Creepy Comics #18

Published by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: Oct. 8, 2014
Writer: various
Artist: various
Cover: Dustin Nguyen
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Creepy celebrates 50 years of life in the comic book world with a extra-sized issue and with no one from the years gone by being featured other than the usual reprint in every issue (which is in color). Not even old pin-ups, or an intro by anyone. Right up front, it's a disappointment before even reading it. Dustin Nguyen's cover is nice enough, but not up to snuff with the beautiful paintings that usually adorn the covers. There's a pin-up in the front, a cartoonish illustration by Art Baltazar that is about as Creepy-worthy as the cartoon material Peter Bagge contributes every single month (including this month….sigh…). But still, it's Creepy, and despite Dark Horse seeming to drop the ball on any type of satisfying celebration/showcasing it's going to get read anyway, so here's what's up on the insides.

• “The Executioner”, story by Fred Van Lente, art by Alison Sampson. This slick little story is about a critic who hated the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Poe made him the executor of his writings and after the writer's death, a smear campaign of sorts by the critic back-fired. He made the master of the short story famous rather than helping him slip off into obscurity. Poe characters show up to help out too. Great artwork and a solid story like this one makes this reader happy.
• “Keeping Up With the Creepys” by Peter Bagge. This makes this reader unhappy. Cartoons don't belong in Creepy.
• “Winner Take All!”, story by Len Wein, art by Luis Bermejo. Originally published in the original Creepy run, issue #100. The story was printed in color back then and Dark Horse has kept it as such, and in all honesty it would look much better in black-and-white. The color is loud and distracting, but the story is a good one and Bermejo's art looks fine. Just ugly coloring is all.
• “The Man Who Walked Through Walls”, written by Peter Bagge, art by Simone Delladio. An immigrant loner invents a collar that allows him to walk through walls, an invention he exploits for his own gain. He takes advantage of the wrong person and some four-legged friends of said person have something to say about it. Simone Delladio's illustrations are perfect for this book and Peter Bagge's script is quite entertaining.
• “Over the River to Charlie”, story by Corinna Bechko, art by Drew Moss. A family of three moves into a haunted house whose ghost wants nothing more than to have a nice home. A magical doll house brings the ghost to the two young girls who are new to the house; a hanging branch on a tree by the river keeps the ghost on this plane. One of the girls figures out what to do. In an atypical fashion to tales like this, the good person seems to get the short end of the stick at the end.
• “Anniversary Gallery”, featuring pin-ups by Kevin Ferrara, Kelley Jones, Pete Woods, Shannon Wheeler, Nate Piekos, and Eric Powell.
• “Corpsepower: A Creepy Timeline”; a 3-page history of the title with half of each page filled with small cover reproductions.

It's an overall great issue, just a terrible anniversary issue. If Dark Horse hadn't called attention to the 50th anniversary, one has to wonder if anyone would have noticed. And one has to question the thinking behind the manner in which they celebrated the anniversary. It's absolutely an issue worth picking up though, despite the complaints, as most of the stories are entertaining.