Creepshow Vol 3 #5 Review

 

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 13^th 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.

Creepshow Vol 3 #4 Review

 

Writers: Mike Carey & Acky Bright

Artists & Colorists: Mark Torres & Acky Bright

Letterer: Pat Brosseau

Cover Artists: Martín Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran; Mark Torres; 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: December 25, 2024

 

Sergeant Thomas Campion is a British Redcoat. Abigail loses her boyfriend to a prettier woman. What can these two people, separated by over a century, have in common? And how do they relate to us today? Let’s leap into Creepshow Vol 3 #4 and find out!

 

Story: Flesh Wounds

As Mike Carey's story opens, Sergeant Campion has enjoyed an impressive career beneath the Union Jack. Like Emil Blonsky in Louis Leterrier's film The Incredible Hulk, Campion doesn't care about advancing in rank. Each venture into the fray is a chance to prove himself the ultimate fighter. Yet after a dozen or more years on battlefields around the world, a Bedouin nearly kills him. This assault on his invincibility rattles him more than he wants to admit.

 

While tending Campion's wounds, the medic mentions hearing of a devil in the desert. British-born Campion has fought against Catholics often enough that any remark approaching religion from a Papist infuriates him. Notions like fiendish genies who grant wishes to supplicants sound too much like the mysticism the reformers worked hard to expunge from the Church Of England. But O’Riordan insists another soldier has profited from bargaining with this evil creature. So, Sergeant Thomas Campion rides into the desert to make a deal that sounds too good to be true in Creepshow Vol 3 #4.

 

Art: Flesh Wounds

Sergeant Campion cuts a striking figure adorned in red, white, and black. Mark Torres' muted colors lessen the battlefield carnage. Yet bright and florescent colors lend a heightened reality to Campion's lust for conquest. Campion and his fellow Redcoats evoke the toy soldiers beloved by generations of British children and treasured by modern wargaming enthusiasts. Yet Torres often paints the soldiers' skin gray, suggesting the British Empire thrived by sucking the lifeblood from its subjects.

 

Campion’s deal with the devil occurs beneath a light blue and pink sky, while green coats the ground and an ancient temple. After receiving what he most desired, Thomas' skin looks hale as he charges into battle renewed. Yet orange, pink, purple, and green dominate panels when the devil pays Thomas a return visit in Creepshow Vol 3 #4. Hyper-real colors invade Flesh Wounds thereafter.

 

Story: Face

Abigail has a problem. Her boyfriend left her for another woman. The scorned lover vacillates between revulsion and admiration as she stares at a photo of her boyfriend with his new paramour. Yet his choice is irrefutable. So, in Acky Bright’s story, Abigail visits a clinic promising to give her a new face.

 

At first, this second story in Creepshow Vol 3 #4 seems innocuous compared with the first. Yet Abigail wields her new beauty like a weapon. Like the Roman god the clinic is known for, Abigail becomes two-faced. Her cosmetic surgery was supposed to unleash the person inside her. Instead, Abigail's actions suggest that her boyfriend dropped her because of her "inner beauty."

 

Art: Face

Acky Bright portrays Abigail as a schoolgirl who prefers comfort to elegance. As Abigail stares at her phone, the brightly colored ad for Janus contrasts with the gray dominating the first page. The surgeon's proposed makeover evokes Lady Cassandra from Doctor Who. Abigail smiles when agreeing to the surgery. Yet, as she waits for the anesthesia to take effect, beads of sweat form on Abigail's nose and chin.

 

Pink and lavender welcome Abigail to the Barbie Era. Acky Bright adorns flashbacks of Abigail's breakup in peach and brown. The nurse at Janus holds something that links Face with Flesh Wounds and evokes scenes in a classic Universal Monsters movie in Creepshow Vol 3 #4.

 

Lettering & Additional Creep Art

Pat Brosseau orders black, uppercase words into ivory dialogue balloons and narrative boxes. White letters haunt black cloudy balloons. The words grow bold for intonation and swell for volume. Gunfire fuels the rapid-fire conclusion of Flesh Wounds, while a banging door heralds the end of Abigail’s existence in Face.

