House of Horror

Friday the 13th: Jason vs. Jason X #2
Written by Mike Wolfer
Art by Mike Wolfer
Released: 2006
Publisher: Avatar Press

Premise: In 2005, Avatar Press began releasing titles from New Line Cinema’s “House of Horror” license, which includes A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Platinum Dune’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

It’s the battle royale as the regenerated Jason Voorhees and the futuristic Jason X fight to the death in a gut-spilling horror spectacle! As the titanic clash cuts down all those around them, the pilotless space cruiser that serves as the Jasons’ battle arena descends toward Earth 2 and an impact that neither combatant can hope to survive. But will a fiery and certain death halt the terrifying showdown, as both Jason and Jason X struggle to rip their most vital secret from the undead corpse of the other? Only one shall survive in a shocking and horrifying finale as you have never seen or dared to guess!

Plot Breakdown (spoilers): Jason and Jason X battle, each wanting what the other possesses. Melda, stunned by what she is witnessing, manages to escape the bloody scene and tries to find help among the S.S. Fun Club’s flight crew. While she searches for assistance, the two Jasons continue their conflict, killing spectators, bystanders, and any others who get in their way. When the ship’s android captain is destroyed, Melda is forced to take control of the vessel, and with the help of android attendant “Alice”, forces it to crash land on nearby Earth 2. Both Melda and Alice survive the devastating crash however, as does the warring Jasons. With the ship exploding behind them, Melda and Alice escape into the woods unnoticed, leaving the two villains to their fates. Jason and Jason X fight inexhaustibly, until Jason X gains the advantage and rips off Jason’s head. Jason X tears open Jason’s skull and takes out the part of his brain he is missing. He then absorbs the missing piece, completing a memory of him and his mother. Now whole, Jason X sets his sights on his new killing ground.
(more…)

Friday the 13th: Jason vs. Jason X #1
Written by Mike Wolfer
Art by Mike Wolfer
Released: 2006
Publisher: Avatar Press

Premise: In 2005, Avatar Press began releasing titles from New Line Cinema’s “House of Horror” license, which includes A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Platinum Dune’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The gore-drenched showdown of a lifetime erupts in the depths of space as the undead, mass-murderer Jason Voorhees is reborn to face the cybernetically-enhanced and unstoppable future version of himself! As Jason X stalks the halls of an interstellar pleasure cruiser, a deep-space salvage team make their way into the remnants of the space catamaran Grendel, where the Uber-Jason was created. Hoping to gut the ship of its most valuable assets, the team instead unwittingly revives a curse that transcends time itself and reawakens the one, original Jason Voorhees. Jason’s divided reign of terror will be short-lived, however, as both halves of Earth’s most dreaded serial killer are drawn to one another for a confrontation that can have only one victor… And one survivor!

Plot Breakdown (spoilers): Following the events of Jason X (Special) #1, a deep-space salvage team docks with the burned out hull of the Grendel, where a chunk of Jason’s original head floats in zero gravity. When the team reinstates backup power and artificial gravity, Jason’s head falls onto the medical bed where Jason X was created, activating the medical computer. The computer, unable to rebuild its subject from the limited matter, sends its medical nanites to collect tissue from the bodies of Grendel’s dead crew, Jason’s victims. It isn’t long before the original Jason Voorhees is reborn. Afterward, he systematically slaughters the salvage team, all while sensing a vague memory of his mother, and indirectly, Jason X’s presence. Aboard the salvage team’s ship, the pilot, Melda, watches the team’s life sign readings vanish. In response, she undocks the ship and flies away at maximum speed, unaware that Jason has already boarded. Jason sabotages the ship’s systems, forcing Melda to dock with the passing S.S. Fun Club, a party vessel. After docking, Melda instructs the Fun Club’s maintenance crew to begin work, while she investigates what the ship offers. Jason emerges soon after, kills the maintenance crew and follows her. Melda manages to visit a couple of floors before she is confronted by the newly arrived, rampaging Jason X. She turns to leave, but is blocked by Jason. Jason and Jason X notice the other, each sensing the other Jason holds a part of the whole. The two juggernauts engage each other, while Melda looks on in horror.
(more…)

Jason X (Special) #1
Written by Brian Pulido
Art by Sebastian Fiumara
Released: 2005
Publisher: Avatar Press

Premise: In 2005, Avatar Press began releasing titles from New Line Cinema’s “House of Horror” license, which includes A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Platinum Dune’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. To kick off their titles, Avatar released one-shot “special” issues serving as an introduction to the New Line characters and premises.

Writer Brian Pulido, the bloody maestro, teams up with artist Sebastian (Hypothetical Lizard) Fiumara on Jason X, the horror story of a twisted super-powered amalgamation of Jason Voorhees and future technology! Set in 2455, Uber-Jason is brought to Earth II. Kristen, a bio-engineer, needs tissue samples from Uber-Jason in the hopes that his regenerative abilities can save her and her loved ones. She is convinced she can contain his rage. Big mistake! Uber-Jason unleashes a torrent of high-tech terror and gore!

