Friday the 13th (comics)

The popularity of the Friday the 13th film series and its main character, Jason Voorhees led to several comic book series based on the franchise. The first Friday the 13th comic books did not appear until 1993 when New Line Cinema acquired the franchise and licensed it out to Topps Comics. Topps Comics would only release two series on the franchise before ceasing operations in 1998. After the success of Freddy vs. Jason and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake film in 2003, New Line Cinema created their "House of Horror" licensing division which licensed the Friday the 13th franchise to Avatar Press for use in new comic book stories, the first of which was published in 2005. In 2006, Avatar Press lost the license to DC Comics imprint, Wildstorm who have since begun publishing new stories based on the franchise.

Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday#1

Topps Comics

After New Line Cinema's acquisition of the Jason Voorhees character from Paramount Pictures, it was licensed out to Topps Comics for use in comic book stories. Since New Line Cinema's deal with Paramount only covered use of the Jason character, the Friday the 13th title could not be used in films or licensed media, such as comic books. It wasn't until several years after production of the Topps titles that New Line Cinema also obtained the Friday the 13th title.

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Jason Vs. Leatherface #1

The first comic book appearance of the Jason Voorhees character was in the fourth issue of the Satan's Six comic book, published in July of 1993. Jason is summoned by the character, Odious Kamodious, Esq., to work for him. Instead, Jason attacks Odious Kamodious and the Satan's Six team. The battle lasts no more than two pages before Odious Kamodious sends Jason on his way to hell. Despite the fact that Jason only appears briefly, the character's trademark hockey mask is featured prominently on the cover in an obvious attempt to boost sales. The dialogue within the book even makes humorous references to Jason's appearance being used only as a promotional gimmick.

That very same month, Topps Comics published the first of a three issue adaptation of the Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday film. The story was written by Andy Mangels and was adapted from the shooting script of the movie. As a result, several elements, not used in the theatrical or video versions, appear in the comic book.

In 1995, Topps made one more foray into the Friday the 13th franchise when they published Jason Vs. Leatherface. The three issue series saw Jason accidentally transported to Texas where he comes face to face with Leatherface and his cannibalistic family from the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film franchise, also owned and licensed out by New Line Cinema. Written by Nancy A. Collins, the series, which takes place directly after Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives, and before Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood sees Jason uncharacteristically befriend Leatherface and his family before several events lead to a battle between the two horror franchise stars.

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Friday the 13th Special

Avatar Press

In May of 2005, Jason Voorhees returned to comic books, for the first time in ten years, with the Friday the 13th Special written by former Chaos Comics founder, Brian Pulido and published by Avatar Press in association with New Line Cinema's "House of Horror" licensing division.

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Jason X Special

Towards the end of 2005, Avatar would publish two issues of the three part Friday the 13th: Bloodbath, once again written by Brian Pulido. Due to Avatar's erratic publishing schedule, the third and final issue of the series was not released until April of 2006.

Avatar also began publishing comic books based on the Jason X film in which Jason awakes in outer space, 455 years in the future. In October of 2005, Avatar released the Jason X Special written by Brian Pulido. The Jason X Special would create its own continuity spinning off from the final moments of the film. In 2006, Avatar would publish the two part Friday the 13th: Jason Vs. Jason X series, with story and art by Mike Wolfer. The series picks up where the Jason X Special left off and pits the original version of Jason against his 25th century counterpart.

Wildstorm Comics

In December 2006, Wildstorm Comics began publishing an ongoing Friday the 13th comic series after Avatar lost the New Line Cinema "House of Horror" license. The new series was written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, with art by Adam Archer and covers by Ryan Sook. The series features a Jason similar to the version seen in Freddy vs. Jason, but the book is much different than Avatar's releases, focusing on mood and suspense rather than sci-fi action. Taking place in the original Camp Crystal Lake and starring a young cast hired to renovate the camp before its opening, the comic is comparable in style to the early films of the Friday franchise. The ongoing series ran for only six issues, and showed supernatural phenomena occurring around Crystal Lake itself; at one point, the female protagonist is dragged underwater not by Jason, but by thousands of ghostly corpses, mostly children, who have drowned or been killed in the lake in years past. Later, another character sees more dead children floating just above the waterline. In the final issue, it is revealed that the "evil" of Crystal Lake was spawned by a bloody massacre of a Tillamook Indian tribe by American traders in the mid-19th century. The traders killed the Tillamook shaman, whose blood flowed into the lake itself, "[adding] another quarter mile to the circumference of Crystal Lake". The narration says that the murdered spirits searched for "a vessel" to take their vengeance, and eventually found it in possessing Jason Voorhees. New Line has not stated whether this storyline is "canon".

In 2007, Wildstorm announced its plan to cancel their ongoing New Line horror comics in favor of publishing mini-series and specials based on the movie franchises. The ongoing Friday the 13th series would come to an end after a six issue run and be replaced, two months later, by a two part mini-series, Friday the 13th: Pamela's Tale written by Marc Andreyko.

The series takes place during the first Friday the 13th movie, when Pamela picks up Annie and drives her to the campground before she kills her. Pamela tells Annie her story beginning in #1, although she sugarcoats it.

Pamela was married to Elias Voorhees in 1947 and lived in a trailer. By then she was already suffering from schizophrenia, thinking she was hearing the voice of her unborn child Jason. Elias repeatedly beat Pamela, unaware that she was pregnant. This was what led to Jason being born deformed. Finally, Pamela snapped and killed Elias with an ax, vowing that no one would ever hurt her or Jason ever again. After blowing up her trailer and dumping Elias' body in Crystal Lake, Pamela got a job at the local diner. A few months later, Pamela was offered a job as at Camp Crystal Lake when she went into labor and gave birth to Jason. The story is ongoing.

See also

• List of comics based on films
• Friday the 13th Comic Book Interview at Comic Monsters
• Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash, the comic version of the unmade sequel to Freddy vs. Jason.

References

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