 

Michael Broom frames the introductory scene in Flesh Wounds with our narrator's welcoming embrace. Then, the Creep invites us into his home as Sergeant Thomas Campion’s story about the price of war comes to its haunting conclusion. Our narrator climbs into the beginning of Abigail's story. But be warned: the Creep amplifies the disturbing conclusion of this story about our definitions of beauty and fears of the surgeon's knife. Thanks to Image Comics and Skybound for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Two people separated by time, place, sex, interests, and any other criteria you can think of embrace shortcuts to omnipotence in Creepshow Vol 3 #4, only to discover no one can remain invincible forever.

 

Rating 9.5/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Creepshow Vol 3 #3 Review

 

Creepshow Vol 3 #3 Review

Writers: Chris Condon & John Arcudi

Artists: Martín Morazzo & Shawn McManus

Colorists: Chris O’Halloran

Letterer: Pat Brosseau

Cover Artists: Ryan Carr; Martín Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran; Steve Beach; Martín Morazzo

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: November 27, 2024

 

Stories are reminders of yesterday. But when we obsess over stories, how might they color our interactions with others? Let’s leap into Creepshow Vol 3 #3 and find out!

 

Story: The Murder Variant

Donald is a comics collector. He hunts for treasure. His passion is rewarded when he finds what might be a rare issue in an abandoned storage unit. The manager of the storage complex sees the pile Donald pulled from a long box and accepts his offer. Why not? They’re just old indies. As Donald leaves, the manager locks the unit and says, "Happy reading, Bub." It's a good thing Donald didn't pull any Wolverine titles!

 

Chris Condon's story in Creepshow Vol 3 #3 portrays a collector's passion. It also highlights the difficulty of navigating relationships as we grow. Donald's wife doesn't share his interest in comics. And this evening, as he returns home in triumph, Marge is more concerned with preparing supper for them and her brother. She craved his help. Donald ignored her text to pursue his hobby. Marge wants him to invest in their relationship and show hospitality to their guest. But Donald focuses more on the discarded remnants of the past than what happens in his present.

 

Art: The Murder Variant

As Donald searches a long box, his phone buzzes atop a comic sporting Death in the title. Donald's eyes bulge, and he smiles as he lifts a bagged and boarded issue. When the manager peers over his reading glasses, Donald hurries to let the manager inspect his finds.

 

Martín Morazzo portrays Donald as an overweight man who leans forward when walking and climbing stairs. Donald drives an inexpensive family car in Creepshow Vol 3 #3. Chris O'Halloran's dark blues, browns, and yellows color Donald's fading neighborhood. Lavender walls and lights and blue, green, and brown accent colors reveal how his active wife has made their apartment's kitchen and dining room a tranquil haven. A brown ceramic cat waves while gray Human figurines on a counter raise their hands in warning. Marge works frantically to complete her meal. Donald's gray jacket and Marge's red hair hint at their deadly destiny.

 

Story: Tru-ish Crime

The authorities jailed Alex Hinton for his daughter's death. Now, they want his wife’s body. News stories about Alex’s domestic disaster prompt Lynn and Bern to gather information and search for Nicky Hinton.

 

John Arcudi’s story in Creepshow Vol 3 #3 addresses our relationship with the spiritual world. If Bern can’t see or touch something, he disregards it. But his wife feels a connection to Nicky’s spirit. So, Bern uses GPS data and tips from other interested parties to track Nicky's last known location. But Bern’s disbelief prevents him from investing in the search and hampers their investigation. When danger threatens, Lynn takes charge. John Arcudi’s story bursts with clues, connections, and implications for our lives.

 

Art: Tru-ish Crime

Bern and pink-haired Lynn are an appealing young couple. As they trek through the woods, falling yellow leaves suggest autumn. Yet two trees with green foliage frame the gray arch of a cave entrance. Wispy light green surrounds a figure in Bern's dream, complimenting the green ground and his shirt. Shawn McManus lavishes a loaded palette on his art in Tru-ish Crime. Yet green seems a backbone, linking Bern and Lynn with the person they discover at the end of their journey. Green also frames Alex as he speaks through a glass partition with a lawyer and colors the other participants seeking justice for Nicky.

