By MATT SCHORR
Did you know Freddy Krueger was a Marvel Comics villain? Right up there with Magneto and Doctor Doom?
Well, maybe he didn’t reach that level of prestige among the “True Believers,” but I think ol’ Freddy could’ve kicked some serious ass in the Marvel universe. In fact, I daresay the only one who could seriously take him in is probably Doom. The X-Men? Fantastic Four? Avengers? They’d all go down.
That’s right. I said it.
Anyway, the point is Freddy had a brief run with Marvel in his own short-lived series called Freddy Krueger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. And I do mean short-lived. It was scrapped after just two issues in favor of more kid-friendly material. I can certainly understand and respect the Marvel executives’ decision, but it’s a shame really. These were two damn good issues and a killer start (pun sort of intended) for what promised to be a great horror series.
Our story opens with a brutalized teenage girl discovered by Springwood police in her bedroom. She’s been badly cut and burned, but is miraculously still alive. Meanwhile, in New York City, Dr. Julian Quinn is planning to return her home in Springwood in hopes of both helping troubled youths and (you guessed it) finally putting a stop to Freddy’s reign of terror.
Shortly after arriving home, Julian meets Alison, who she discovers is actually a very powerful dreamer (not unlike certain other movie heroines in the series before her). The two join forces in an attempt to defeat Freddy, which, naturally, doesn’t turn out all that well for either one of them.
Where the Jason VS Leatherface series had serious flaws suggesting the writers and artists didn’t do their homework, Marvel’s creators really shine. These guys know the material and have a very clear appreciation for it. Freddy looks just as he should, and the artwork (which is black-and-white…which I love) is stark and gritty. Everything about the art compliments the story and vice versa.
The story itself is also a very satisfying entry into the Nightmare saga. The creators offered their own back-story for Krueger that’s much more intriguing and satisfying than the one offered up in the atrocious Freddy’s Dead. We learn that he had an uncanny ability to attract violence and depravity from the day he was born. His first foster parents were murdered when he was still a toddler, and his second foster parents (who stole him) forced him to help make ends meet by literally pimping out his adopted mother.
Everything about this series works, unlike the god-awful remake (every horror franchise remade by Platinum Dunes sucks, by the way). It felt like Marvel wanted to kick Freddy off with a real bang, and they did. It’s too bad they got cold feet so early on and pulled the plug. There are advertisements about later stories that would showcase the Springwood Slasher in the classroom, terrorizing Springwood’s high school.
If you’re a big enough Freddy fan to purchase Nightmare comics at all, these two issues are worth seeking out. They were printed in an oversized magazine format, so they’re a little difficult to store along with all the other regular-sized books, but they’re definitely worthy of inclusion.
Five stars and an excelsior!
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