This originally wasn't going to be my column for this month. So excuse the rushed feel, if there is one. The column I came up with wasn't working for a lot of reasons. So like the fool that I am, I chose to scrap the whole thing at the last second. Maybe it'll show up one day in another form. Till then dear reader, forget about it and move on.
 

I'm writing you today from a local Starbucks, where I'm sipping over priced, bad coffee and getting gawked at by a middle aged preppie who also appears to be visiting this place with writing in mind. We're currently glaring at each other over our laptops. The soundtrack is one of giggling, via a group of 30-something trophy wives devouring brownies. It is in this strange yet bland environment that I come to you on a subject near to my heart -- romance!

I'm often asked by fans and interviewers, what kind of comic HALLOWEEN MAN is. Is it a superhero comic? A comedy? A horror comic? The answer I give most often is that it is -- in fact -- all three. However, in my heart of hearts, I consider it to be a certain other genre all together. One that wouldn't come to most folks minds.

HALLOWEEN MAN is a gothic romance, because it centers around the classical archtypes of "Beauty" and "Beast."

This old fairy tale idea is one that has followed me my entire life. Those who have been following my column are no doubt aware of that of course. But I thought this a wonderful time to look at the relationship at the center of the comic. And the influences, both fictional and real, on that relationship.
 

SYMPATHY FOR SOME DEVILS
It's no secret that I love monsters. Probably a little too much. As noted last month I draw a lot of strength from monster movie imagery. I relate to their stories and their tragedies. It is part of this reason I created my comic. I wanted the monster to finally get the girl.

What's that you say? Get the girl? I can almost hear those thoughts forming. "Monsters don't want girlfriends, they just want to kill people." In some cases you're right. But more often than not, beast does seek out beauty in a non-lethal way.

Consider the case of the Gill-Man -- better known to most as the Creature from the Black Lagoon. In his un-evolved way, he really tried to court lovely Julie Adams. And in a lot respects he seems more like a sensitive, modern man than the two jock-like scientists feuding over her heart.

Like most monster movie heroines of the day, Adam's character is only allowed to be drawn into the Creature's wiles in a small way. This was the 1950s of course and audiences probably couldn't handle anything too overtly kinky. So you have to fill in between the lines. Like the Gill-Man himself, all that subtext is probably best left below the surface.

Going back even further, we have the tale of Frankenstein's Monster and his Bride. BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is a movie that never fails to get some "water works" out of me. It's a lovely tale told back when films favored wit over cynical sarcasm. But it never the less has a cynical ending, when you look at it.

Henry Frankenstein and Dr. Pretorious create this woman for the Monster. She's quite literally made for him -- a dark Eve to the Monster's block headed Adam. But she shuns the Monster like everyone else. Screams at the sight of him. Karloff's monster tries to woo her in his awkward way briefly, but all to soon it dawns on him.

"She hates me" he hisses.

Boy, have I felt like that so many times in my life. Every time I watch the movie I naively hope it will end differently, but the rejection comes and so do my tears. I'm a big softie at heart. At my own wedding last October, we had a showing of the film for our attendees. You could say it was my symbolic way of trumping the brilliant but unhappy ending of Whale's film.

The Wolf-Man is always searching for love as well. Of course his issues with the full moon, body hair, and a taste for human flesh tend to cramp a leading lady's style. So Larry Talbot never got the girl either, despite giving it a try in various Universal monster films.

Lon Chaney Junior's tormented performance lends a lot of emotional weight to what are otherwise b-monster films. Here is a decent man. One who probably wants what most average joes want. A wife, kids, and a home. But he has this horrid duality and it'll always be just out of his grasp.

Werewolf special effects have of course improved a lot since the 1940s, but they seldom reach the level of poetry shown during Chaney's time. One exception being the brilliant AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON which updates classic Universal horror to the 1980's. This film plays even more on the doomed romance angle. Even having the titular werewolf's love interest present as the London police gun down her hairy boyfriend.

It's a powerful scene made even more heavy by plunging the viewer into the film's credits with "Blue Moon" booming. You want to linger and hope that things will some how be okay. But the film makers give you no choice but to move on. If that ending doesn't get you to choke up even a little, you're the type of person I worry about.

These sort of endings and statements of course make for wonderful horror. KING KONG's ending sums it up best by simply stating that Beauty must kill the Beast. With these star crossed relationships the horror is knowing that love can't conquer all. Love might mean never having to say you're ugly, but it still won't let a girl take the Creature home to mom. It certainly won't cure the Wolf-Man of his carnivorous, lunar activities. And as a horror fan I'll admit I think most of the time that's how it should be. It's scarier that way. However when I created my own monster I wanted to buck convention a little. I wanted the monster to get the girl.
 

WHEN SOLOMON MET LUCY
Solomon Hitch is the horror hero of HALLOWEEN MAN. A horribly disfigured walking corpse who has nasty habit of sometimes eating people. Underneath all this he has the tortured soul of a poet. He's a decent man that just happens to be a monster.

His guiding light is a full-figured beauty named Lucy Chaplin. She's been blessed not only with looks, but wealth, fame, and a brillant mind. She loves Solomon despite his horrid nature. Or maybe even be with him -- *gasp* -- because of it.

Of course, if you're reading this column you probably already know this. What I'm going to attempt in this next few paragraphs is to give you a little deeper look at both of these characters.

