Here are my 13 favorite horror comic books released in 2024!

Mad Cave Studios always offers up some refreshing horror, this year they unleashed the fiery fury of CHARRED REMAINS by writer and former forensics technician Anthony Cleveland and art by Andrea Mutti who is the hardest working artist in the biz right now. The story involves a political conspiracy revolving around a series of fires caused by a serial arsonist only known as the Fire Man. It’s a fun little mystery, like a supernatural Backdraft and worth looking out for.

There have been a lot of horror anthologies released this year, attempting to harken back to those fantastic EC Comics of old like TALES FROM THE CRYPT. Most of them are simply ok, with some of them completely missing the mark by infusing thinly veiled politics into their stories. One of the anthologies that has done it the least is HELLO DARKNESS (limited series?, BOOM! Studios). In each issue so far there is a James Tynion IV SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN story and a multi-chaptered story by Garth Ennis. So far there have been quite a few unsettling stories and fantastically gory and surreal pinups. Hopefully this anthology sticks around.

Another odd one is FISH FLIES (limited series, Image Comics) from the soulful, yet demented mind of Jeff Lemire. This is a story of a criminal who turns into a man sized bug and the girl who tries to save him. It’s a redemption story where a human monster doesn’t find his soul until he becomes a monster and it is quite beautiful, yet absolutely surreal. The ghostly art from Lemire is great and you can tell this was a personal story from the acclaimed comic scribe.

THE NIGHT CLUB 2 (limited series, Dark Horse Comics) moved from Image to Dark Horse this year but the quality of storytelling from Mark Millar and his artist Juanan Ramirez hasn’t faded. Reminiscent of a horror infused version of Millar’s KICK-ASS, this schmelding of ground level super-heroics and the supernatural is a true page-turner. The first series delved into this team of lovable young heroes as they decide to use their powers for good. But this second series deals with them being tempted by the darkness of their powers. Fun super-hero horror. Marvel should take notes.

Speaking of Marvel, they do have one horror comic that is surprisingly fun coming out. I’ve been a WEREWOLF BY NIGHT (ongoing series?) fan for ages, but the last few years has seen the distillation of the characters by introducing a new Native American werewolf character. Of course, that went nowhere, so Jack Russell is back and wolfier than ever. I don’t want to over-hype this book, but writer Jason Loo and his energetic artist Sergio Fernández Dávila are embracing the old stories from the Werewolf By Night series and incorporating Russell in with other Marvel Horror heroes and villains like Moon Knight and Elisa Bloodstone. Embracing the character’s rich history and incorporating the character uniquely with others in the Marvel Universe…imagine that? I wish more Marvel Comics would do this.

Another werewolf comic that is kicking all kinds of ass is BATMAN: FULL MOON (limited series, DC Comics). Rodney Barnes writes a wicked take on Gotham as Batman seeks help from John Constantine, Zatanna, and Kurt Langstrom (aka the ManBat) to help track down a werewolf on the rampage in the streets of Gotham. The series is still going, but when we last left Batman he was transforming into a werewolf inside of the Batmobile! Alfred will never get all of that hair out! The true seller is mouth-watering art from Stevan Subic. This is a gorgeous looking series.

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: FRANKENSTEIN (4 issue miniseries, Image Comics) gives new life to Mary Shelly’s classic by focusing on different characters and perspectives. I especially liked how this series gave voice to the demented Fritz, who later became known as the hunchbacked lab assistant Igor. Michael Walsh delivers script and art for this stunning take on the classic that no horror fan should miss.

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: DRACULA (4 issue limited series, Image Comics) is another reimagining of a classic monster, this time told mainly from the perspective of the maniacal Renfield and his physician Dr. Seward. Again, telling this story from a different perspective makes all the difference in the world in transforming this age-old story into something fresh and new. This is great comic booking from writer James Tynion IV with sumptuous art by Martin Simmonds.

BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES (limited series, IDW Publishing) was one of the big surprises this year in horror comics. Patrick Horvath and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou refresh the slasher genre with a tale of an anthropomorphic town is haunted by a serial killer. While the characters seem like they’ve been ripped from a Richard Scarry book, they do some down-right heinous things, making this one of the more twisted reads you’ll find this year.

Another interesting take on serial killers was last year’s STRAY DOGS, which told the story of a slasher who killer gals walking their dogs and keeps the dogs. This story was told from a doggie perspective and intrigued as much as it tugged on the heartstrings. Well, the team behind STRAY DOGS, writer Tony Fleecs and artists Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez are at it again with FERAL (limited series, Image Comics). This time a strain of advanced rabies is spreading fast among the animal populace and a group of stray cats are trying to survive and get to some kind of safe haven before becoming one of the infected. It’s zombie horror with cats! Need I say more! Get it!

HYDE STREET (ongoing series, Image Comics) is another anthology of sorts as Geoff Johns and his all-star artist Ivan Reis deliver a group of twisted characters tempting any innocent soul who happens upon the titular street to head over to the dark side. The series is slowly introducing its characters in its first issues, so this is a perfect time to hop onto this series. Johns delivered big this year with his Ghost Machine imprint at Image. Johns always held a firm grip on horror and HYDE STREET is proof of that.

ICE CREAM MAN (ongoing series, Image Comics) has been one of the most consistently entertaining horror comics since its inception. Now nearing fifty issues, W. Maxwell Prince is a modern day Rod Serling offering up off-kilter and often nightmarish takes on the human condition. Martin Morazzo delivers a simple and realistic style, making the strangeness all the more disturbing. This year saw a car wreck in ultra slow mo, going into the lives of everyone involved, a twisted take on Moby Dick, and all kinds of twisted mental minutiae. I’m jealous of you if you’ve never read IICE CREAM MAN since that means you get to experience all of the nightmares and thrills this book has to offer.

Finally this is more of a recognition than an actual pick. I haven’t been able to get my hands on THE CRYING BOY miniseries from writer Niall O’Rourke, artist Rob Moran, and new publisher Keenspot. But I look forward to catching up with it. What I wanted to point out with this series though were the fantastically gruesome covers by Carlos Fabian Villa. Check out that nightmare fuel! I’m looking forward to this series and especially seeing more work from cover artist Villa!

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