Is there a better new superhero aimed at Halloween than Hallows’ Eve? Plucking masks out of a bag to take on new powers, Janine is the epitome of Halloween. In a new special from Erica Schultz and Michael Dowling, Hallows’ Eve must stop chaos from running amuck thanks to some college kids canoodling with evil magic.
Hallows’ Eve: The Big Night #1 opens with college kids dressed up for parties at Empire State University. Three boys decide to use a zombie finger to get something they want, which turns kids into monsters. Enter Hallows’ Eve, who is reminiscing about how much she and Ben (aka Spider-Man’s clone!) loved Halloween. You can be anybody. That’s a nice touch on her personal life before hell breaks loose.
And break loose it does, with crazy monsters like giant spiders and zombies running around trying to kill people. Schultz gets to show off two new masks in this issue, allowing Janine to go full superhero. I won’t spoil which ones she plucks out as that’s half the fun, but it’s nice to see Hallows’ Eve go hero while monsters run amok.
One of the best pages of the issue.
Credit: Marvel
Color artist Brian Reber gets to drench this issue in darkness due to it mostly taking place outside. The color choice suits the theme as Dowling goes off on pencils. The action suits each of the masks Hallows’ Eve pulls out. I particularly liked the shield action going down. Ultimately, the threats aren’t too dangerous given Hallows’ Eve’s powers, but it’s a fun little romp all the same.
Overall the story is a bit too basic, though. The enemies are fairly easy to vanquish and the overall threat is defeated super easily. With only a tiny bit of character work, most of this issue is a fight comic between Hallows’ Eve and faceless enemies making it feel low stakes and a low necessary read.
Closing out the issue is a reminder the Limbo embassy still exists in New York. It’s unfortunate Marvel hasn’t done more with that, but it’s nice to be reminded it’s there. Schultz also seems to be looping in a bit of a joke concerning Twitter in the closing scene, but maybe that’s just me.
Hallow’s Eve: The Big Night is a fun Halloween caper, although too simple for its own good. Very little is done with the character leaning more into the Halloween fun.
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