 

It’s easy to see why the court found tall and muscular Alex guilty. A skull and crossbones adorn his neck. A scar and stitch marks climb his cheek and forehead. The lawyer jerks back when Alex becomes a raging monster. Yet while the true crime aficionados tap away at their phones, Alex reads books in the prison library.

 

Lettering & Additional Creep Art

Pat Brosseau lavishes black, uppercase words in white dialogue balloons and white letters in green narrative boxes. Lowercase black letters inhabit green-tinted cloudy balloons, and dark green uppercase font haunts light green clouds. A creaking door presages a metallic clunk, while a roaring in a cave precedes an ominous rumble in Creepshow Vol 3 #3.

 

Michael Broom surrounds The Murder Variant with stacks of comics and shows the Creep reading a book Daniel values. The Creep climbs into panels with Bern, Lynn, and Alex and clutches the white space bordering the final panel to encourage our curiosity. Thanks to Image Comics and Skybound for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Our interests can separate or unite us. But is unity with everyone something to be grasped? One person's democracy can become another's communism, even if those you interact with deal with you honestly. Creepshow Vol 3 #3 muses how our evolving interests affect our relationships and the dangers of pursuing justice.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Creepshow Vol 3 #2 Review

 

Writers: Eugenio Mira & John Ridley

Artists: Jorge Fornés & Stefano Raffaele

Colorists: Jordie Bellaire & Romulo Fajardo Jr

Letterer: Pat Brosseau

Cover Artists: Martín Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran; Jorge Fornés; 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: October 23, 2024

 

Duty and responsibility come with maturity. The world threatens to press us into a mold as we age. But what if we didn't have to grow up? What if we could stay footloose and fancy-free forever? Let's shut out the world, leap into Creepshow Vol 3 #2, and see what happens!

 

Story: The Last Sleepover!

In Eugenio Mira's story, Hudson visits his friends Timmy and Emma for a Halloween sleepover. Hudson digs into the pizza as they watch scary movies. Finally, Kenny and Darla arrive. Unlike Hudson, their friends arrive without a parent, and their manner is reserved. Hudson and Emma taunted Timmy about his feelings for Darla. But when Timmy senses danger, he realizes he can't trust his close friend.

 

This first story in Creepshow Vol 3 #2 contrasts Hudson’s indifference to others with Timmy’s sense of belonging. Hudson fixates on his interests, while Timmy puts family first. “Kenny” and “Darla” have charted a future that combines friendship and freedom from responsibility. While Eugenio Mira’s story begins with Hudson, Timmy emerges as the central figure in The Last Sleepover! Timmy is too young to be forced to decide his future. Yet, as Hudson says, this “shit is about to get real.”

 

Art: The Last Sleepover!

Hudson and his mother cross the street amid driving rain. Dressed in his mummy costume, he never looks at his mother. When Timmy, Emma, and their mother greet their guests, the mothers look at each other, and Emma faces Hudson. Timmy gazes through his Jason Voorhees mask at his mom. The friends sprawl around pizza boxes and watch the Black & White Console TV. When Hudson ribs Timmy about his interest in Darla, Emma rises and leans against her friend. The doorbell prompts Timmy to barrel between them. But when he and his mother open the front door, Jorge Fornés tilts the scene 45 degrees, and Timmy and his mom become silhouettes facing two costumed children.

 

Jordie Bellaire adorns pages in light shades of gray, yellow, orange, red, and green. The beige borders and black or colored dots suggest faded newsprint. While Timmy’s red coverall links him with his mother and sister, the bloodstains adorning his limbs and torso suggest a thematic link with someone else.

 

Story: Trigger Warning

Tre reports frightening incidents online and revels in the popularity of his posts. This angers Marcus, who accuses Tre of publishing false news and trading in human misery. When Danielle suggests Marcus needs a little perspective, he slams her for following her muse. Marcus believes the truth is more important than fiction and goads Tre into spending the night in an abandoned apartment complex. Tre accepts Marcus' challenge. But events unfold differently than Marcus expects.

