10 Comic Book Spin-Offs Of Iconic Horror Franchises

We have such sights to show you...

freddy vs jason vs ash comic cover
Dynamite Comics

A murdered child-killer who lives on in the dreams of children. An unkillable great monster in a hockey mask. A square-jawed Chosen One with a chainsaw for a hand. In many ways, our favourite horror movie characters are a lot like the classic comic book superhero or villain.

Visually striking, usually superpowered and in possession of a tragic upbringing and serious mommy/daddy issues. If they weren't slaughtering horny teenagers by the dozen, many of them would be just as at home battling the Avengers or the Justice League. And, in the case of at least one of them, that actually did happen (sort of. They were Marvel Zombies, but it still counts).

And, if you take a good long look inside the longbox, you'll find that many, if not most, of them have made that foray onto the page. For some of them, it's no more than a simple (and usually terrible) comic book adaptation of their movies.

For others, it's a one-shot nightmare, prestige miniseries or a crossover with one of the heavy hitters (usually that guy from the Evil Dead). Here we take a look at ten of our favourite horror franchises and just a few of their comic book adventures. Some, it must be said, are doing better than others. Well, we can't all be doing as well as that Evil Dead guy.

What's your favourite scary, uh, comic book?

10. Jason Vs Jason X

freddy vs jason vs ash comic cover
Avatar Press

How do you make Jason Voorhees in space even more of a ridiculous thing? Well, if you're Avatar Press, you publish a crossover in which Jason of the Future (Jason X is the name of the film, alright) meets and fights himself; Jason Prime, if you will. And they say superhero comic books are silly.

Such is the idea behind Jason vs Jason X, published by Avatar Press in 2006. When the remains of the original Jason Voorhees are reborn (in space) from a bit of leftover splatter, the hulking psychopath crosses paths with his cybernetically-enhanced self from Jason X. Neither Jason will make allowances for their shared DNA, and it's not long before the Voorheeses are knocking lumps out of each other (in space). Whoever wins... we lose. Again.

Like the rest of the New Line properties published by Avatar, Jason vs Jason X is a mixed bag. Still, even the rough art and dodgy writing can't spoil what might be the best thing to come out of Jason X (aside from the film itself, of course): Jason Voorhees fighting Cyber-Jason in space, while also chopping kids to bits. Except, you know, in the future.

 
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Contributor
Contributor

A film critic and professional writer of over ten years, Joel Harley has a deep and abiding love of all things horror, Batman and Nicolas Cage. He can be found writing online and in print, all over the Internet and in especially good bookstores.