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Published by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: Apr. 9, 2014
Writer: various
Artist: various
Cover: Julian Totino Tedesco
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An all-new (almost) batch of black-and-white horror (almost) tales comes around again in this latest issue of the Dark Horse resurrection title that is Creepy. Known for its painted covers back in the old 70s Warren days, the tradition continues with Julian Totino Tedesco's ghastly cover. Matt Kindt, creator of DH's “Mind Management†comic, lends his art to the frontispiece. As for the insides:
- “Don't Not Click†by writer and artist Ted Naifeh. An urban internet legend spreads quickly about something named “The Whistling Manâ€, who comes to you via a link in an email. Click the link, and you can watch live footage of the Whistling Man approach your house and then approach you. What's gone is your sanity and what's left is your husk: a mindless whistling vegetable. A school teacher catches wind of this supposed link and plots a plan to use it against someone.
- “Like Clockwork†written by Rachel Deering, art by Vanesa R. Del Rey. A clockmaker finds himself in a lonely situation and decides it's time for a lady friend. What better way to find your perfect mate than to build one? A dead body, some clock parts in the brain pan…it's got to work. But in order to do such thing takes time and careful planning that only the insane can manage and this guy is more than qualified.
- “The Cats of Ulthar†written by Dan Bruan, art by Peter Bagge from an Edgar Allen Poe tale. Someone keeps killing cats until some gypsy types come into town. After that, the cat killers stopped killing cats and with a change in heart they fed them instead.
- “I Hate You! I Hate You!†written by Bill Warren, art by Mike Royer; originally published in Creepy #37 in 1970. A boy hates his father so much that when he grows up he builds a time machine to go back in time and kill the asshole of a man. There's just one thing: it'll be a one-way trip. He cannot get back to present day after going to the past. That boy done screwed up messing with time. Who's the asshole now, kid?
- “The Undertaker's Model†(the back cover) written by Jack L. Butterworth, art by Luis Garcia; originally published in Creepy #46. This one's a little pictorial history on the first man ever to be embalmed.
A nice little bag of gags makes up this issue, with “Like Clockwork†being the most enjoyable work in the bunch. You can almost smell the pungent odor of his insanity as much as you can almost smell the decaying flesh of the woman he sort of brings back to life. The artwork in “Do Not Click†is the standout art inside the book, with a clever use of gray tones to convey a couple panels of flashback information here and there. The Whistling Man definitely belongs in a book called Creepy because he is just that.
In fact the artwork on every story is pleasing except for one. The Edgar Allen Poe adaptation is drawn too damn cartoony and isn't at all fitting with the rest of the book. Every issue has Peter Bagge artwork, and as said before the style of his work is fine, but it isn't Creepy. Stop using it in Creepy. Please. Edgar Allen Poe adaptations should at least try to be dark and ominous and the style of Mr. Bagge is anything but dark and ominous. Otherwise, pretty solid issue.
