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Review: ‘The Creep’ #3

Published

11 years ago

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With an intriguing main protagonist, The Creep #3 delivers an enjoyable crime tale with gripping plot twists. The storyline examines loneliness and isolation through the eyes of a disfigured loner. As he strays from the rest of civilization, the loner becomes cut off and drifts off into madness. It’s hard to escape feelings of melancholy and sadness while reading John Arcudi’s character driven crime story.

WRITTEN BY: John Arcudi
ART BY: Jonathan Case
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: November 14th, 2012

A pair of teen suicides has been causing a lot of grief in a small town. While no one else wants to get involved, a disfigured private eye, named Oxel Karnhus, finds himself investigating the seemingly solved case. Riddled with doubt, Oxel wonders if he will uncover the truth at the crime scene. With no help from the local police, Oxel finds himself in an unlucky and tough situation. As nighttime approaches, Oxel must wander through the freezing snow to discover the truth.

Dealing with a rare condition, Oxel suffers from acromegaly, an excess of growth hormones that causes enlarged physical features and height. Though he’s a grotesque man, Oxel is a deeply flawed and relatable protagonist. No matter how good of a person he is, Oxel is always seen as a freak. Because his mind is plagued with doubt and self-pity, Oxel might not realize the suicides are more than they appear.

If you enjoy classic crime novels as much as I do, you will definitely get a kick out of “The Creep”. Oxel is the anti-Mike Hammer, he is desperate for companionship from women rather than fending them off. Arcudi steers the mystery into different directions throughout the issue, leading up to a nice final few pages. By sticking to Oxel’s perspective, readers discover the important clues at the same time he does.

Jonathan Case captures the silent atmosphere and saddening loneliness that Oxel feels everyday. On Oxel’s bus ride, Case uses wide shots of to enhance Oxel’s yearning for acceptance. Oxel has no one to talk to as he is surrounded by empty seats. Outside the bus, not a single person is around and the mountain range represents how detached he is from reality. As Oxel walks into the dead zonbe of the woods, his radio is completely useless and his lonesomeness because all the more potent.

With the lack of dialog during the dream sequence, Case is able to draw upon Oxel’s constant fear of failure without words. Flashes of Oxel’s past and present crash into one another as they reveal his darkest fears. Case illustrates a surreal hallucination when Oxel imagines what happened before the suicides.

With a spectacular final few pages, “The Creep” #3 provides ample reason to see how the mystery is resolved in the concluding chapter.

Rating: 4/5 skulls

Reviewed by Jorge Solis

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Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

5 days ago

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April 18, 2024

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Witchblade cover

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.

  • Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover

  • Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)

  • Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)

  • Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)

  • Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)

  • Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)

Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Witchblade comic panel Witchblade #1 cover image

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