 

In this second entry in Creepshow Vol 3 #2, each protagonist is the hero of their own story. Tre entertains people who want something to talk about. Marcus' single-minded adherence to provable facts makes him indifferent to the Human need for entertainment. In his determination to be correct, Marcus hurts his friends and misses that Tre has named his site Urban Legends. Danielle keeps an open mind about her friends’ differing outlooks as she pursues a literary career. Although she writes fiction, Danielle proves the most capable of the three. So when opportunity beckons in John Ridley’s story, Danielle can capitalize on the mysterious events at The Kingswood Projects.

 

Art: Trigger Warning

Tre stands before an old building on his phone in Trigger Warning before Stefano Raffaele shows him with his friends. Marcus watches as Tre revels in his likes and reposts. Danielle sits on the couch in the modern apartment, her pen poised over the notebook in her lap. The next day, Marcus, Danielle, and a police detective surround Tre's backpack on the rough, littered floor. While they talk, uniformed officers survey the weathered and crumbling plaster walls.

 

Romulo Fajardo Jr lavishes a loaded palette on Stefano Raffaele’s lifelike art in Creepshow Vol 3 #2. A gray droplight conjures a yellow cone before the couch when the sky turns gray-blue outside the modern apartment. The overhead lighting casts shadows on Marcus and Danielle while heightening their skin tones. Danielle ventures to the old apartments and sits before a pink window. The formerly green and yellow walls are now teal and gray, while the scarlet letters and handprints seem brighter. Danielle writes in her notebook while a silhouette of legs and feet treads a green and black hall. Soon, orange and red will blossom.

 

Lettering & Additional Creep Art

Pat Brosseau lavishes black, uppercase words in white dialogue balloons and white letters in black ones. Sound effects herald a doorbell, squeaky hinges, and the thumps and thuds that will open new chapters of Timmy and Danielle’s lives.

 

Michael Broom introduces Timmy’s story in Creepshow Vol 3 #2 by showing the Creep hover over Timmy and Emma’s house on a dark and stormy night and evoking the Green Goblin at the end. After bookending Jorge Fornés and Jordie Bellaire’s classic comic art, Michael Broom shows the Creep channeling Tre's showmanship. Broom takes inspiration from Stefano Raffaele’s lifelike art and Romulo Fajardo Jr’s vibrant colors to lend the Creep a three-dimensional appearance as he breaks the fourth wall in a crowded coffee shop. Thanks to Image Comics and Skybound for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Two people’s greed forces an innocent boy to decide his fate, while a desire to entertain leads to a desperate struggle for survival in Creepshow Vol 3 #2.

 

Rating 9.7/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Creepshow Vol 3 #1 Review

 

Writers: Chip Zdarsky & James Stokoe

Artists: Kagan McLeod & James Stokoe

Letterers: Pat Brosseau & James Stokoe

Cover Artists: Martín Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran; James Stokoe; 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: September 25, 2024

 

Stories remind us of our communal past and teach us how to function within society. But what happens when we embrace stories that break the strictures we live by? Let’s grab our paint sets and carving tools, leap into Creepshow Vol 3 #1, and see!

 

Story: Let ‘Er Trip

Jane Miller craves order and calm. She suppresses her imagination and discourages creativity. So when Jane's daughter Mary grows up and leaves home, Jane gets angry. Naturally, the police refuse to help. They're just like her coworkers in the office, who only obey the rules when it suits them and don't understand how society should function. Chip Zdarsky’s story in Creepshow Vol 3 #1 ponders what happens when we violate another person’s right to view the world in the way they choose. It’s easy to belittle those who refuse to see things our way. But those who bind themselves in the heaviest chains may do so for a reason.

