It’s hard to imagine a world without Michael Myers. Sure, he’s an unstoppable killing machine, but for many a true horror fan he was our first love. His first terrifying appearance almost thirty years ago in Halloween changed the way horror movies were made. And over the years his image has changed, shifted, or (as in the case of Halloween III), been completely left out of his own frachise. Regardless, he’s stalked the nightmares of at least two generations now, and has appeared in many forms. One surprisingly successful interpretation of the masked maniac has appeared in the recent line of Halloween comics, written and devised by Stef Hutchinson.

We talked to Stef about how these comics came into existence. He explained, “Way back in 2003, a convention was held in South Pasadena to celebrate the 25th anniversary of John Carpenter’s Halloween. When I heard about this, being a massive fan, I contacted the organizers about helping out in some way. I had an idea to release an anniversary comic as a convention collectible. Chaos Comics had gone bankrupt so I was put in touch with the late Joe Wolf, who gave me his blessing to produce a comic. This became Halloween: One Good Scare. The comic got really strong reviews, and the idea was to use this as a “demo” in the hopes of getting a distribution deal. Just as we were getting interest, the actual rights went into limbo, so we had to wait for that to ride out.”

It was around this time that Stef also took part in the documentary Halloween: 25 Years of Terror with Malek Akkad. As they worked together, they continually developed ideas and storylines for the comics that could be “connected into a larger tale, so the idea was that it would use the serial aspect of comic books to create different storylines than would be possible in the films.” Rob Zombie’s redux erased the fear of a possible future entry in the original franchise that could jeopardize their storylines. When Devil’s Due Publishing contacted Malek about a line of comics around the films, he and Stef pushed ahead and made it happen.

With strong support for his earlier work, Halloween: One Good Scare, Stef knew he had an audience. The popularity of the current line of comics only confirms what he knew worked about the films… “A lot of readers found in the comic books what they had been missing from the films in the later sequels. Our books are very faithful to the source material, and by that we mean the original film itself. In our stories, Michael Myers is very much again “The Shape” - the undefined bogeyman of 1978, rather than the family killer of the 80s and 90s.”

The current series of Halloween comics show a wealth of ingenuity and sharp design. Halloween: Nightdance takes place in a small Illinois town in 2000, and Michael Myers is at it again. This time, he seems fixated on a teenage girl he once locked in the floorboards of a cabin. As she battles her intense fear of the dark, he hacks and slashes his way through her friends. This is a classic story with some great kills (i.e. a few good bashings and a clever alternative to the traditional jack-o-lantern), and would have fit perfectly in the filmic canon of the series. Stef explains that Nightdance “was an attempt to bring back The Shape as a credible and dangerous force (which, considering his last appearance in Halloween: Resurrection was no easy task!). With that story, we wanted to get back to the basics of Halloween, where The Shape stalks and sadistically torments his intended victim. His intelligence and nasty “trick-or-treat” pranks are what separate him from the other famous slashers.”

Also out now, and available exclusively online, is the short story “Sam”. This tale tells of the last year of Dr. Sam Loomis’s life, and delves deep into his past and present psyche. With this story (and some illustrations strewn throughout) we get to dig into the man who spent the second half of his life devoted to one man, Michael Myers. We asked Stef why he wanted to devote such a large piece of work to the good doctor. “When Halloween: H20 was released,” he replied, “it wiped the slate clean by erasing the previous three films, saying that they never happened. I know a lot of fans were distraught by this, but I didn’t mind at all because I preferred the simplicity of this storyline, over the needlessly convoluted mythology that the last two films had created. One casualty of this, however, was that we never got to see the life of Sam Loomis in the intervening years. I pitched ‘Sam’ to Malek as a way to cover some of that ground and pay tribute to the character.”

A new comic, Halloween: The First Death of Laurie Strode, is coming out next month, and follows Laurie Strode after Halloween II. Always a crusader for the fans, the team has attempted with this comic to fix continuity errors caused by II.

Perhaps the most interesting entry in the series is Halloween: 30 Years of Terror, which follow up on some of the more interesting and subtle histories of the series. Among the questions answered are: Where do Tommy Doyle and Lindsay Wallace run to after Myers attacks in the original film? What haunts Laurie Strode’s dreams after those early years? What’s Tommy up to now? Each section of this comic was written by Stef Hutchinson, but incorporates a different artist’s vision, as he explains “With Halloween: 30 Years of Terror I knew in advance who all of the artists were going to be. I had five stories in mind, but the actual execution was based on the samples I’ve seen of their work.” Each story drips with its own special kind of terror. This comic is full of scares and gore, so the average horror comic fan can pick this up, but this is just 100% fan service. If you love the original two Halloween films, if you can quote them, then this is really going to feel like it was written just for you.

For a genre as steeped in music, mood, lighting, movement and special effects as horror, it’s amazing to see how often horror translates (and translates well) into comics — ever since the 1950’s horror comics (like Tales from the Crypt) have captured audiences. Devil’s Due has recently gained a cult following with their other major horror comic, Hack/Slash, and Wildstorm turned heads with their imaginative Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash. Alongside these new favorites, the Halloween series of comics continues to tread forward in the endless glossy march. For more info on the specific comics mentioned, or to read the short story “Sam”, visit Halloween Comics and for more info check out Devil's Due Publishing.

Halloween Comics Breakdown:

Chaos! Comics One Shots

Halloween, Chaos! Comics – 2000

Halloween II: The Blackest Eyes, Chaos! Comics – 2001

Halloween III: The Devil’s Eyes, Chaos! Comics – 2001

Stefan Hutchinson Comics

Halloween: One Good Scare Limited Edition, Halloweencomics.com – 2003

Halloween: Autopsis, Paranormal Pictures – Fall 2006

Halloween: Nightdance Trade Paperback Vol. 1, Devil’s Due Publishing – August, 2008

Halloween: 30 Years of Terror, Devil’s Due Publishing – August, 2008

Halloween: The First Death of Laurie Strode Issues 1 & 2, Devil’s Due Publishing – October, 2008