Suvudu Universe

We don’t get anyone trick-or-treating in our neighborhood — no kids around, and it’s too far away for them to travel to us — so we can’t give out comics any more, but when we did, they were always well-received. You have to be careful about which titles, of course, since most corporate superhero comics are no longer appropriate for younger readers, and you don’t want to make any parents mad. But a little work at selection, and you can have a ton of happy children on Halloween night.

To help in this endeavor, Boom! Studios is making a special deal available. They are selling random packs of 50 full-sized KaBOOM! comics (that’s their line of publications for kids) for $19.99 from now until October 22 (so you’ll get them in time for the holiday). Forty cents a comic is a great deal, when you realize they’re normally cover-priced at $4. Titles may include Adventure Time, Regular Show, Peanuts, Garfield, and Herobear and the Kid. With the exception of the last, those are names that kids and parents are already familiar with, a bonus.

If you’d rather give out minicomics, Diamond has made a selection of smaller comics available through comic shops in packs of 20 for $4.99. Titles include Betty and Veronica, Angry Birds, and Plants vs. Zombies. Check with your local store for availability.

It’s part of their Halloween ComicFest event, a sort of poor relation of Free Comic Book Day held the Saturday before Halloween to draw customers into comic book stores. This year, it’s October 25. In participating stores (although I don’t know which ones, since I couldn’t get the locator to work), they’re also giving out full-size comics to visitors, although some of those aren’t suitable for kids. I recommend picking up the Afterlife With Archie or the Scooby-Doo Team-Up, both enjoyable for very different reasons.