed arc ever.  With the possibilities brought forth by "Smokey the Crossed" -- a Crossed that's capable of delayed gratification -- and Oliver, a guy that's uninfected but no less twisted, the world as the poor surviving uninfected know it may just get scarier.  With this story Christos Gage reminds us that humans are dangerous, Crossed or not. - Denise Dutton (atomicfangirl.com)

LUS† (44FLOOD) - When I read Warren Ellis' Foreword for LUS† I thought to myself, "This... is money well spent. I wouldn't even have to turn another page and I'd be completely satisfied." We are never more lonely than when in a state of lust. In our need we are exposed, a little animal paralysed by a want for a touch that comes from elsewhere... Ellis said, Lust makes us feel farther apart from others than any other experience... Lust is that moment when we are most alone and closest to the final murder of our heart. Ellis' words so eloquently, horrifyingly, and gut-wrenchingly illustrate how reading LUS† made me feel.

When Niles writes with Templesmith it's like hot butter. It's so smooth and consistent. The tone and style of Niles and Templesmith just melt into one and become this deliciously gooey, crazy fucked up, thrill ride. But it's consistent and you know you can expect something campy, gory, terrifying, and satisfying.  

When Niles writes with Menton, there is a daring dance between art and text. I found it to be exhilarating and very well done. Both art and text jumped us from one surge to another and back and... it's a darker, more vixen, red lipstick type of prose than with Templesmith. 

Despite these two different styles of storytelling, the story came through and gave us an intimate look into chastity and lust. 

I'd be remiss if I forgot to acknowledge Menton's art and how so very damn terrifying and beautiful it is. It's luscious in a Sharon-Tate-soaked-in-black-tar sort of way. Shock. Awe-inspiring. Fuckable. Fashion. Terror. Forbidden. Confused... I could spend all day listing the feelings I feel when I spend time with Menton3 in LUS†.   

Get your hands on this. It's a big, terrifying, sexual, wonderful, beautiful, hot lusty piece of horror art. I want to wallpaper my room with it. These are three of comics leading men specializing in horror and heat-seeking out their readers specific, down-home fears. – Bree Ogden (agentbree.wordpress.com)

Breath of Bones: A Tale of the Golem #1 (Dark Horse) - Steve Niles unleashes another monster in this 3-part mini series from Dark Horse, as the giant clay monster from Jewish legend goes on a Nazi-killing rampage in order to protect the inhabitants of a small Jewish stronghold and an injured British pilot. Nice 'n clean black and white art from Dave Watcher too... this is gonna be a fun ride. – Steve Banes (http://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/)

The Wake #2 (Vertigo) - Lee Archer, a marine biologist, has been asked for help by the Department of Homeland Security on a shadowy project. With her son away from her side, Lee will travel to the murky bottom of the ocean. Lee and her underwater team will discover an ancient evil that has been hidden in the depths of the Arctic Circle. Is Lee’s discovery the scientific breakthrough, the miracle she has been waiting for? Or, has she just unleashed an unstoppable killing machine and brought about the end of mankind? READ MORE – Lonnie Nadler (www.Bloody-Disgusting.com)

Haunted Horror #5 (IDW/Yoe) - There's nothing like a great pre-code horror anthology to satisfy my horror cravings. It's no surprise that the Yoe/ Banes tag-team have done it again and given us just that! Sifting through the vaults of pre-code greatness, the drooling duo have created another masterful mag of top-shelf reprints! The issue gets off to a kind of sports theme, with the first 3 stories being about baseball, football and bowling respectively! Horror host Karswell gets in some clever, though painful sports puns (the way puns should be!), setting the sadistic mood. Look, I'm no sports fan, but these tales of decapitation, flaying, and ghosts are right up my *ahem* alley! This issue has art by Bob Powell, Marty Elkin, Jack Cole (a preview for Yoe's upcoming Cole volume!), Lou Cameron and more. The best $4 you'll spend this month; a comic that you will return to over and again, just to see how it was done back when horror mattered! - Mike Howlett (http://eeriepublications.blogspot.com/) 

Hellboy Library Edition Volume 6 (Dark Horse) - This is how it should be, folks! Oversized, hardbound, encased in cloth, and full color! Not that the quality stops at the incredible production values, mind you. This most recent volume covers not only the death of Hellboy in THE STORM AND THE FURY, but various one shots with amazing artwork from Mignola, Duncan Fegredo, Corben, and others. As ever, Dave Stewart's colors set a perfect tone for the Hellboy universe, and Clem Robins shows his mastery of lettering on every page. If that's not enough to whet your appetite for this lusty tome, you get a wealth of amazing new art, sketchbook materials, and commentary! The Hellboy series just keeps getting better! - Rachel Deering (https://twitter.com/racheldeering) 

Chllers Vol. 2 (Transfuzion) - Take everything I said about Chillers Book 1 and now multiply it by 2, because Book 2 was that much better! I want to start with the story by Gary Reed and Kevin Thomas “A Mother’s Beauty”. This story needs to be an ongoing title, I can not express how great it was on both story and artwork. I loved the concept so much, I now i seriously need more! The rest of the book is filled with above the bar tales by some of the best horror talent in comics today. So my list of top five stories in the book are “A Mother’s Beauty”, “Exotic Tales”, “Homecoming”, “The Hellfire Worm”, and “Distracted Walking”. Of course all 14 stories are Agh-Mazing, and I have to say I have fallen in love with the artwork of Ger Curti. I would be able to say so much more but it would just be me saying “buy it, read it, love it, share it”, over and over again. READ THIS BOOK!  - Decapitated Dan (www.decapitateddan.com)

 
Creators and Publishers please make sure to go over to www.ghastlyawards.com to submit your books for 2013 Nomination consideration! More informaiton on how the submission process works can be found here http://ghastlys.blogspot.com/2010/10/submit-your-horror-comic-to-be.html