Welcome to Longbox Junk, where I just keep on writing comic reviews even though nobody asked me to!
Halloween is almost here! There's a chill in the air, a full moon glowing in the sky, and Christmas movies 24 hours a day on the Hallmark Channel! Here at Longbox Junk, 'Tis the Season to be jolly. . .er. . .I mean, 'Tis the season for spooky comics!
I love spooky comic books. My collection is absolutely PACKED with horror and suspense comics ranging from the Golden Age to. . .well, just this week! One might say my collection is top-heavy when it comes to horror comics.
As I was digging through some boxes for find some more comics for the Longbox Junk Halloween party, I came across the comic at hand. I found it in a bargain bin quite a while ago and just bought it for the cover. I've never actually read it. I passed it by, because I was ACTUALLY looking for something with vampires in it.
But THEN I remembered I have a friend who is a HUGE wrestling fan. And here we are!
This one's for you, Jared! Happy Halloween!
Let's do it.
UNDERTAKER HALLOWEEN SPECIAL
Chaos! Comics (1999)
COVER: Dan Brereton
THE COVER:
Apparently, I have a limited edition Dynamic Forces variant cover that's supposed to have a Certificate of Authenticity included. I bought this comic for a dollar and there's no certificate to be found.
But what I DO have is a banger of a Dan Brereton painted cover! Personally, I have a thing: I see Dan Brereton on a comic cover. . .I buy that comic. I'm a sucker for his dark and twisted painted art.
Mr. Brereton did a FINE job of capturing not only the likeness, but the essence of the wrestling anti-hero, Undertaker. It's dark, it's mysterious, I really like the title with the crackling red outline. I can't find a thing I don't like about it!
This is another reliably great piece of work from Dan Brereton. I haven't found a bad one yet.
Let's get inside!
THE STORY:
I'm not familiar with the comic book adventures of The Undertaker, but Chaos! Has helpfully provided what this story is all about right there on the first page!
" This year, an evil Halloween force known as Samhain, The Lord of the Dead, reveals he has abducted the souls of The Undertaker's dead parents and wants control of Stygian in exchange. The Undertaker must go back to the ruins of his childhood home to encounter an evil he has never faced and could never be prepared for. Will he restore his parents' souls to rest? Can he survive alone? Read on and find out!"
Nice! Now I don't need to read OR review this comic!
Just kidding. Let's GO!
The Undertaker
SCRIPT: Jim Monti & Dan Monti
PENCILS: Leonardo Jimenez
INKS: Don Hillsman
We begin our tale at midnight, Halloween night. At a graveyard. The Undertaker is there to visit the graves of his parents. It is his yearly pilgrimage. But THIS year is different. . .
A mysterious bearded figure, surrounded by a baleful green light appears! He taunts Undertaker, showing him the figures of his parents being tormented!
The mysterious figure introduces himself as Samhain, Lord of the Dead. He demands that Undertaker surrender the Stygian. . .Book of the Dead and the source of Undertaker's powers. Only then will he release the souls of Undertaker's suffering parents! Undertaker has twelve hours to deliver the Stygian at the appointed place. . .
IN THE MEANTIME. . .
In the small town of Percy, Texas, brothers Billy and Oscar prepare for a fun night of Halloween trick-or-treating. Their mother warns them to stay away from the old Funeral Home. It's been the site of tragedy and there's nothing good to be found there.
But boys being boys, Oscar bullies his brother into going to the Funeral Home despite their mother's warnings. When they knock on the door, it's opened by a fearsome character! None other than Paul Bearer!
MEANWHILE. . .
Undertaker arrives at the site of his parent's death. . .a pile of long-burnt rubble. He demands Samhain show himself. The mysterious figure appears, surrounded by a bodyguard of twisted demonic creatures!
Samhain demands the Book of the Dead. Undertaker refuses, demanding in turn that Samhain release his parents or face his wrath! Samhain orders his demons to attack and capture Undertaker! They quickly overpower Undertaker, Samhain takes the book, and they bring Undertaker to Samhain's lair!
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE FUNERAL HOME. . .
Paul Bearer invites Billy and Oscar into his evil lair. The brothers manage to escape his clutches, but Paul Bearer pulls a switch that completely seals the funeral home's doors and windows. The brothers now have no choice but to run from Paul Bearer through his twisted maze of a home!
MEANWHILE. . .
Undertaker wakes in chains. The mad figure of Mankind is scuttling around the cell muttering deranged questions to a sock puppet on his hand he calls Socko. Undertaker learns from Mankind that he's a prisoner in Samhain's castle. Mankind doesn't really remember how he got there. Undertaker demands the deranged man help him escape. Mankind frees Undertaker and tells him he owes him now. . .
