Writers: Ed Brisson & Kami Garcia
Artists: Kael Ngu & Isaac Goodhart
Colorists: Kael Ngu & Miquel Muerto
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Cover Artists: Martín Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran; Kael Ngu; Steve Beach
Editor: Ben Abernathy
Designer: Jillian Crab
Production: Richard Mercado
Masters Of Horror: Greg Nicotero & Brian Witten
Additional Creep Art: Michael Broom
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 22, 2025
Online dating can deliver a dream or a disaster. A new home can usher in tranquility or tragedy. What will Kristin and Agnes discover when they open new chapters of their lives? Let’s leap into Creepshow Vol 3 #5 and find out!
Story: Tent Revival
Jeff likes hunting and camping. But Kristin is surprised when he takes her on a backpacking trip. So many men have lied in their online profiles that she has considered closing her account. But Jeff is the outdoorsman he professed to be. When they reach a clearing facing the lake, Kristin revels in the sunset. But as night falls, and they sit by the fire sharing their tattered dreams of finding love, a woman walks through the trees and asks if she can join them by the fire.
For this first story in Creepshow Vol 3 #5, Ed Brisson delivers a classic Teens In The Woods horror tale. Kristin suspects that Angie isn't on the level. But who can she call on for help? Tent Revival reminds us that there is a natural order and that violence knocks that system out of balance.
Art: Tent Revival
While Jeff strides ahead, Kristin holds back, leaving ample space between them on the narrow path. But once they reach the clearing, she pushes past him to stand near the rocky edge. Instead of looking away from him like on the path, Kristin watches Jeff build the fire. She wraps her arms around him as they sit on the log. Jeff and Kristine shoot to their feet when a shadowy figure creeps up. But illuminated by the fire, they resume their seat, clutching each other, as Angie makes her request.
Kael Ngu’s panels resemble oil paintings in Creepshow Vol 3 #5. While Kristin sports pink and yellow, Jeff embodies the bulk of Ngu's palette in his ivory, gray, black, and red. The yellow fire forms a link to Kristine's boots and the jacket tied around her waist. After the first page of daylight, red seeps into the surrounding darkness. It makes Kristine's lips and hair glow. Crimson also colors Jeff's shirt collar. Disturbingly, red lurks everywhere in Tent Revival. It lingers on the edge of Jeff’s axe, adorns wood, suffuses leaves, and speckles characters and backgrounds.
Story: Prize Possession
Despite warnings of a mysterious death, a couple buys a house along the cliffs. Amid the grandeur of the three-story Victorian house, trouble sets in. When Mom and Dad celebrate their daughters' birthdays, Agnes likes her present, but Katherine disdains hers. Her parents don't know how to ease Katherine's growing unhappiness. Katherine seems determined to terrorize Agnes.
Kami Garcia tackles sibling rivalries and bullying in this second story in Creepshow Vol 3 #5. Prize Possession is a reminder that everything has a spirit, and we should notice how places and objects affect us. The story also pits rationalism against spiritualism. Like Star Wars, Prize Possession reveals the power (and costs) of embracing the Dark Side.
Art: Prize Possession
Isaac Goodhart begins by taking a leaf out of Wes Anderson's book. Panels reveal interior scenes within an exterior shot of the house while a raven watches the empty porch. Mom runs the household with her opening declaration, photographing the birthday party, and intuiting Katherine's emotions from her body language. When Dad tries to reason with Katherine, Mom lays down the law, just as she dismissed a local's reservations during their viewing. Agnes only gets a few moments of guarded happiness and clings to her doll.
Miquel Muerto brings a bright, cheery palette to Goodhart’s traditional comic art in this second story in Creepshow Vol 3 #5. Anges wears blue overalls and a white shirt, a pink nightshirt, and a white dress, while Katherine wears a black dress in the first half of Prize Possession. Later, she relaxes in black and gray. Her red sneakers link with the words in Agnes' diary.
Lettering & Additional Creep Art
Pat Brosseau lavishes black, uppercase words in ivory dialogue balloons and narrative boxes. The letters grow bold for inflection, swell for volume, and rarely shrink. Sound effects help us hear a hardworking axe and a character getting her just desserts.
Michael Broom introduces Tent Revival with the Creep backpacking through the woods toward a skeleton. After forging this link with Jeff, the Creep ends the story by toasting marshmallows like Angie. He hovers over the Victorian house in Prize Possession, anxious to show his prized doll house. But the Creep closes this tale of domestic disharmony by revealing that appearances can be deceiving. Thanks to Image Comics and Skybound for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
Kristin and Agnes discover that they are cherished and wanted. Kristine and Angie feel wronged. As in Friday The 13th and Dark Shadows, vengeful spirits haunt picturesque settings in Creepshow Vol 3 #5.
Rating 9.6/10
For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
No comments:
Post a Comment