Scare Tactics (comics)

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Clockwise from top: Fang, Screamqueen, Slither and Gross-Out

Scare Tactics is a comic book series published by DC Comics. A total of twelve issues appeared, dated from December 1996 to March 1998. The series, written by Len Kaminski, was a part of DC's Weirdoverse group of titles.

The series focused on the band Scare Tactics, which was a group of monstrous rock and roll musicians that encountered supernatural adventures while on the road.

The band/team consisted of:

• Arnold Burnsteel (manager/bus driver)
• Fang (Jake Ketchum - werewolf, lead guitarist)
• Gross-Out (Philbert Hoskins - mutated human, drummer)
• Scream Queen (Nina Skorzeny - vampire, lead singer)
• Slither (James Tilton - reptilian human, bass guitarist)

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The series contains examples of:

• Accidental Kidnapping: When Van Zandt steals the Scaremobile, he unwittingly also kidnaps Screamqueen who was asleep in her coffin.
• Aliens Steal Cattle: One of R-Complex's jobs is to clean up alien cattle mutilations.
• Automatic Crossbow: Graveyard Shift carry multi-shot, stake firing crossbows.
• Bat Family Crossover: "Convergence"
• Big Eater: Grossout
• Campbell Country / Deep South: Fang comes from a werewolf clan somewhere in the Appalachians. The region is also home to a clan of very Lovecraftian ghouls.
• The Clan: The Skorzenys (vampires), the Ketchums (werewolves) and the Knightbridges (ghouls).
• Cool Car: The Scaremobile
• Conspiracy Theorist: Arnie Burnsteel
• Extreme Omnivore: Grossout
• Feuding Families: The Ketchums (werewolves) and the Knightbridges (ghouls)
• Five-Man Band
• Goth: Screamqueen
• Hulk Speak: Grossout
• The Hunter: Graveyard Shift
• I Am Big Boned: Grossout's mother kept insisting he was just 'big for his age'.
• Kiss of the Vampire: Screamqueen
• Lesbian Vampire: Screamqueen is only ever seen feeding on female victims.
• Magic Meteor: Grossout gained his powers (and became a giant walking tumor) from exposure to an exploding meteor.
• The Men in Black: R-Complex
• Metallicar Syndrome: The Scaremobile is scarcely an inconspicuous ride for a group of monsters on the run from a secret government project.
• Monster Mash
• My Beloved Smother: Grossout's mother, as revealed in flashback.
• Of Corsets Sexy: Screamqueen
• Runaway Bride: Fang was a runaway groom.
• Secret Project Refugee Family
• Shotgun Wedding: Fang was on the run from one.
• Silver Bullet: When Fang is captured by his clan, they are toting shotguns loaded with silver buckshot.
• Tears of Blood
• Your Costume Needs Work: Slither is refused admittance to a nightclub because of his 'green body paint'.
• Your Mind Makes It Real: The waking nightmares engendered by the 'town' of Beaumont.
• Your Vampires Suck: Screamqueen is mightily pissed when the band's manager/minder Arnie Burnsteel lines her coffin with grave dirt. She rails at the stupidity of a man who believes that the movie JFK was part of a massive disinformation campaign but accepts everything he sees in a Universal horror film as gospel.