Category Archives: horror webcomic

Crabcake Confidential: Zombie Jesus!/The Beast

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There are very few names in comic books as controversial or as mocked as one Rob Liefeld. I’ve mentioned before on this blog that I actually don’t hate Liefeld. I became a huge comic fan in the 90′s and Robbieboy was a huge part of that. However, some of Rob’s projects are so out there that even my own faith is tested. And, man, wouldn’t you know it, Rob’s first forays into webcomics are more that a little off the deep end than usual. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s Zombie Jesus! and The Beast. (These are two separate titles, incidentally, and not some crazy Beauty and the Beast tribute. Sadly.)


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The Webcomic Overlook #144: Hanna Is Not A Boy’s Name

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The root of “Hanna” is “Hannah.” It is Hebrew for “God has favored me.” The earliest use is in the Bible. She prayed to God for a son, and in exchange she promised that her son, the prophet Samuel (for whom two books of the Bible are named), would be given back to God in the service of the Shiloh priests.

Notable Hannas include Hanna Newcombe, a Canadian peace activist; Hanna Reitsch, a Nazi propaganda icon who was the only woman awarded the German Iron Cross First Class and the Luftwaffe Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds during World War II; and Hanna Pakarinen, a pop singer who was the first winner of Finland’s Idols singing competition.

Also, Hanna is not a boy’s name.

That’s the controversial, hetero-normative statement proposed in the title of Tessa Stone’s comic, Hanna Is Not A Boy’s Name. With a title like that, you’re probably expecting an introspective webcomic exploring gender stereotypes. Perhaps it will delve into someone’s painful experiences growing up, taunted by bullies because of his name and gaining the strength to carry on like that boy named Sue.

And you’d be wrong. Hanna Is Not A Boy’s Name is actually about a zombie. And a werewolf. And a vampire. Actually, vampires. And some sort of supernatural detective agency. But I seriously can’t blame you if the title blindsided you.


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One Punch Reviews #35: The Watcher of Yaathagggu

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“Darkness reigns at the foot of the lighthouse.” — Japanese proverb

There’s something deeply mysterious about lighthouses. Part of it is the setting. They’re generally located in areas remote from town centers: up atop rocky cliffs, down windy roads, and on desolate islands — some occupied by prisoners. Their very nature recalls darkness, chilliness, and desolation. It’s no wonder that there are more than a few people who are convinced that more than a few of them are haunted.

Today’s webcomic review deals with a girl who must keep the fires burning at her lighthouse … only it’s not only the encroaching darkness she must keep at bay. In The Watcher of Yaathagggu by Robyn Seale, there are horrors that live beyond the fading edges of the lighthouse beacon lights.

Eldritch horrors.


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The DEADcomic Overlook #140: Lovecraft Is Missing

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“The end is near. I hear a noise at the door, as of some immense slippery body lumbering against it. It shall not find me. God, that hand! The window! The window!” — H. P. Lovecraft


I’ve got a confession to make. By an large, I am not that huge a fan of H.P. Lovecraft. I can count the short stories I’ve read on one hand: “Dagon,” “The Statement of Randolph Carter,” and parts of “Call of Cthulhu” (which I tried to reread before writing this review). I also generally liked the movie Dagon, which was apparently based on a different short story entitled “The Shadow Over Innsmouth.” (Dagon was probably deemed the catchier title by studio execs.)

However, I understand why there are plenty of Lovecraft admirers, whose ranks include Neil Gaiman, Benecio Del Toro, Stephen King, and the members of Metallica. The horror imagery is creative, enduring, and highly influential. Movies like Alien, comics like Hellboy, and games like Halo 3 are covered with Lovecraft’s fingerprints. No wonder the internet’s in love with him. Google “Cthulhu,” Lovecraft’s infamous deity with the “pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque scaly body with rudimentary wings”, and you get 4.3 million results. Meanwhile, “Leopold Bloom” only gets you 88,900 results. Take that, Joyceans!

