I Luv Halloween

Infobox original English manga
name = I Luv Halloween


imagesize =
caption = Cover, "I Luv Halloween" volume 2
genre =
author = Keith Giffen
illustrator = Benjamin Roman
publisher = flagicon|United States Tokyopop
publisher_other =
demographic =
magazine =
first = 2005
last =
volumes = 3
chapter_list =
related =
subcat = Tokyopop
sort = PAGENAME
OEL = Y

"I Luv Halloween" is an OEL manga first published by Tokyopop in October, 2005. With art by Benjamin Roman and scripts by Keith Giffen, it tells the misadventures of a group of friends who meet every Halloween for a night of trick-or-treating.

Volume 1

The first volume introduces Finch and his friends as they try to negotiate bullies, thoughtless adults, and criminal behavior in the pursuit of candy, all while racking up a rather impressive body count.

Volume 2

Volume 2 of the series features an invasion by zombies. The children find trick-or-treating to be difficult, as most people are being consumed by the undead, including Pig Pig. It is revealed in this volume that the characters are able to cheat death as several of them are reincarnated (such as Mr, Kitty and Bubbles). As characters continue to die, it is then assumed that they will be reincarnated for the next volume.

Volume 3

In the final volume, the town is demolished by aliens. The children soldier on in their quest for treats.

pecial Edition

A Special Edition version of the manga is being produced. It contains all three volumes, with full colour pages.It also contains bonus material by the creators of the manga.

Characters

*FinchThe unflappable, unofficial ringleader of the loose-knit trick-or-treaters, Finch's only costume is a mask decorated to look like a skull; he is otherwise normally dressed. While the rest of the town is in chaos, Finch keeps a level head and a clear goal in mind, usually candy. He is also a morbid child, with a room decorated with obituary pages and murder head-liners, and is not afraid to get his hands dirty. It's worth noting that Finch is the only trick-or-trater other than Devil Lad who seems to have any common sense. Finch is Moochie's older brother, though he is often reluctant to admit to their relation. His parents are presumably dead, due to the corpses seen in the first volume's opening pages, but who these people were and how they died is never explained. There have been strong hints, however, throughout the series the either Finch or Moochie killed their parents, including Mr. Kitty's comment to Finch, "I should try the whole orphan thing."

*Pig PigPig Pig, who wears a large pig-head, is a slovenly and a pleasant child. He is rather unintelligent and naive, often irritating the other characters, most notably Mr. Kitty.In the series' second volume, Pig Pig is seen without his costume for the first time; he has been killed by zombies. Several pages later, Pig Pig is reanimated as an undead, and seems to retain some sense of self by replacing his lost pig-head. For the rest of the volume he acts as a normal undead; trick-or-treating (an action picked up from Spike) and cannabalism. At one point, he developes a slight romance with another zombie named Vincent (Vivian's sister; her parent's couldn't think of another name that started with the letter 'V'), but their relationship is terminated when his undead girlfriend devours a portion of his brain. This isn't the first time Pig Pig has died; in their previous volume, when he complains of having to bury the numerous corpses that have been collected over the course of the night, the other trick-or-treaters point out they had buried him last year. Also, there are several graves bearing his name in Moochie's grave yard.

*Devil LadDevil Lad, dressed as a demon, usually appears at sunset on Halloween. According to Finch, he smells "like sulfur". He's the more eloquent of the gang and takes on hectic situations with relative ease. Where Devil Lad comes from is a question asked by Mr. Kitty in which Finch usually replies "The Bowels of Hell". The ethnicity of Devil Lad comes into question during the third and (supposedly) final volume of the series, after Finch makes some racist comments (Devil Lad responds with "You really don't know?" in reference to his own ethnicity), and a gas made the kill all people of European (in the novel, just "white") and Mexican descent. Devil Lad survives and nonchalantly leaves their city, completely unscathed. It is obvious Devil Lad is not African American because his arms and hands can be seen. The question of his ethnicity is never answered.

*Mr. KittyA perverted child, Mr. Kitty wears an orange cat costume, and, according to Finch, "is the opposite of a pedophile, in which he likes to molest adults." Fact|date=April 2008. Like many of the characters, he can cheat death (as shown when, after having his head explode near the end of Volume One, he returns in the next one).

*Hully GullyAn epileptic who always wears goggles. Definitely more of an innocent than the rest of the denizens of Turgid Meadow, and seems to love candy more than most.

*SpikeA mostly-silent little boy, Spike appears to be Mr. Kitty's younger brother. When he does speak, tends to limit himself to declerations of his name.

*MoochieFinch's little sister. She takes on several roles through out the series ranging from the tooth fairy, obsessed with yanking out teeth, to Lady Godiva. She's, as Finch would say, a Shirley Temple musical if the role of Shirley Temple was played by Jeffery Domer. In short, she's nuts.

*MushA leg-humping dog with half of his head missing.

*Bubbles and SqueekTwo of the town's meaner bullies / trick-or-treat bag slashers. Bubbles demands to be called Spike, but Squeek often forgets to. Squeek has a gay crush on Bubbles.

*NipsNips is a cheerleader who is perpetually ogled by Mr. Kitty. She has a pronounced mean streak and gigantic breasts.

*Triple KTriple K is a young boy who seeks revenge on the entire town for what Moochie does to his father.

*MonicaA young Goth girl who hates dogs. Bubbles has a crush on her.

Animated shorts

In the summer of 2007, 4 animated shorts of "I Luv Halloween" were released by Tokyopop as featured content on MySpace TV. The shorts were produced by Menfond Electronic Arts, adapted from the original comic by Steven Calcote and David Ables, and directed by Victor Wong and Eddy Wong. The first episode premiered at Comic-Con International in July 2007. It is unclear at this time whether additional animations will be produced.

External links

* [http://comics.ign.com/articles/651/651475p1.html IGN Review]
* [http://myspace.com/tokyopoptv TokyoPop MySpace Page (View Animations Here)]
* [http://www.tokyopop.com/product/1413/ILuvHalloween/1.html I Luv Halloween on Tokyopop's Official Site]