Halloween 2K26 - Halloween - The Chaos Comics
Halloween πIn November 2000, I found myself inside Hot Topic where I came across a comic book for sale on an end cap. Comic books were not something you usually found in Hot Topic, and neither was I, but on this particular day there I was starring at the face of my favorite masked killer in comic book form. I walked out with three dollars less in my pocket, but a copy of Halloween #1 in my hand, and it made for a great day.
To put the timeline in perspective for you, I became a fan of Halloween around 1995. My first "new" Halloween was Halloween 6, and despite its reputation for being not the best, I've always loved that film. It resonated with me and having come into horror in the mid-90s, I had missed out on the heyday of Freddy, Jason, Pinhead, and Michael, so when they got new movies, I was there for them and I loved them.
Thankfully, a few short years later, Jamie Lee Curtis came back and we got the much better Halloween H20 (Okay, I didn't say the title was better). The film didn't light the box office on fire, but it was successful enough to bring Michael back into the realm of pop culture a bit. Without the success of that film, I doubt I would have come across this comic, and that would have been a shame.
Halloween 6 told a story referred to as The Thorn Timeline. In a nutshell, because believe me, they overcomplicated it, Michael Myers' family comes from a line of cursed individuals and this leads to the family trying to end the blood line or something along those lines. It was hated by fans and critics, and when H20 came out a few years later, they ignored everything from Halloween 4, 5, and 6 and had Jamie Lee pick right back up after Halloween 2.
What makes this comic so interesting is it attempts to tie the timelines from Halloween 4, 5, and 6 to H20. Our main character is Tommy Doyle, who we last saw in Halloween 6, portrayed by a young Paul Rudd. Tommy is still obsessed with Michael Myers, and is trying to get his hands on Dr. Loomis' journal. We also see the backstory of Michael's stay in Smith Grove-Warren Sanitarium and how Dr. Loomis saw him for what he was.
In April 2001, the second issue of Halloween was released that picks up directly after the first one. Tommy is hellbent on tracking Michael down and killing him, meanwhile Riche Castle, the young kid who bullied Tommy in the first film, decides he's going to burn down the Myers House. I'm sure you know that didn't work out well for either one of them.
The third and final issue came out in November 2001, and Tommy is locked up in Smith Grove-Sanitarium when he hears that Laurie Strode has killed Michael Myers (which occurs at the end of Halloween H20), however Tommy doesn't believe it.
What made these comics so special to me is that they attempt to wrap up the story that began in Halloween 6. They didn't ignore it or shun it, they attempted to merge it into the more popular mythos. As a fan of Halloween 6, I appreciated that and even as I re-read these comics, I still found myself smiling at how well the author did with tying these conflicting storylines together, bringing back tons of characters, and completing the story in 90 pages or so. I mean, in all honesty, he was able to tell a much deeper story than most single issue comics and even some that get a full five issues to tell an arc. I would have love to have seen this storyline continue a bit longer, or even better in a novel format.
Needless to say, this rare and forgotten series of comics are ones that I really enjoy, especially this time of year. Sadly, they haven't been re-released or collected into a trade paperback, but if you look around online they aren't that difficult to find.
I even ran across this internet audio production of the series that seems well done.
Would your average Halloween fan enjoy this? Probably not, but for people like who have been obsessed with this franchise for years, it's truly something special.