Still, I’m man enough to admit that I’m a relative newcomer to the Lovecraft mythos. Yet, here I am, reviewing Larry Latham’s Lovecraft Is Missing. Maybe I’m not the right guy, stripped as I am of any Trekkie-like obsessive knowledge of the Lovecraft mythos. But the new Star Trek movie thrilled both hardcore Trekkies and newcomers alike. Dare I hope against all hopes that Lovecraft Is Missing provides a gateway to the world of eldritch horrors for the uninitiated? (Incidentally, the phrase “eldritch horrors” will pop up multiple times in this review. It’s sort of required when you’re writing something about Lovecraft.)


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The DEADcomic Overlook #139: Split Lip

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“Our bodies break down, sometimes when we’re 90, sometimes before we’re even born, but it always happens and there’s never any dignity in it. I don’t care if you can walk, see, wipe your own ass… it’s always ugly, always. You can live with dignity; you can’t die with it.” — Dr. Gregory House

In the past four years, I’ve had to deal with the deaths of my grandma, my father-in-law, my uncle, my wife’s uncle, and my dear friend who left a grieving wife and four children behind. Every time my wife’s grandma — who turned 95 this year — ends up at the hospital, we all hold our breaths frightened that this may be the last day we see her. My own father died the same year I began this blog. You never get used to deal with it, and every death is a harrowing reminder of one’s own mortality and how short one’s time really is.

That’s when that quote from the great Dr. House haunts me. That picture perfect scene you see in movies where everyone gathers around the bed of a loved one as they slip off into eternal slumber? It never happens. It’s always messy. Maybe you spend a couple months in a brain dead coma. Maybe you live your last hours knowing your immune system is succumbing to the cancer. Whatever it is, it’s always ugly. Always.

Sam Costello’s Split Lip is a horror comic that contains ghosts and murderers and monsters. And yet, it’s the unflinching depiction of death and dying that I find most chilling.


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The DEADcomic Overlook #138: Walking the Lethe

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““We are nothing; less than nothing, and dreams. We are only what might have been, and must wait upon the tedious shores of Lethe millions of ages before we have existence, and a name.” — Charles Lamb

So, what is this “Lethe”?

It’s admittedly an interesting word. I’d imagined that it perhaps was Celtic in origin, owing to the unique spelling. I was wrong. “Lethe” has its origins in Greek mythology. (Curse my inadequate folklore mythology knowledge!)

“Lethe” is the name of one of the rivers in the Underworld. Using Wikipedia, I discovered that the term has been adopted to a variety of usages, almost all appropriate. Lethe is also the name of a river in Alaska, which probably doesn’t do much to increase real estate value in the region. Pictures of the river do impart an Underworld quality. There’s a Sailor Lethe, part of the Sailor Moon metaverse that, if you dig deep enough, can seem to resemble a damn frightening hellscape. Lethe is also a genus of butterfly, which at first doesn’t seem all that hellish at all. Hell butterflies? It is black, though. I don’t know about you, but if Hell had butterflies, they would more than likely be black. And on fire.

The term also appears as part of the title for Walking the Lethe, written by Dan Potter and illustrated by Sam Ireland and Aditia Wardhana. It’s about a man who straddles the world between life and death, and in so doing unleashes forces that mortal man was not meant to see.


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The DEADcomic Overlook #137: Left 4 Dead: The Sacrifice

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“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” — Edgar Allan Poe

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall… who’s the *fearest* of them all?” — The Cryptkeeper

Good evening, boys and ghouls. You may notice a hastily composed icon inhabiting the recesses of this review. Yes, it’s Terror Week. It’s like Shark Week, only TERRIFYING. Welcome to the a season where pumpkins grin from every porch and children beg for candy. But it’s all in good fun. Here at The DEADcomic Overlook, we will be looking at three webcomics dealing with things that go bump in the night.

“Eh,” you say, “you’re a week early. And it’s not exactly my thing. But at least it’s not video game webcomics again.”

Oh, you tease. But you have a point: some time during the summer, video game webcomics dug themselves AN EARLY GRAVE will the crush of coverage they got on this site. Fortunately, Halloween gives me an easy way to break out of this vicious cycle. A new way to refocus.

First up first is a horror webcomic based on a video game — Left 4 Dead: The Sacrifice.

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