IN THE MEANTIME. . .
Back in the funeral home, Billy and Oscar continue to flee from the relentless pursuit of Paul Bearer. They find themselves in the mortuary and take refuge in a coffin, but Paul Bearer knows where they've hidden and throws another switch, activating the crematory furnace and the conveyor belt. The coffin the boys are hiding in slowly begins moving toward the flames!
We interrupt this story to present this dramatic double page foldout Undertaker photo poster, which means we're already halfway through this comic! Time flies when you're havin' fun!
BEHOLD!
As Undertaker makes his way through the twisted passages of Samhain's lair, Mankind decides he doesn't want to be Undertaker's friend anymore and surprise attacks him!
The two begin fighting, but are interrupted by a trap door opening above them, dumping a giant pile of snakes and lizards on the two of them. Mankind goes down under them, throwing Socko to safety as Undertaker continues on his way. . .
Undertaker finally makes his way to Samhain's inner sanctum, a place of fire, chains, and hanging skeletons. Samhain is chanting a ritual from Undertaker's Book of the Dead! It's the conjuration of the Fire God! Undertaker is determined not to let the ritual be completed and throws a sharpened bone, skewering Samhain and killing him!
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE FUNERAL HOME. . .
It seems that although Samhain's ritual wasn't completed, it still summoned something. . .the mysterious being known as KANE! He appears in Paul Bearer's mortuary and stops the conveyor belt. Tearing the lid off the coffin, he saves Oscar and Billy! They quickly flee Paul Bearer's evil lair. . .
BACK IN SAMHAIN'S LAIR. . .
Guess what? Undertaker didn't kill Samhain! The mysterious sorcerer rises from his apparent death and attacks Undertaker! Our hero fights back, using his own powers of death to finally defeat Samhain and free the souls of his parents!
But wait. . .WAIT! Hold on! Samhain STILL isn't dead! He rises AGAIN! This time in the form of gigantic, fiery demon! But even so, he's STILL no match for the powers of the Undertaker!
Undertaker declares himself Lord of the Darkness, gathers his rage, and blasts Samhain once and for all! As the slain Samhain's lair begins to collapse around them, Undertaker and Mankind make their escape. . .
But it's not over just yet. There's still one more thing Undertaker needs to do. Returning to the graveyard, he uses his powers of Darkness to finally give the disturbed souls of his parents peace.
THE REVIEW:
Well, okay then. There is is. The Undertaker Halloween Special. Let's break it on down!
What we have here is a fun bit of cross-media promotion. It's definitely going to appeal more to readers who are fans of the WWF era of pro wrestling and even more so to fans of The Undertaker in particular. But that's not to say it isn't a fun read.
The "Billy and Oscar Escape From Paul Bearer" side story seems a little tacked-on, but without it, this comic would only be about 10 pages long (okay . .15 pages. There's a full five pages of advertisements in the back). So even though it feels somewhat thrown in to fill space, it's okay.
The story is extremely simple. It reads very quickly and has a somewhat abrupt ending. It's no masterpiece, but like I often say, not EVERY comic has to be a masterpiece. Sometimes you just want to read something fun. This is fun. It's pretty forgettable, but still fun.
On the art side of things, it's pretty 90s-tastic. It's not the WORST 90s art I've seen, but you can take one look at any page of this comic and immediately peg the time frame as late 90s. There's a few cool moments. . .the artist makes Paul Bearer hilariously creepy. . .but overall, the artist doesn't try too hard to stand out.
CONCLUSION
When I say I'm not a big fan of pro wrestling, that doesn't mean I'm COMPLETELY ignorant of it. In the late 90s I was in a relationship with a woman whose whole family were wrestling fans. So I basically spent about 3 years deep in it.
At the time, Undertaker was probably about the biggest ticket there was, along with Kane and their ongoing drama with Paul Bearer. So I can definitely see why Undertaker got his own comics around that time. Kane and Undertaker had a dark and dramatic story that could translate well to comics.
Overall, I found this to be quick, fun, and forgettable. But if you're a big wrestling fan, you might get more out of it than I did. I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone who ISN'T a 1990s wrestling fan.
I'm not sure how rare this is. . .I've only seen the one copy in a bargain bin. So if you want to check this one out, I see plenty for sale online. It seems that there was also a Chaos! ongoing Undertaker series that went for 10 issues. I've never seen any issues of it, but if you're an Undertaker fan and didn't know, now you do!
Up next. . .
The midnight hour draws near. Halloween is almost here!
But there's still enough time for a little more Longbox Junk Halloween party.
Stick around and see what I dig up next!
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