Writer: Paul Levitz, Karla Pacheco, Jeremy Haun, Tim Seeley, Zac Thompson, and more!
Art: Peter Nguyen, Juan Doe, Kelley Jones, Andy MacDonald, and others
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $9.99
Release Date: October 11th, 2022
October is here, and that means it’s time for fables of fear, time for stories of suspense, and time for tales of…time? These are just a taste of the time-hopping terrors we have in store for you in our fright-filled Halloween anthology! Let’s dive into DC’s Terrors Through Time #1 and take a look.
If you’re interested in this comic, series, related trades, or any of the others mentioned, then simply click on the title/link to snag a copy through Amazon as you read DC’s Terrors Through Time #1 Review.
THE LONGEST NIGHT
The first story was a bit bland filled with monologuing by the Phantom Stranger. I feel like it was meant to be a bit spooky or even eerie but it just didn’t hit the mark. Ultimately, it was an average tale about the connection between life and death on Halloween. The answer… still unknown as to why there is a connection. However, the Phantom Stranger can’t figure it out. Maybe someday he will?
TRICK OR TREAT
The next story was an incredibly fun lighthearted story involving Halloween, trick or treat, and the young Supersons. This tale was super easy to read, entertaining, and dropped subtle hints that tied into past Supersons stories. But, does this single short story make it worth buying DC’s Terrors Through Time #1? Keep reading to find out!
THE PUEO PROMISE
This third entry is an insanely cheesy tale about cats offending an island and its protector with a name identical to a Dragon Ball Z move. Lucky for us, Selena is there to save those wonderful felines while also making this installment one of the worst stories throughout DC’s Terrors Through Time #1. Moreover, the art has this almost finger-paint-like style that makes it hard to follow at times and surprisingly dull. Maybe Harley Quinn fans may get a kick out of this quirky tale?
HALF-LIFE
The next tale takes us to the future providing fans with the most action thus far. Nevertheless, the writer appears to have missed Swamp Thing’s voice almost entirely. Yet, the profound nature of this installment ushers in a sweet sensation of rebirth over time as well as a sense of new beginnings. On a more positive note, I loved the artist’s rendition of Swamp Thing even though the coloring was extremely dark and muted.
THE MIDNIGHT HOUR
In this next mini-story, the JSA takes on the classic Nazi-Hitler-Occult angle. Overall, the tone was that of an average team book with the villain finding a way to separate the team, capturing a few, and all while being surrounded by mysteries in the dark. Sure, the JSA win conveniently, however, the story was entertaining and managed to keep my interest enough especially with all the moving pieces and characters. So far, I’d rank this story third of the bunch after the Supersons story and one other I’ll mention later.
A NEW DARKNESS
The writer introduces a pretty unique concept in what many might view as a throwaway line. He opens by introducing a new character named Kar-Von who happens to be both a Green and Red Lantern. My interest was instantly piqued and became curious to see this idea played out further. However, without trying to spoil too much AND in hopes DC Comics is reading this, I hope that Kar-Von works his way into our current DC present. The story itself was extremely quick, lacked words at times, and amounted to a brisk battle with zero context. Yet, I left excited for the character more than anything else, which is even more surprising considering the context.
BLOOD LOST & FOUND
This next Etrigan tale showcases the eternality of the character as well as his love loss for the demonic world and helping humanity. The writer juggles the curse with the blessing and quickly gets to the brawl between the two demonic characters with the twist being that the local demonic force wasn’t Etrigan. Surprisingly, what I appreciated the most was that the rhyming that normally gets on my nerves didn’t at all this time. The writer actually found a way to rhyme with ease and didn’t make the dialogue appear too over the top or silly. And trust me, Etrigan’s dialogue must be difficult to maintain yet the writer delivered that well.
THE HAUNTING OF WAYNE MANOR
The last story may very well be the best by Seeley. For anyone looking for a reasonably haunting story this Halloween season, this is the best you’ll get from DC’s Terrors Through Time #1. Deadman is drawn extremely well with this extra creepy exterior paralleled with Damian Wayne in a pretty killer dynamic duo I wouldn’t mind seeing again in the future. However, the biggest flaw of the story was Damian Wayne’s voice. He came across as more fearful and less stubborn. More frightened and not confident. It was just out of character for Damian. Nevertheless, this story by Seeley was probably a tie, if not a close second, to the Supersons installment. The hanging curse of Damian as the story concluded was a great twist adding even more haunting charm to a comic meant to focus on terror.
FINAL THOUGHTS
DC’s Terrors Through Time #1 salvaged about three reasonably entertaining tales that I wouldn’t have minded seeing as a full issue instead of a truncated, brief, story. Otherwise, readers will discover that there just wasn’t much terror or horror incorporated throughout the issue. Over half of the stories didn’t keep my interest and their length was simply too short to lock in my attention.
Nevertheless, to back the writers on this one, it’s rather difficult to create a rockstar story with little page count. Maybe DC Comics could/ should try this again for the “Christmas” Holiday Special but narrow it down to four stories instead? This may provide creative teams with more space to tell a more riveting story. Alas, with only three stories out of eight worth the read, along with a few concepts worth possible investment down the line, a $9.99 cover price makes DC’s Terrors Through Time #1 a hard pass this week. Let me know what you think, have a great week, and God Bless!