Creepy #15

Published by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: Feb. 12, 2014
Writer: various
Artist: various
Cover: J.G. Jones
Purchase at Amazon

Dark Horse's latest installment in the horror anthology series' resurfacing continues the tradition that is Creepy. This fifteenth issue brings forth some new horror tales as well as one from the original Warren run back in the day. The jungle girl cover artwork by J.G. Jones should suck you in, although not very horror-themed but more of an adventure theme, and has nothing to do with the contents of the book. One would expect to find a story called “When Love Goes Wrong”, but alas there is no story of jungle chick and gorilla lust. Still, the cover is nice. And Bruce Timms contributes a nice frontispiece. Regarding this issue's insides…

• “The Reverent”, written by Doug Moench and illustrated by Mike Norton. A small group of treasure seekers with a “who gives a fuck” collective attitude bust their way into a lost jungle temple. Despite the usual warnings and the natives being terrified, Flint and his crew shoot and chop their way to the entrance. Once inside, they realize that maybe they should have listened. This one ends in a way that could lead to a sequel or even a few stories as a serial, or it could be left as an ambivalent ending. The story is nothing new, but certainly fits the criteria for Creepy, and the artwork leaves a satisfying after taste. Plenty of gut-ripping and monster presence.
• “One Good Turn”, “Brother Creepy Leaves Home”, and “The Hoarder” by Dan Braun and Peter Bagge. In between the stories are one-page, 6-panel jokes at the expense of Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie. They seem very out of place in the likes of this comic and are distracting. It's a horror comic, not a funny one. The cartoon-style artwork is more than competent, but takes the reader out of the mood. It's reminiscent of those awful animated segments in the movie Creepshow 2. Kills the rest of the flow and isn't needed. Throw the readers anything else to fill the three pages these stink up; even a reprinted story would be better.
• “Malhiver”, written by Alex De Campi and drawn by Henrik Jonsson. A nameless musician isolates himself in a remote cabin to write the ultimate break-up album. His inspiration: that bitch Heather. He'll show her. First things first: a little bit of weed. Far away, Heather is bearing her sole to her best friend Wally, the apparent source of the discourse between the two lovers. Wally seems to have taken things into his own, um, hands and music boy isn't going to like what happens. Alex De Campi makes this reader's underwear tighten up, and she needs to write more horror/sleaze stories than just in her awesome Grindhouse series, also from Dark Horse . This is but a taste and I need more. And Jonsson's art fits well in this black-and-white format. Great shadows very detailed. These two need to do another Creepy story. No, five more.
• “Second Childhood”, written by Bruce Jones, illustrated by Ramon Torrents. What?? Bruce Jones and Ramon Torrents doing a new story?? Oh. Nope, this is a reprinted tale from Warren's Creepy #88 in 1977. Then Warren reprinted it in Vampirella #83 in 1979. Ok, so a reprinted tale, that's cool. But wait a second….Dark Horse just put out Creepy Archives Volume 18 with this tale as the the last story in the book. So in the same month we get the same story in two different books. That doesn't seem to be a well-thought-out plan. Apparently it's a classic comic story, as it's been reprinted so many times. Wealthy, pompous asshole Chad gives his old girlfriends to his buddy Dick Knobby (seriously), but Chad is never satisfied. He takes Dick on a trip to the jungle and steals a priestess, brings her back to the states and names her Irena. She is none too happy about her situation and won't give up the goods to her kidnapper. When he finally gets his way with her, things don't turn out so well for the rich lad. Bruce Jones' story is his usually high quality, but the artwork gives this story its impact. Expertly illustrated by one of the Warren staff artist greats Ramon Torrents, some of the imagery is downright upsetting. Specifically, images involving infants suffering physical abuse, and even more specifically infants being burned. Pretty chilling stuff.

As much of a fan of Creepy as this reader is, leaving reprints out of the new issues would be preferable, especially when they've already seen reprint in an Archives volume. There's plenty of talent out there dying to get published as everyone knows, so the need for reprinting in the new books seems unnecessary. And drop those one page funny-pages looking gags. It's Creepy, Goddammit. Keep it that way.