DC Horror Presents... (2024-) #1 (DC Horror Presents...

by David Dastmalchian, Cat Staggs (artist), Renato "Butch" Mapa (artist)

Bones crunching, worms munching, blood spattering…these are a few of our favorite things! From some of the most dark and cunning minds in horror comes DC Horror Presents… a new collection of gruesome tales set in the DCU. With stories penned by some of our favorite names in horror, this anthology will have die-hard horror fans quaking with fear!

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Wonder Woman

Kindle Edition

Published October 23, 2024

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just in time for Halloween.

The first story by David Dastmalchian and Leah Kilpatrick and I loved it!
Dollhouse's boyfriend Max falls (jumps?) off a roof and she hijacks the ambulance sent to take him to the morgue. She's determined to take him to her father, the Toymaker, so he can fix her man.
Along the way, she's killing and commandeering all the "parts" that she knows her dad will need to patch Max up.
The ending was exactly what you would hope for in a one-shot horror story.



The next story is written by the Boulet Brothers and features Wonder Woman fighting her dead mother who is apparently out to kill all the Amazons because WW let her die. It was fine.



And then finally there's some wrestling story at the end by Steve Orlando and Laura Braga. I don't know what that was all about. Seemed like a tie-in for toys or something. Idk but it wasn't horror.



I think this one was worth it for the first story, especially if you have DC Infinite.
Recommended.

[Siona Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mainly got this for the Boulet Brothers. Not familiar with the Dollhouse at all, but the Wonder Woman story was fun. Not a must read, but I wanted to support the BB and hope they have more comics projects in the future.

Pre-read comments: Had to pick this up for the Boulet Brothers. Love them, dragula, and all their work.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

DC Horror Presents is a graphic novel anthology designed to add terror and trepidation to everyone's favorite colorful superheroes. Featuring four issues with two spooky stories apiece, the format offers a variety of ways to add to the Halloween hijinks. David Dastmalchian pens "Love You to Pieces," whereby artist Cat Staggs provides a very rigid presentation of the Dollmaker resurrecting his deranged daughter's latest boyfriend. The clean lines of Butch Mapa capture the Boulet Brothers' script for "Doom's Doorway," as Wonder Woman must contend with her mother's violent return from the grave. LaToya Morgan writes a fun twist on a couple breaking onto a studio lot for "Living Doll," while the exaggerated styles of Tom Derenick and Walt Barna encapsulate the screams and antics of the puppet Scarface. Aaron Sagers contributes "Superstitious Lot," which includes the oddly charming Tennyson Stacks as a spook investigator hired by the Penguin to rid the Iceberg Lounge of spectral haunts; artist Ryan Kelly presents the aforementioned tale with aplomb, creativity, and style. Classic horror creator Francesco Francavilla exceptionally pulls double duty with "The Chthonian Dawn," featuring Batman's attempt to prevent Gotham from being overrun by nature - while subverting expectations with both the antagonist and final twist. Patrick Horvath offers one of the stranger tales of the bunch in "The Brooding Public," using his talents as writer and artist to craft a warning of what might happen should Adam Strange return to Earth without checking his suit for extraterrestrial contamination. Tricked into thieving a cursed diamond in Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum's "The Diamond that Steals Back," Catwoman must find a way to rid herself of the gem before she goes mad. Danny Earls provides the art chores, with odd renditions of costumed figures in well-designed spaces and places. The series finale, "A Matter of Life and Death," is presented from the minds of Steven Kostanski and Brendan Hay, rendered in cartoonish gore by Logan Faerber. Summoned to ingest the remains of an incinerated warlord, Matter-Eater Lad skimps on finishing his plate - allowing the regenerating entity to take over a space station before the Lad returns for seconds. The bite-sized tales are quick enough to be enjoyed in a sitting, while offering darkly entertaining insights into the creepier corners of the DC Universe. As with all collections of this nature, the changes in both literary and visual will inevitably lead to tales being ranked higher or lower based on personal preference. DC Horror Presents fulfills the obligatory spooky season story session smashingly.

[Zilliz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I'm reviewing and rating all four parts as a whole in here, since that's how I read it. For what it's worth, this issue would get a 2 star as well.

These stories were so short there was no space for there to be any real impact with any of them, so none are super great. To me, most were unremarkable and kind of mediocre. There were some good ideas in here, but the short length really worked against them, in my opinion. There does exist good horror that is super short, but everyone in this collection sort of missed the mark.

My Favorites: "The Brooding Public" (interesting concept, successful in being creepy) and "A Matter of Life and Death" (did not take itself seriously so it was fun to read, the art style was charming).

My Least Favorites: "Love You to Pieces" (was just kind of boring and felt uninspired) and "Living Doll" (go girl give us nothing, did not do anything interesting).

[Benjamin]

How? A friend (who has a story in here) pointed out that it was out -- and it was available from my library.

