It is a time of year known by many cultures and many names. Devil’s Night. All Hallow’s Eve. Samhain. The Day of the Dead. The time when the boundary between this world and the next is weakest and when the unreal becomes a little more real.

Of course every day has been Halloween for Solomon Hitch ever since the undead attack that left him half-man and half-zombie but all hero. Armed with a sixth-sense for the supernatural, a modicum of heightened strength and durability and a magical shovel, Solomon protects the town of Solar City, Texas year-round as Halloween Man.

It’s not a glamorous job, but someone has to do it and Solomon is blessed not to have to do it alone. He has good friends like Nickodemis, who mastery of supernatural trivia gives Solomon the knowledge he needs to fight the various monsters he routinely faces. He’s got the best girlfriend in the world – super-scientist/plus-size model Lucy Chaplin, who is a superhero in her own right. And he even has a mentor of sorts in Morlack – the urban necromancer who saved his afterlife – though the usually drunk Morlack makes Rick from Rick and Morty look honest and reliable. Still, when Morlack tells Solomon that Spring-Heeled Jack is on the loose and threatening to ruin everyone’s Halloween, Solomon has no choice but to get involved and put his plans handing out candy to the kids on-hold.

Given that Solomon Hitch has already fought a battle to save Christmas for one family, it was perhaps inevitable that he’d one day be called upon to stop a grinch like Spring-Heeled Jack from attacking people for dishonoring the dark spirit of the season with events like Rocky Horror screenings and church-hosted Trunk-Or-Treat gatherings. It’s a battle Solomon is ready to fight, but he may have met his match in the gruesome Jack and Drew Edwards’ scripts are as fun and full of dark comedy as befits his creation as ever.

Unfortunately, the artwork doesn’t quite match up to the writing this time around. Ironically, Lucho Inzunza’s artwork leaves the half-zombie Solomon looking a little stiff and there’s a lot of forced poses throughout. It’s not enough to short-circuit one’s enjoyment of the book but things are far less fluid than is usual for the adventures of Solomon Hitch. Inzunza also seems to go out of the way to avoid drawing the scarred side of Solomon’s face.

Still, the color art and lettering by April Guadiana are as skillfully applied as ever and the cover by Chandra Free is a spirited thing that perfectly captures the aura of the issue. Despite a few minor imperfections, this latest chapter in the Halloween Man saga is as sweet a treat as anything you’re likely to find in your bag this Halloween.

Halloween Man: Hallowtide #1 will be released on Comixology on October 24, 2017.