HALLOWEEN MAN VS. THE MUMMY/ Script by DREW EDWARDS/ Art by JAMES FIGUEIREDO/ Colors by NATALEE GLOCKZIN/ Letters by MAX LIVE/ Layouts by APRIL GUADIANA/ Edited by RUSSELL HILLMAN, JAMIE BAHR & JASON HENDERSON/ Published by JB EDWARDS & SUGAR SKULL MEDIA

Like Rodney Dangerfield, Solomon Hitch gets no respect. Bad enough that he’s the least popular superhero in Solar City, but he’s also being blamed for the large influx of non-violent monsters migrating into town. In fact, the only people who hate Solomon more than the regular citizens of Solar City are the monsters who can’t go out among humans. Especially the vampires.

Enter Karnak; an Egyptian nobleman cursed with undeath, who has been suffering alone since Solomon Hitch killed his bride. Now the Mummy is out for revenge and backed up by a mystic weapon that the vampires of Solar City believe will resurrect Dracula if used to kill Halloween Man during the height of a solar eclipse. Of course such things are quite rare… but there just happened to be a solar eclipse on the day Solomon was signing autographs at his friend Nick’s bookstore…

I feared I might be burned out on Halloween Man by this point in October. Heaven knows the Sugar Skull Media team have been pumping out new content all month in honor of the character’s 20th anniversary. Thankfully, Drew Edwards’ creation remains as fresh as the spring daisies on a fall grave.

Despite being a sequel to an earlier Halloween Man story, new readers can enter into this special without any problems. Drew Edwards explains everything you need to know as the story progresses, and there’s a classic Stan Lee vibe to the dialogue. Solomon sounds a bit more like Peter Parker than Ben Grimm in how he empathizes with the villain, while still giving him a sound thrashing this time around.

The artwork by James Figueirdo improves upon his previous work in 2017’s Halloween Man Christmas Special. Figuerido has a gritty aesthetic that lends itself well to the character, but his previous work was over-inked at times and his line-work was obscured as a result. There’s no such issue this time around and the colors by Natalee Glodckzin help define the details all the better.

If you haven’t given the world of Halloween Man a try just yet, this issue is a good place to start. And there’s no better time of year to explore it than right now, as the weather is turning cold and the nights are getting longer. If you like classic superhero stories and classic horror with heart, you’ll love Halloween Man.

Halloween Man Vs. The Mummy is available on Comixology