20 Awesome Comic Book Themed Jack-O’-Lanterns!
Here at ComicsAlliance, we love us some Halloween, and one of our favorite parts of the holiday is carving a pumpkin into a spoooooky Jack-O-Lantern! Of course, as is the case with most Halloween traditions, what started as a way to frighten malevolent spirits away from your home through the medium of triangular eyes has mostly just turned into yet another way to express your love of pop culture. (And you're making on of your own this year, we'd love to see it!)
When comic book fans turn their attention to carving pumpkins, the results can be pretty awesome. That's why today, we've scoured the Internet to bring you 20 Awesome Comic Book Themed Jack-O'-Lanterns!As you might expect, there are a lot of Batman themed pumpkins out there in the world, but the best one I've seen comes from DeviantArt user BClary, who spent five hours recreating Jim Lee's cover to to Batman #608. It might not be used to ward off ghosts, but it's definitely more effective at keeping your home from being menaced by murderous clowns:
Unless, of course, said murderous clown is also kicking it in glorious gourd form, like Gone_Walkabout's Heath Ledger-inspired Joke-O'-Lantern. In that case, you're pretty much doomed.
And hey, if we're going to go all the way into this whole Batman thing -- and I think the record will show that I'm the type of person to do exactly that, why not go all out with FantasyPumpkins.com's version of everyone's favorite henchwench, Harley Quinn. And just wait'll you see what happens to this thing in the Suicide Squad Halloween Special:
Of course, the folks at Fantasy Pumpkins are probably best known for the pretty awesome feat of turning a regular pumpkin into the Galactic Empire's most feared weapon with their version of the Death Star. Your costume can't repel spooooookiness of that magnitude!
Sure, you can spend hours carefully carving shapes to make yourself a Death Star, but if you're like DeviantArt's Athrun-Zala-Guy, then you want to be the very best -- Like no one every was. And that's why you carve yourself one of Team Rocket's ol' standbys, the surprisingly cheery looking Koffing:
Flickr's kcvensel has carved himself a hero in the form of Iron Man, and while it looks pretty awesome, it's definitely a hazard. Seriously, you do not want Tony Stark anywhere near an open flame. That guy burps once, and that thing's going up like a the Hindenburg:
Courtesy of makenagirls on Flickr, here's the World War I flying ace (better known as Charlie Brown's best pal Snoopy) on his doghouse Sopwith Camel, gearing up for another Christmas-song inspiring battle against the Red Baron:
While we're on the subject of comic strips, ladybugbkt on Flickr has a pretty amazing version of Calvin from Bill Watterson's classic Calvin and Hobbes. And really, if that kid could turn a cardboard box ino a duplicator, a transmogrifier and a time machine, just imagine what he could make out of a hollowed-out pumpkin:
From Flickr's starbeard (who also provides some pretty awesome making-of shots) comes the DALEK-O-LANTERN! "YOU HAVE PROVIDED THE DALEKS WITH INFERIOR CANDIES! TRICK-OR-TREAT-OR-EX-TER-MIN-ATE!!"
Fortunately for the Earth, Patricia-Kitten on Tumblr has saved us all with her carving of The 11th Doctor, here to defeat the Daleks. Probably by making them eat those weird black-and-orange candies that are like rubber cement mixed with sugar. Seriously, who eats those things?
For something that's a little more appropriate for the season, you could always go with the Heck-o-Lantern, a carving of Hector Plasm using a template provided in the awesome Hector Plasm: Totentanz one-shot. This one was sent in by Hector creator Benito Cereno, who was probably grumbling under his breath the entire time he was carving about how real jack-o-lanterns should be carved from turnips:
Another great horror-inspired carving comes from DeviantArt's NickShev, who provides an extremely detailed (but sadly underilluminated) version of The Goon's Zombie Priest:
Along the same lines of appropriate creepiness, we have a truly amazing version of Alucard from Hellsing. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to track down the source on this one, but it's just too good to not post. Disembodied floating eyes, a vampire, and a pentagram on one pumpkin? This is the thing you put on the porch when you want to keep all those fun-size candy bars to yourself by scaring the hell out of neighborhood kids:
But does even that contain a fraction of the sheer terror contained within the restless spirits of the unquiet dead, which no barrier can stop, whose very touch means death, as represented by the Boo from Super Mario World, as created by Rob Boudon? Whatever you do... don't look away.
In the interest of fairness, here's a pumpkin I carved a few years ago myself, which, if you squint, you may be able to recognize as the Cobra logo from G.I. Joe. See, the trick is that if you're not very good at carving pumpkins, it's all in the accessorizing:
Chris Onstad's Achewood has a good shot at being the single best comic of the 21st century so far, and finally, it has been immortalized in pumpkin form courtesy of _Madolan_. Specifically, a couple of knuckleheads from back in the day, Roast Beef and Ray Smuckles:
And as the icing on the Achewood pumpkin cake (or pie, as the case may be), John Booty gives us the foulmouthed and frequently deceased squirrel, Todd:
From Loston Wallace, we have one of the most awesome Halloween pumpkins I have ever seen: The Doctor Doom-o-Lantern! Tremble, Reed Richards! For on this night, the egging of the Baxter Building shall commence!!
Okay. Look. I know this next one has absolutely nothing to do with comic books, but before we're done with this article, you have to see it, because it's one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. And I don't mean the most amazing jack-o'-lanterns, or the most amazing Halloween stuff, I mean the most amazing things. Ladies and gentlemen, from magpie-moon's Flickr stream, I give you: A jack-o'-lantern carved in the likeness of Robert Smith from the Cure:
Are you recovered from the majesty? Good.
Because finally, there's my favorite of all the jack-o'-lanterns I've seen so far, discovered on this Tumblr, the cast of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic:
So therre you go, readers! 20 awesome jack-o'-lanterns! But we always want to see more, so if you've done some comics-themed pumpkin carving this year, snap a picture and send it to ComicsAlliance for a chance to be featured right here on the site!