It wouldn't be Halloween without the "Great Pumpkin," and hopefully another tradition begins here. While the Perhapanauts crew is one of the most infrequently published groups in comics today, their book is certainly worth looking at each time it comes out.

This issue has a Halloween bend to it, as Choopie seeks to experience his first Halloween dressed as a boy. DeZago and Hembeck deliver an enjoyable yucky encounter with a Growtch. The art and story work nicely together, tipping hats and paying tributes in all sorts of directions. Hembeck has a knack for making any character immediately lighthearted, and this encounter comes across as almost funny.

The tale of the Tatzelwurm serves as a nice bridge between the first story and the adventures of Big in Brazil. Rich Woodall provides artwork steeped in heavy shadows for the Tatzelwurm while Craig Rousseau delivers his predictably excellent visuals for the story of Big's encounter with the Mapinguary.

This issue may not deliver much in the way of revelations, alterations, or situations for the Perhapanauts, but it does offer up more treats than tricks. After all, Hembeck's art alone is a joy for any comic book fan who remembers trick or treating while wearing a latex mask or one of the Ben Cooper plastic costumes with the rubberband-supported full face mask of his (or her) favorite fictional friend. Rousseau's Mapinguary is disgustingly creepy and menacing.

This shipping schedule for "Perhapanauts" may be less predictable than the amount -- and kinds -- of candy an eight-year-old can haul in on Halloween, but it is no less enjoyable when it does happen. This issue shows that to be true. This is set of stories shared for the sake of sharing stories, like ghost tales whispered around a campfire. This one just happens to have a little more chupacabra in it than most of those ghost stories.