 

Art: Let ‘Er Trip

When Jane studies her daughter's art, Jane's lips form a line, and she presses her fingers against her head. Then, the first page fast-forwards as Jane slips on her coat to visit the police station. The color of her sweater may have changed, and grey streaks her square-cut brown hair, but she still wears a buttoned-up long-sleeve dress shirt, jeans, and boots. While Jane inhabits a world of textured color, white dots glow in the pink and blue sky above the Higher Heart's old farm buildings and the broken-down school bus. The cult leader may resemble Ben Franklin but doesn't practice the American founder's famous thrift in his red-lit home. Intriguingly, and despite her taste in art, Mary dresses less colorfully than her strait-laced mother.

 

 

Story: Scrimshaw

When a reporter hunts for a story about a remote island, the locals point him toward a lobster potter. In this second tale in Creepshow Vol 3 #1, the reporter finds the man at the Cutty Sark and asks him to share his story. The man seems reluctant but obliges when the reporter insults his town and helps himself to the man's beer. One night, while checking his pots, the lobsterman found a severed arm. Someone had carved a story onto the exposed radius and ulna. The lobsterman’s mind filled with visions of a Navigator fighting a storm to return home.

 

The lobsterman lived alone in his beach shack. He identified with the Navigator’s struggle and couldn’t banish the vision from his head. So, fate rewarded him with another chapter etched into a severed leg. Yet, like Herman Melville's novel Mardi, the Navigator’s seemingly unending tale stoked the fisherman's hunger for more. So, like any captivated reader, the fisherman sought out more chapters about his hero. James Stokoe’s story speaks to our insatiable hunger for a good story and reminds us how stories can usurp reality.

 

Art: Scrimshaw

The Creep hovers over the forested island guarded by a lighthouse. Inside the pub, the reporter extends a hand to the bedraggled lobsterman. In his tale, the lobsterman reaches into his pots and studies a severed arm before a full moon. Waves roil behind him. Tendrils of water fill the air as if the storm-tossed saltwater were transforming into a leviathan. James Stokoe’s red and blue ocean scene evokes blown glass and contrasts with the red-haired lobsterman's nights in the orange pub. In this richly drawn and colored tale, as the lobsterman again searches his pots beneath a green sky, red and blue letters slash diagonally across a panel. When the lobsterman sees a green figure with pink eyes crouching amid purple waves, red and blue briefly obscure the background. An aurora brightens the already colorful sky as the creature tosses the lobsterman a severed leg.

 

Lettering

Pat Brosseau lavishes black, uppercase words in white and colored dialogue balloons and narrative boxes on Let 'Er Trip. Music notes accompany a voice lifted in song in Creepshow Vol 3 #1’s first twisty tale, and the swirls of color filling the air infect the splat-like balloons. James Stokoe’s expressive uppercase letters in Scrimshaw offer a handwritten appeal. The dialogue and narrative range in size, while abundant sound effects heighten the lobsterman’s infectious story. Thanks to Image Comics and Skybound for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

People who hunger for more than they need pay for their greed, while those who seek the benefits of conventional society discover a world beyond anything they imagined in Creepshow Vol 3 #1.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Creepshow TP Vol 1 Review Part 2

 

Creepshow Volume 1 Review

Writers: Chris Burnham, Paul Dini, Steve Langford, David Lapham, Maria Lapham, Steve Foxe, L Marlow Francavilla, Francesco Francavilla, Ariela Kristantina, Kyle Starks, Henry Barajas, Steve Orlando, Clay McLeod Chapman

Artists: John McCrea, David Lapham, Erica Henderson, Francesco Francavilla, Jorge Corona, Fran Galán, Dani, Marianna Ignazzi, Anwita Citriya

Colorists: Adriano Lucas, Mike Spicer, Trish Mulvihill, John Francois Beaulieu, Brad Simpson, Fabiana Mascolo, Jordie Bellaire

Letterer: Pat Brosseau

Cover Artists: Chris Burnham & Adriano Lucas

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $14.99

Release Date: March 22, 2023

 

The Bridge

Writer: Ariela Kristantina

Artist: Jorge Corona

Colorist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu

 

When Alexis visits a Malaysian island with her friends, her boyfriend breaks off their relationship via cell phone. Incensed, she doesn't wait for her friend to translate their guide's warning. She crosses a bridge and discovers an ancient temple surrounded by Banyan trees. Her friend translates the caretaker's warning, but Alexis storms past him too. What she finds inside the temple will haunt her forever. I like how Alexis’ fixation on social media blinds her to reality. Jorge Corona’s art and Jean-Francois Beaulieu’s soft, appealing colors conjure an exotic landscape reminiscent of 1974’s The Man With The Golden Gun and The Phantom movie of 1996. Fans of Clive Barker's stories, and European comics like Leo’s Aldébaran and Christin and Mézières’ Valerian and Laureline series, should check this one out.

