I know, I know - you look at the post title and your immediate thought is that I’m just blowing what little credibility KFR already has, right? Shock of shocks, all three of the Wildstorm slasher comics are pretty entertaining, with one of them genuinely bordering on being really good.

When DC/Wildstorm announced last year that they had acquired the comic book rights to Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the Thirteenth and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I’m pretty confident in my assumption that I wasn’t the only person that dismissed the news with an eyeroll. After all, how often has a comic book adaptation of any movie been any good, much less a slasher movie tie-in?

Eventually, I found myself with the opportunity to read a few issues of the three series, and to my complete and utter amazement, they’re all pretty enjoyable. Now, not a one of them is going to be nominated for an Eisner, but I’ll be damned if they weren’t all entertaining enough in their own ways.

Nightmare on Elm Street is probably the easiest to translate to comics since Freddy Krueger is by far the most comic book friendly and experienced character involved in the project. It comes as no surprise then that the writer/artist team on this book are approaching their gig in the most straightforward fashion. The art is clean while Dixon’s writing is well suited to the characters - the issue I read had a nightmare dreamscape that involved military warfare with lots of guns and stuff being blown to bits. All in all, a completely inoffensive little comic, if you don’t mind the dismemberment and gutting inherent to a Freddy story.

The Friday The Thirteenth series delivers what the series of flicks has always promised and then some. The issue I got my hands on not only featured copious amounts of gratuitous nudity, but the body count in 22 pages rivalled that of an entire movie. Much like the Nightmare title, the art is nice and clean and services both the story and the gore exceptionally well. I was genuinely tempted, and still am tempted, to order the collection of the first story arc. And not because I have a need for another comic featuring naked women running around - that portion of my collection is already well rounded enough, thank you very much.

My favorite of the bunch, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, is one I enjoyed enough to have pre-ordered the collection. The plot is one that, if it had been made into a movie would have felt thin, but feels just right for the printed page. Yes, Leatherface is the hack-happy bad guy, but instead of a bunch of nubile young hotties and their stoner boyfriends being the victims of his gas and oil fueled meat chopper, the story is focusing more on the news media and law enforcement’s dealing with the aftermath of the movie’s massacre. The art is reminiscent of Sam Keith, but less exagerrated, and the writing is quick and sharp. All in all, a truly fun horror title that would have felt right at home at Vertigo.

Bear in mind, I’m basing my comments on one or two issues per title, and for all I know things go completely off the rails with the following issue. Nonetheless, Wildstorm’s impressed me by taking what I really felt was a flash in the pan, waste of time triumvurate or licenses and turned them into something the creators can honestly be proud to have on their resumes. Kudos!

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