Hallows’ Eve #1: The Big Night is a fun romp for the titular character, Hallow’s Eve (Janine Godbe).
Having not been familiar with any aspect of the characters, this was a hesitant pick up. However, the pup of Halloween drew me into grabbing it from my local comic shop.
My cursory knowledge of the character was the only barrier to grabbing this one-shot, but the way the story develops clearly showcases that this is a great spot to hop in with little stakes but a lot of fun.
The first handful of pages feature a group of male college students reciting incantations with a mummified finger from limbo. The goal? Make one of their ex-partners jealous by summoning a perfect woman. Such a superior line of thinking.
This leads directly into things going awry and us getting to see Janine dawn her many masks. This time, her masks take the form of Marvel’s greatest heroes.
Light on spoilers, I’ll only discuss the mask that was shown in solicitations. Seeing a complicated character such as Hallows Eve don Captain America, such an upstanding hero, provides a neat dynamic. She even mentions how it feels so strange, yet becoming to her. You’ll have to read for yourself to see any other masks that are used.
This comic actually pulled me further into the character than anything has in the past. Her complicated feelings of not fitting into any situation is one that is familiar. Dawning masks to find yourself isn’t some unique occurrence, but one that is shared. While they don’t explore that to depth in this one-shot, they take a more fun approach and nail that aspect.
Oftentimes, I prefer one-shots in their ability to tell a succinct and contained story. Hallows’ Eve: The Big Night is no different. It’s light, and most importantly, it’s fun. It’s like a nice vacation from deeper, more long-form storylines. Great for newcomers like myself, and it should be a nice little departure for longtime fans.
