THIS'LL GIVE YOU A SHUDDER

Warrent Publishing recently announced pre-order sales for it's 21st issue of SHUDDER. This is significant because it indicates a lasting interest for new horror comics and that it is sold through Diamond Distributors and magazine racks at Barnes & Noble only prove that out.

Warrant began with the title, THE CREEPS, but because so much of the looks and content, the owners of Warren's CREEPY property at the time forced them to change a number of things, including the title being too close to the original. They were also forced to stop selling any back stock bearing the title of THE CREEPS after a certain cut-off date,After the bilious smoke cleared, Warrant's homage to Warren's classic magazines looked little worse for the wear. Ironically, the current owners of rights to CREEPY aren't even publishing it! Now, who's the real "Creep"?

So far, Warrant has published a total of 52 issues between the two titles and there's no sign of them slowing down. That's a good thing for horror comics fans.

Anyone interested in picking up the first two issues of the now out-of-circulation THE CREEPS can purchase them right here at the FEAR IN FOUR COLORS "New Comics Sale" page HERE.

Following is my review for THE CREEPS #1, originally posted at my companion page, MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD (now titled WORLD OF MONSTERS) on Friday, January 23, 2015, as well as a later follow-up on Thursday, June 23, 2016.

Visit the SHUDDER webpage HERE.

SHUDDER COVER GALLERY

THE CREEPS NO. 1 REVIEWED

Originally posted at MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD on Friday, January 23, 2015.

I hold in my hands the first issue of "Warrant Company's" homage to Warren Publications, entitled, aptly enough, THE CREEPS. Okay, here goes -- Scraggy, drippy cover logo? Check! Image of The Old Creep in the upper left corner for easy spotting on a cramped newsstand shelf? Check! Cover painting by a notable Warren alumnus? Check! Contents page formatted as a dead-ringer for vintage CREEPY and EERIE magazines? Double check! Stories and artwork as good as the classics? Well ... read on and I'll tell you.

Subtitled, "All New Tales in the Warren Tradition!", THE CREEPS is the latest addition to the venerable illustrated horror anthology market. Magazine-sized, but comic book length (issue #2 promises to be 52 pages instead of 36), it's the brain child of one Richard Sala. Writing as "Artie Goodwin", another homage, this time to the late Archie Goodwin, author of countless stories for the Warren titles, and sharing the illustration chores with a host of other artists including Rich Buckler and Joe Rubenstein, Sala has wrangled a pretty good first effort.

Upon opening the 'zine the reader is drawn instantly back to the storied past of the original Warren series of "illustrated fear" with an inside front cover page take on "Loathsome Lore", this time titled "The Old Creep's Historic Horrors" (a tale of the succubus drawn by Frank Brunner), and the aforementioned contents page that's designed about as close to CREEPY's original contents page as one can get. There's even an anti-smoking ad to be found like the type that were often seen in the Warren 'zines (remember Frazetta's half-pager?).

So, how does THE CREEPS measure up to its predecessors? The artwork, while mostly lacking the skill of say, an Angelo Torres or Al Williamson, thankfully avoids the tiresome, never-ending trend of the angular style of comic art introduced in the 1990's by the likes of the late Michael J. Turner and Todd McFarlane and that morphed into the school of slick realism a la Alex Ross. Over all, the work here is at least average and often above, albeit with a tendency toward a certain lack of anatomical symmetry and awkward foreshortening that pervades in several instances. Still, I'd have to say that the artwork is at least on par with the folks over at Dark Horse, who currently have the rights to the Warren illustrated material.

It appears that Sala writes all the stories under his nom de plume of Artie Goodwin. His own illustrated story, "Vengeance!" has a Frazetta/Wrightson-inspired look, and Rich Buckler's "Castle of Doom" conjures up a tip of the brush to Wally Wood, including a splash page layout panel that replaces Woody's obligatory maiden's bare backside with that of a horse (!). All have the EC comics trademark of the twist ending that succeeds in varying degrees.

The verdict? THE CREEPS tries hard to uphold the legendary legacy of Warren's horror comics empire -- and early indications suggest that it will. I'm anxious to see what's ahead. Could a future issue even find the reader flipping through the back pages, shopping for monster goodies to order from "Capstone Company"? Only time will tell. Heh! Heh!

THE CREEPS REVIEWED

Originally posted at MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD on Thursday, June 23, 2016.

Since Warren's original run of CREEPY from 1964 - 1983 (145 issues) there have been numerous attempts at reviving the spirit of the vaunted magazine-sized horror comic book. Dark Horse acquired the rights to the Warren title and branding, including the image of Uncle Creepy, as well as the rights to reprint the backlog. The resulting series of "Creepy Archives" is impressive, but disappointingly, the new version of the title was shrunk to a standard comic book size, exactly the opposite of Warren's work-around to the albeit weakening stranglehold of the Comics Code Authority which caused the self-immolation of many horror comic publishers in the mid-1950s who were either unwilling or unwitting enough to adapt to the new rules.

Another, indie-produced horror comic, BLOKE'S TERRIBLE TOMB OF TERROR, uses similar design features and themes to CREEPY. Publisher/writer Jason Crawley (really!) and artist Mike Hoffman and Co. do a pretty good job of it, but don't quite hit the heart with the stake.

Then, from out of the blue (or the grave, as Unca' Creepy would probably say) comes THE CREEPS, a brand-new, magazine-sized horror comic that is an unapologetic, unabashed, near clone of CREEPY. Now in its sixth issue, THE CREEPS is the closest thing yet to a true homage to the original, so close in fact, that one could say it is a pastiche. It is obviously deliberate by design, and while other attempts capture the "look" of CREEPY, THE CREEPS not only accomplishes that, but it also actually "feels" like the old CREEPY.

Granted, we will never again see the likes of a team of writers and artists that shepherded the early years of CREEPY. These consummate professionals were the crème de la crème of illustrators that had cut their teeth and sharpened their pencils over the drawing board for EC, the greatest line of horror comics ever, for chrissakes!

In this latest issue of Warrant Publishing's THE CREEPS however, one can see artists clearly under the spell of the aforementioned genius loci of horror comics. What you have here is a bullpen of artists like the Reed Crandall-esque Reno Maniquis, the Wally Wood-esque Jason Paulos, the Orlando-esque Mansyur Daman and the Brunner-esque Mike Dubisch, all combined to achieve a vague, but eerily (no pun intended) reminiscent appearance of the original. Even the mag's mascot, The Old Creep, is a blatant swipe of Uncle Creepy. Editor Rich Sala, writing as "Artie" Goodwin has brought aboard a capable stable of story scripters, including Warren alumni Nicola Cuti and Don Glut. And yes, the stories themselves have that old touch of the macabre and sardonic, with twist endings that hit the mark nearly every time.

I have to admit, I was a little leery with the first couple of issues, but the last two or so have shown a significant improvement in the writing as well as the art moving in the direction of more traditional draughtsmanship as opposed to modernist comic illustration. Issue #6 even sports a Frazetta cover! And I would be remiss to mention the anti-tobacco ad on the letters page as was seen in the original Warren 'zine?

I'm looking forward to more of THE CREEPS. Now that it's selling well enough to be put on the shelves at Barnes & Noble, it is hopeful that a new wave of readers will catch on to the entertainment found between its covers.