Plot Breakdown (spoilers): Continuing from the end of Jason X, what looks like a meteor crashes on Earth II in 2455. The couple who watched the “falling star,” investigates the scene, and turned on by their discovery, begin to have sex. Uber-Jason emerges from the crash site and kills the couple. However, the scene quickly changes, and Jason finds himself back at Camp Crystal Lake on present day earth. He continues his slaughter, killing all those present. Again, the scene shifts and Jason sees his mother’s grave. While determining his situation, Jason is swallowed up by nanite technology. Afterward, it is revealed that Jason is imprisoned in a scientific lab and being tested on. Kristen, a bio-engineer, works quickly to gather a sample of Jason’s tissue. She and her android assistant, Michelle, discuss Jason’s regenerative abilities, and reveal that the surviving crew from Jason X are dead. Kristen, convinced Jason could “help” her situation, manipulated their holo-decks remotely. When the crew thought they had set a course for Earth II, they in fact set a course for Kristen’s lab instead. She has little time to mourn the crew’s passing however, as Jason breaks free from his restraints and begins to destroy the lab. After taking out Michelle, he sets his sights on Kristen, with his mother’s “voice” driving his actions. Unlike before, Jason’s mother’s voice can be heard by those near him. Kristen escapes his grasp and makes it to a medical bay, where her lover, Neil, lays severely injured from a prior injury. She uses the nanites to inject him with Jason’s tissue sample, in the hopes he will regain his health, so they can repopulate the world they are on. Knowing time is short; she lures Jason to a launch pad and tricks him into a shuttle, which she then launches into deep space. Kristen returns to an awakened Neil, thinking her gamble paid off. Neil quickly turns the tables on her, stabbing her in the stomach and revealing Jason’s mother is in control. In mother’s “voice”, he blames her for their situation and slits his own throat, leaving both to die on the floor. Meanwhile, Jason’s shuttle makes contact with a ship called S.S. Fun Club and docks. After the bay doors open, Jason begins killing the partiers aboard.
(more…)

Friday the 13th: Bad Land #2
Written by Ron Marz
Art by Mike Huddleston
Released: February 2008
Publisher: Wildstorm Publishing
Story: Bad Land Part 2

Premise: Wildstorm Publishing continues their “House of Horror” titles based on New Line Cinema characters. Friday the 13th: Bad Land is a two issue mini-series featuring a short story about Jason Voorhees and the violent past of Crystal Lake.

Plot Breakdown (spoilers): In the past, one of the fur trappers panics about the wounded Indian man, repeating “bad place, bad place,” and flees into the woods. The remaining two trappers argue over going after their colleague, and after some sharp exchanges, one of them leaves the tipi in pursuit. In the present, Philip sets out into the woods to walk off his anger over Diane and Jeremy’s relationship. Diane, thinking him foolish, pleads for Jeremy to go after him and bring him back. Jeremy sets off after Philip, only to run into Jason Voorhees. Jason decapitates him with swift efficiency. Back at the tipi, the remaining trapper dismisses his colleagues’ worries, only to be killed by the wounded Indian’s tomahawk. Diane, worried about Philip, is surprised when he returns to the cabin. Distraught after finding Jeremy’s body, he begins to barricade the cabin against possible intruders. Philip explains the situation to Diane, only to be killed by the unstoppable Jason. Jason then moves in on Diane for the kill, but she manages to escape into the woods. In the past, the following fur trapper comes across a clearing and finds his colleague severely wounded, still muttering, “bad place.” While the wounded trapper finally dies from his wounds, the Indian surprises his new target and kills him. In the present, Jason continues to track Diane, eventually catching up to her. Hopelessly trapped, she mutters, “this is a bad place, bad place” as Jason delivers the killing blow. Afterward, he drags her body into the icy lake and joins her in the watery grave. Jason’s actions mirror the wounded Indian, who in the past, dragged his dead mate and child into lake and joined them in their icy resting place.
(more…)

Friday the 13th: Bad Land #1
Written by Ron Marz
Art by Mike Huddleston
Released: January 2008
Publisher: Wildstorm Publishing
Story: Bad Land Part 1

Premise: Wildstorm Publishing continues their “House of Horror” titles based on New Line Cinema characters. Friday the 13th: Bad Land is a two issue mini-series featuring a short story about Jason Voorhees and the violent past of Crystal Lake.

Plot Breakdown (spoilers): In the early 1800s, a raging blizzard blankets the land, forcing three fur trappers to take shelter in a lone tipi in the middle of the woods. In the present, a raging blizzard blankets the land, forcing three hikers to take shelter in a lone cabin where the tipi once stood, now part of Camp Crystal Lake. Within the tipi, the three trappers find an Indian woman nursing her baby. Afraid, she keeps to one side of the tipi, while the men take refuge on the other side, eating the fish roasting on the tipi’s spit. In the cabin, the three hikers, Diane, Jeremy, and Philip, make a fire and find cans of tuna in the cupboards. Philip has a crush on Diane, but she sidesteps his advances. Later, Diane and Jeremy retire to the bedroom, leaving Philip asleep in the living room. While the two covert lovers consummate, Diane notices a hockey masked figure watching them through the window. In a panic, she screams, waking Philip. In the tipi, two of the trappers, now “hungry for something else,” attack the Indian woman and rape her. Afterwards, while she tends to her baby, one of the trappers notices her reaching under a blanket. Thinking she has a weapon, he shoots and kills her and the baby. While the men argue over the killing, the woman’s mate enters the tipi and finds the bodies of the woman and child. Enraged, he attacks the trappers, only to be shot in the face. The man, now wounded, escapes into the woods, while the trappers debate following him. In the cabin, the three hikers debate what Diane saw. Philip, hurt over her interest in Jeremy, leaves the two to “finish what they started.” Unbeknownst to the hikers however, Jason Voorhees is waiting in the woods, paralleling the wounded Indian man waiting to strike back at the trappers.
(more…)