 

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

Writer: Kyle Starks

Artist: Fran Galán

 

A yellow-orange glow suffuses panels as Nancy remembers exploring the woods with her childhood friends. They find bodies drained of blood, but no one heeds their warnings. So, the kids decide to clear out the local vampire nest. The art and limited color palette give this story an all-ages appeal. While I missed the story's logic, I enjoyed the meditations on adulthood and giving into fear. Mix Stand By Me, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, garnish with Night of the Living Dead and serve.

 

La Mascara Del La Muerte

Writer: Henry Barajas

Artist: Dani

Colorist: Brad Simpson

 

When rising star Lupe Lopez loses a Luche Libre bout, she steals her father’s mask from her grandma and returns to the ring. Too late, she discovers it retains the same power that ended her father's career. Dani’s blotchy, smudgy style art suggests backgrounds. Characters and proportions sometimes look out of skew. It’s almost as if she draws the negative spaces rather than the positive ones. Simpson's vibrant coloring gives her intriguing style energy and a heightened sense of reality. Sadly, this story in Creepshow Volume 1 seemed familiar and predictable. Still, Venom and Carnage fans will like how the mask manifests its power.

 

 

Thirst Trap

Writer: Steve Orlando

Artist: Marianna Ignazzi

Colorist: Fabiana Mascolo

 

Parker does a deal with a demon. In return for taking regular selfies with his cell phone, he gets his youth back and doesn’t age. But what happens if he loses his phone? Ignazzi’s art gives this story scope and Mascolo’s coloring atmosphere. Still, the scene that tripped me up only had limited coloring. I had to flip back and forth several times to understand Steve Orlando's story better and find clues as to who did what and when. Still, aspects of the story spoke to me, and I liked most of the art.

 

Husk

Writer: Clay McLeod Chapman

Artist: Anwita Citriya

Colorist: Jordie Bellaire

 

Sally’s parents value traditional Southern heritage in their lavish plantation home. Her mother trains her in etiquette, dancing, and deportment. Yet, as her rite of passage nears, Sally believes she doesn't belong. The art ranges from adequate to impressive. Bellaire's limited coloring schemes changed with each panel. Citriya hints at Sally’s struggle for identity with her bedroom decor, while other panels hint at her origin. Still, I needed more backstory to prepare me for the shocking reveal at the debutante ball. As exciting as it is, the revelation lacked emotional resonance.

 

Final Thoughts

Like a candy haul after a long night’s Trick Or Treating, Creepshow Volume 1 is a mixed bag of scary sweets. Some stories I’d happily give away. Others I will treasure. My favorites were The Gorgahmorahh Tree, Creator’s Rites, and The Bridge. You'll discover your favorites when you delve into this horror anthology.

 

Rating 8/10

 

To preview interior art from the story Take One, and see more cover art, see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Creepshow TP Vol 1 Review: Part 1

 

Creepshow Volume 1 Review

Writers: Chris Burnham, Paul Dini, Steve Langford, David Lapham, Maria Lapham, Steve Foxe, L Marlow Francavilla, Francesco Francavilla, Ariela Kristantina, Kyle Starks, Henry Barajas, Steve Orlando, Clay McLeod Chapman

Artists: John McCrea, David Lapham, Erica Henderson, Francesco Francavilla, Jorge Corona, Fran Galán, Dani, Marianna Ignazzi, Anwita Citriya

Colorists: Adriano Lucas, Mike Spicer, Trish Mulvihill, John Francois Beaulieu, Brad Simpson, Fabiana Mascolo, Jordie Bellaire

