Some thoughts about DC: The Doomed and the Damned #1

The most terrifying season is here.

Heroes and villains are about to face some of their most terrible challenges yet, even Darkseid himself.

A "Horror" book for October is here and I say "Horror" because not all of these stories are scary, some of them are even funny which allows for a rather diverse special this time.

John Arcudi opens with a team-up between Madame Xanadu and Man-Bat which is simple yet charming, creating a few good character moments between the two of them. Team-ups is a common theme in this special as we're about to see. Mike Perkins' semi-realistic style is surprisingly solid at depicting the supernatural.

Then Batman gets a segment written by Saladin Ahmed where he has to face a creature that is terrifying children, this is also quite sweet and in-character. Leonardo Manco's art depicts the tale pretty well.

Kenny Porter offers another team-up this time between Hal Jordan and Etrigan which is more simple than I would prefer but it contains a certain classic charm that I enjoy. Riley Rossmo's fluid and bizarre artstyle elevates the story to another level.

Wonder Woman and Raven also team-up in a story I initially thought it was written by Greg Rucka because of the use of the Bible of Crime but is actually handled by Amanda Deibert and she does a pretty solid job at contrasting the personalities of the protagonists. Daniel Sampere's art is pretty good looking.

Marv Wolfman writes a story about the encounter between Ra's Al Ghul and Solomon Grundy which is kinda dull and feels unfinished, almost like Wolfman wants to continue it somewhere else but it doesn't make it work as a standalone story. At least Tom Mandrake's style is decent.

A Superman and Swamp Thing team-up against Clayface is here too written by Amadeo Turturro which touches a few prominent aspects of the heroes but misunderstands Clayface's character considering all the development he had over the years and reduces him to his career as an actor. Mixed bag. Max Fiumara's pencils are good though.

Alyssa Wong writes an encounter between Orca and Orphan which surprisingly touches a few compelling aspects about human traficking while making both protagonists understandable. Dominike Anton's follow the script appropriately with his artwork.

There's a pretty enjoyable tale about Aquaman and Frankenstein written by Brandon Thomas where we see the more, well, "human" side of the latter, the inclusion of Arthur's kid makes this even more heartwarming. Baldemor Rivas's art is pretty fluid and makes the segment even better.

Travis Moore delivers a segment about a date between Raven and Beast Boy in which Klarion the Witch Boy interferes and is just fun with good jokes here and there. Moore's art is also quite pleasent to eye.

Finally Garth Ennis of all people handles a story about Darkseid visiting Baytor's Bar (From the series Hitman) and is as ridiculous and hilarious as you would expect, Darkseid fearing to be "cancelled" is just too good. PJ Holden does a pretty good job at replicating John McCrea's style for the story.

Overall, a pretty dense and solid special. Worth the money.