What and Yeah, so? Several (non-canonical horror?) stories featuring DC supers. The stories are short, two to an issue, and there's some differences of tone, from the arch ("Dollhouse (serial killer) revives dead boyfriend just to kill him again for breaking up with her") to the pretty macabre ("Wonder Woman fights with a zombie of her mother who complains that WW can save everyone else but her").

My favorite happens to be the one my friend co-wrote, so that's nice for me.

I'm a big fan in theory of non-canonical and alternative stories in the DC universe; and I like anthologies, though like all anthologies, some things will hit you more depending on where your heart is. Will DC Romance be next?

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un buen debut como guionista de David Dastmalchian con una historieta que demuestra que la mayor parte de los villanos de Batman son puro horror fuel en cuanto empiezas a pensar en cómo podría ser su día a día sin que Batman irrumpa para llevarlos de vuelta a Arkham. Una propuesta que anima de verdad a pensar en un Tales From The Crypt en el Universo DC.

La historia zombi en Themyscira flojea mucho más. Casi merecía la pena dejar de lado a Diana y ese trauma hueco por divertirse de verdad con una "Night of the Amazones Dead".

[Hermione Volino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit that I wasn't ready for what was inside this comic. The first story, which has a woman that resurrects her dead boyfriend, with the help of her father, was just shocking. And then killing him wasn't what I expected. I guess I'm in a horror mood right now. The others, like the Wonder Woman's dead mother coming back, and then whoever that woman was, was something else that I was expecting. Amazing horror.

[Kastie Pavlik · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an anthology. They're rarely super great, but usually at least entertaining. This has two stories and then multiple pages at the end for advertising, which knocks off a star. $5 for two shorts? Bah...

As for the actual content... dolls creep me tfo. So the first story was a definite hit. I'd love a full length horror story in this vein. Then the Wonder Woman story was ok. Note to self: never take a gift from Circe.

[Fen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

personal ranking
1. the chthonian dawn
2. the brooding public
3. the diamond that steals back
4. superstitious lot
5. a matter of life and undead
6. doom’s doorway
7. loving doll
8. love you to pieces

weirdly the one that scared me the most was the brooding public, specifically the ending with superman being infected but not dead. the deformity and the idea that he probably feels all of the worms inside of him made me genuinely a bit sick

[Jacob Shaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dollhouse story was just like a nice lil gore romp lmfao. Wonder Woman story had a cute ending, they did Hippolyta dirty on this one
I feel like these stories didn’t need to be split up in to 4 parts, 2 might be necessary but the holiday specials have always been big collections, this seems unnecessary

[alejandro galvez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed.

This is total free comic giveaway material. I wanted to like this. The premise and characters are there for a good story. But its squandered on whatever this was. It might be too early to judge the whole series, but right now, save your money and go buy another book. This ain't it.

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first story with the Dollmaker was pretty solid. I liked that one. It was eerie but the second story with Wonder Woman was just meh. I didn’t like it too much but it wasn’t bad. It just could have been better imo.

[Peter Derk · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a sentence I never thought I’d put together: Adam Strange and Matter-Eater Lad save this one.

[insert meme of Willem Defoe: I’m something of a matter-eater lad myself. Don’t forget to do this with goodreads archaic, non-image-hosting ass later on]

[Steven Shinder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't really have much to it, despite the amazing cover.

[Julio Bonilla]

… But I will not satiate your defiled spirit’s, thirst for vengeance…

[Landon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun collection wish there were more

[James B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both stories were good. Preferred the 1st one just because of the end.

[Christian · Rating 1 out of 5]

How these writers get jobs at DC is beyond me. Only thing good about this one is the cover

[Ushnav Shroff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a whole lot of fun, honestly.

[Celina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bruh, Superman is overworked.. but that trauma with WW was wicked.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love a good horror anthology and this was fun. will definitely preorder the trade

[Kathryn Grace Loves Horror · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, one sitting collection of 8 DC Comics characters, Batman and Catwoman included, facing situations straight out of horror movies.

[Ex Libris Animus · Rating 5 out of 5]

pretty good start, pleasantly surprised

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology has some bright spots, but is uneven, with some tough uninteresting pieces. So enjoy what you can, and forget the rest.

[Bruno Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mediocre -predictable- stories.

The art is worth the read which, in the end is fun to.

[Stefu Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now I'm going to get obsessed with Matter-Eater Lad.

EBN26: A cover that doesn’t have humans on it

[McKenna . · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love You to Pieces: 2/5
Doom's Doorway: 3/5 - Good art
Living Doll: 3.5/5
Superstitious Lot: 3.5/5 - Great story, just wish it was scarier
The Chthonian Dawn: 4/5 - Love the art for this one especially
The Brooding Public: 4/5
The Diamond That Steals Back: 4/5 - Very fun story that takes an interesting approach to explaining the....changes seen in some characters over the decades
A Matter of Life and Death: 4.5/5

Overall: 3.56 (bumped up to a four to balance out the current avg. rating)

Edit: bumped down to a 3 because, in hindsight, this doesn’t feel like a 4 star collection