Letterer: Pat Brosseau

Cover Artists: Chris Burnham & Adriano Lucas

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $14.99

Release Date: March 22, 2023

 

The 1982 Creepshow movie ripped through cinemas with stories written by Horror master Steven King. The movie spawned two sequels, a comic book novelization, and the TV series Tales From The Darkside. After owning the ‘80s, Creepshow refused to die, returning with a web series, a streaming TV series, and Scholastic tie-in books. It's even returned to comics courtesy of the good folks at Image. Are you ready for ten new terrifying tales? Then let’s dig into Creepshow Volume 1 and brave what we find inside!

 

Take One

Writer & Artist: Chris Burnham

Colorist: Adriano Lucas

 

When three Trick Or Treaters ignore written instructions—and memories of draconian punishments awarded by the former owner of a shuttered house—they discover that Death still has its sting. Burnham’s story reminds us of society’s current trend away from traditional Trick Or Treating, and the ending highlights the sometimes twisted ethics of horror stories. Detailed penciling, tilted camera angles, silhouettes, textured coloring, and excellent shading and light sources give this comic a film noir appeal. The over-the-top violence and gore make Take One a fitting companion to Spawn: Unwanted Violence. Strangely, the morning after welcomes an October sun. Did the boys get their dates mixed up? Was that why we saw no other Trick Or Treaters on those dark streets?

 

 

Shingo

Writers: Paul Dini & Stephen Langford

Artist: John McCrea

Colorist: Mike Spicer

 

A daughter’s birthday party becomes the latest battleground for separated parents. Shingo asks: when parents refuse to get along, how does this affect their children? The circular nature of the story suggests how parents can initiate a cycle of dysfunction and abuse that lingers for generations. Its lighter, humorous tone allows readers to recover from the last story's graphic excess. The art’s more Golden Age than Modern and reminds me of the EC horror comics that the United States Senate called a Comic Book Menace in 1954.

 

The Gorgahmorahh Tree

Writers: David Lapham & Maria Lapham

Artist: David Lapham

Colorist: Trish Mulvihill

 

Dysfunctional families enrich the soil in which horror stories grow. The way Lapham draws people in The Gorgahmorahh Tree reminds me of his 90s Harbinger run. Each panel compels as Lapham contrasts the majestic, ancient tree with Daphne’s cluttered, disordered home. How much of what occurs is real? How much does Daphne imagine? This third story in Creepshow Volume 1 evokes classic episodes of The Avengers, Night Gallery, and Doctor Who. It also reminded me of Patrick Ness' novel A Monster Calls and the 2016 movie. An unreliable narrator, a tortured daughter, and mesmerizing art turn an old gardener's adage on its head in this unique take on an oft-told story.

 

Creator’s Rites

Writer: Steve Foxe

Artist: Erica Henderson

 

Creator’s Rites tackles elder abuse: a subject most don't want to face. Compare the years it takes to become a doctor or nurse with the weeks of preparation (perhaps via the Internet) to work in a nursing home. We may never become luminaries in the comic world, but if we live long enough, we’ll all need help meeting our basic needs. Do Henderson's Old School TV animation style and vibrant coloring blunt the edges of Foxe’s story or make them sharper? Seemingly ripped from the final days of Stan Lee, Creator’s Rites cuts deep.

 

Hair

Writer: L. Marlow Francavilla & Francesco Francavilla

Artist: Francesco Francavilla

 

Jimmy feels more kinship with wild animals than civilized people. The barber doesn't hurt anyone, but Jimmy’s actions aid the animals in the forest outside town. The character reminded me of activist Nick Van Owen (played by Vince Vaughn) in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Scenes of town life evoke the Andy Griffith Show and Groundhog Day, with no newcomers saying "Heavy" or asking for a Pepsi Free. Francavilla's carefree, heavy inks and limited palette--greens, yellows, and oranges—give Hair a faded appearance. Hair combines a love of nature with a yearning for a simple life in a mood piece that—while not surprising--lingers. 

 

To read this review in its entirety, and preview art from Take One, see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.