Writers tend to come up with a whole biography for their characters. A lot of which never comes into play unless needed, but it's important for a writer to understand where his characters come from. It allows them to understand why they tick. So here's some off hand information that you probably don't know.

Lucy Chaplin is actually "Doctor Lucy Chaplin." She's mastered many different forms of psuedo-science. But most importantly the stuff I've named "the necro-sciences." Like most good mad scientists Lucy has more than a passing interest in death. This is something that existed even before Solomon "became" Halloween Man. So the oft asked question of "why does she stay with him?" has a bit of a superficial answer here.

Lucy is a bit weird.

Her beau has become the very embodiment of untimely death -- youth and decay rolled into one form. So the idea of cuddling up next to a monster probably excites this otherwise good girl. It makes her feel a bit naughty and empowers her sexually. But it would be a mistake to assume that Lucy loves Solomon simply for the pervy thrill of it. No long lasting relationship can be based purely on sex. So what else is there?

When Lucy first met Solomon he was a nameless ranch hand on her father's property. World's away from the high society dandies she was normally surrounded by. They met in a cemetery, so she probably felt he was a kindred spirit. But beyond that, let's assume for once a fellow wasn't just interested in her fame, wealth, or breeding. He actually liked HER. He treated her like she was a normal girl. Not some perfect, untouchable thing. On top of that, he was a good man at an age where macho bombast often takes the place of classic chivalry.

So that answers the questions about Lucy. Let's look at Solomon for a second. The surface level stuff of initial attraction is easy to figure out. Lucy is lovely and brilliant. Certainly a fine catch for any young man simply looking for a trophy girlfriend. But there was something deeper there.

Solomon's pre-Solar City history remains unmentioned for many reasons. But let's just assume Mr. Hitch had it a bit rough growing up. And that maybe above everything else, Lucy's kindness drew him in. Not an overtly complex reason. But certainly a realistic one.

Now once Solomon becomes the monster we all know and love it seems probable that such a relationship would fall apart. For one thing Solomon is virtually immortal, where as Lucy will grow old and die. Lucy is a respected public figure in her city. Solomon a social outcast, often feared by the very people he protects. Why does this continue to work even though it shouldn't?

Well for one thing nothing breeds closeness like a tough situation. The whole world is against this pair. While they have friends and allies, in the end, they can only rely on each other. Plus, due to the adventurous lifestyle they now live, their admirable traits are now blooming into full blown heroism. Solomon struggles against adversity but through this struggle he grows from simply being a good man, into perhaps a great man. Lucy also continues to put herself in harms way to stand by her man. With the add of good fashion sense and a high IQ, I might add. Perhaps making her the more heroic out of the couple.
 

COUPLING IN COMICS
Solomon and Lucy's relationship presents perhaps another oddity in comics. Or at least a rarity. Truly committed couples have never been in vogue in the superhero genre, which favors soap opera style bed hopping.

Reed and Sue Richards are perhaps Solomon and Lucy's forbearers. (I've often joked that they represent a female version of Reed in love with a slimmed down version of the Thing.) But most writers tend to suck all the life out of Reed and Sue's marriage. The message we get most often: commitment isn't "fun." Being single is.

Which is of course is only a half truth. A true couple doesn't have to be boring. You just have to leave a few wrinkles in the bed. More often than not, poor Mr. Fantastic is written like the Professor from GILLIGAN'S ISLAND when he should be Doc Savage. And Sue suffers from being turned into either a bitter man-hater or a submissive bore. When written this way I can't think of a less sexy couple.

When written the right way, of course, their relationship really pops. But that's another subject.

Hopefully I've avoided falling into this trap. I try to inject just enough personal experience into the comic -- not just stuff from my marriage, but events with past girlfriends, personal doubts about my future, and the normal day to day stuff every man goes through when dealing with the opposite sex.

I think another way I've avoided the trap is by making "the girlfriend" the smartest character in the series. If Lucy is ever held hostage by a villain, you have to assume that he honestly got the better of her. And not because she's some pre-feminist Lois Lane type. She's trapped because of overwhelming force.

Lucy's brilliance also gives her a chance to have something over Solomon. He might be a physical powerhouse, but he's still a yokel from some Texas hill town. He has street smarts, but he needs her to do the heavy thinking.
 

TALE AS OLD AS TIME
Moving away from comics and film for a second and back to one of my earlier statements, the basis for this relationship is very clear. The story of Halloween Man is really just a 4-color, splatter punk update of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. There's even some echos of THE FROG PRINCE in there. Of course with a few major differences.

While I've always enjoyed both stories, they also bug me. A fairy tale princess falls in love with a monster. That's strong stuff there. But a kiss at the end of the fable turns the creature into that mythological Ken doll, Prince Charming. And I don't like that guy very much. Plus it sort of sends a shallow, conformist message don't it?

So once more I find myself "correcting" something I found irksome as child. I pose the question of what if Prince Charming was turned into a Beast but didn't change back? What if Beauty kissed the Beast and liked it? Now that's a fractured fairy tale I can sink my teeth into.

Of course it's not always as simple as fairy tales, comic books, and monster movies. Sometimes the stories go off into directions I didn't plan them to, but hopefully I've created a couple that people can root for. That people can relate to.

That people want to see live... happily ever after.
 

A Princess kissed Drew Edwards and he turned into a comic book writer. He promptly moved to Dallas Texas where he created the long lived Halloween Man site. He's currently on a daring quest for the elusive mainstream audience. After which he'll declare victory and settle down in a castle of his own.