In the beginning of “Halloween Legion: The Great Goblin Invasion,” writer Martin Powell thanks the late scribe Ray Bradbury for all his help.
By the end of this book, you’ll want to shake Powell’s hand.
With instantly recognizable characters, fun art and a story that feels like “Independence Day” meets “The Goon,” “Halloween Legion: The Great Goblin Invasion” is all treat with no trickery needed. What could have been a silly cash-in on time-honored characters ends up smart, savvy and sneakily serene.
Powell and writer/artist Diane Leto craft a fun, but more than mature tale by giving souls to Halloween stereotypes such as the black cat, witch, ghost, skeleton and the devil, in a way that the reader can latch on to them instantly. Simply put, this assembly of heroes are so much more than you originally think. They have passion and integrity. They have clear-cut personalities. You can almost hear their voices aloud when you read the comic.
What helps in this process is the work of artist Thomas Boatwright. His facial expressions on Autumn, the cat, are just one example of how he’s able to bring something special out of the cliche. Behind the fun, but intense battle scenes and a nifty as hell splash page towards the end of the tale, Boatwright helps support the writing in a way that only excellent artists can. He makes it all better.
“Halloween Legion: The Great Goblin Invasion” may sneak its way past you in your normal comic book reading list, but those who appreciate the work of Dave Stewart and Eric Powell in “The Goon,” will find themselves instantly hooked. Those who have an affinity for unique books that have a different take on the whole super hero thing will find this book a refreshing read that induces its fair share of smiles.
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports.
Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders.
His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023.
Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief.
Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale.
Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.
In the beginning of “Halloween Legion: The Great Goblin Invasion,” writer Martin Powell thanks the late scribe Ray Bradbury for all his help.
Leave a Reply