| Title: | Creepy |
| Contributors: | Neil Kleid Joe Harris Dan Braun Mike Woods Shawna Gore Alex Toth Angelo Torres Bernie Wrightson Jason Shawn Alexander Saskia Gutenkunst Hilary Barta |
| Publisher: | Dark Horse |
| Issue #: | 1 |
| Year: | 2009 |
| Pages: | 48 Pages |
| Age Rating: | 16 (Language, Violence, Gore, Adult Themes) |
| Story Grade: | B |
| Art Grade: | B |
Issue #1 brings us six dark tales, including four brand new tales, the return of Loathsome Lore and one of the classic Creepy stories from years gone by reprinted.
Each story is written and drawn by different writers and artists which gives each story a unique style not only in prose, but in art as well. The stories include; "The Curse", "Hell Hound Blues", "Chemical 13", "All the Help You Need", "Loathsome Lore" and "A Creepy Classic".
From cursed bluesmen to zombie's in the holocaust to alien visitors, this book covers the gambit of narratives.
In "The Curse", A young man living a dead-end life finds himself imbued with the ability to make others do anything he wishes them to do, but while carrying out his orders his "volunteers" seem to hurt themselves. This is a fun story with the promise of a serial story arc in coming issues.
In "Hell Hound Blues", one of my favorite stories in the book, is the story of two vile vinyl collectors who will go to any lengths to finally own what is thought to be the only known copy of the album a blues man's album sold his soul to make.
"Chemical 13" is likely to be considered one of the most disturbing stories in the book. It is about the use of a new chemical the in Nazi's concentration camp gas chambers. It is dark, gruesome and likely to be sensitive material for some.
In "All the Help You Need" we get a disgusting view into the trend of fitness and diet trends in America, with a disturbing twist. A fun read, but disturbing none-the-less.
"Loathsome Lore" bring us a peek into the supposedly fictional lives of real life celebrities who have sold their souls for fame and fortune. At times I wondered how fictional the story might be... you know... the names of the guilty have been changed sort of thing... or maybe the names weren't changed at all.
All of the artwork is done a vivid black and white, high contrast and is often dark and disturbing and sometimes gory in its detail.
All in all, this book took me back to the glory days of what these horror comics were all about; the story and the art. Today's horror genre as a whole thinks that more blood and guts equals scary or intense, and that is never the case. It is the storytelling in prose and art; always! And this book exceeds at this storytelling form.
I grade this book a solid B. There was nothing to revolutionary in this book, but the stories definitely satisfied my lust for scary and suspenseful entertainment. The reason it didn't get an A is one story in particular was all-too-predictable. I won't say which one, but once you read it, you'll know about 25% way through the story just how it will end, and you won't be wrong.
Until next time... don't read the last page.
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