Comics

Review: ‘Creepy’ #16

Published

10 years ago

April 10, 2014

I get too excited each time Dark Horse releases a new issue of “Creepy,” their deliciously sensationalized, ongoing anthology comic. This vintage-style, exploitive black & white pulp rag never disappoints, and this issue is certainly no exception to that rule. Turn your lights on for this issue. Because, frankly, I had to.

WRITTEN BY: Ted Naifeh, Rachel Deering
ART BY: Ted Naifeh, Peter Bagge, Vanesa R. Del Rey
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.99
 RELEASE: April 9, 2014

This balls to the wall installment of Dark Horse’s “Creepy” doesn’t pull any punches. It starts of terrifying and moves seamlessly into horrifying. It continues to showcase Creepy’s signature style via classic illustrations, gorgeous cover art, eerie anecdotes, and perfectly peppy puns from Uncle Creepy himself.

In typical “Creepy” fashion, there is no slow build up. We are tossed into a spooky vortex and aren’t released for 40 pages. “Do Not Click,” the first story, written and illustrated by Ted Naifeh (“Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things”) is reminiscent of The Ring meets the Slender Man mythos. Not a lot makes me want to look over my shoulder while simultaneously being afraid of what I will actually see if I look over my shoulder. But this disturbing little tale of technology-gone-wrong had me shaking in my boots. (Seriously, guys.)

Next up, “In the Dark” editor/author/letterer Rachel Deering brings us her signature brand of real life psychosis in “Like Clockwork,” a Norman Bates-like loves story. Both sickening and (oddly) sickeningly sweet, this morbid tale follows a young clockmaker deep into his chilling delusions of love and humanity. Evoking the likes of some of history’s most notorious serial killers, Deering sews together a unnerving as hell look at the modern dating dilemma. Now with even more rotting flesh!

In what feels like a gift from the comic gods, the Creepy Family gives us a comic adaptation of H.P Lovecraft’s “The Cats of Ulthar.” This story has always hit my horror threshold because, well, cats are the worst. It combines several of my greatest fears: cats, owning cats, being eaten by cats, and cats.

“I Hate You! I Hate You!” gets real, real quick. Exciting our sociopathic, Bad Seed-like anxieties. I don’t know about you all, but I’m terrified of raising a real-life little monster. And therein lies the genius of “Creepy.” It’s a mixture of sobering realism, exploitive surrealism, and of course, hellish supernaturalism. This is, hands down, way way down, one of my favorite issues of the rebooted “Creepy” series. Don’t pass up the opportunity to partake in these frightening comic shorts by horror veterans and newcomers alike.

4.5/5 Skulls

Reviewed by – Bree Ogden

Lonnie Nadler

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Comics

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

Published

6 days ago

April 18, 2024

Meagan Navarro

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.