Creepy is back with a new twist on an old horror classic. Pulp horror comics have been all of the rage since the 50's, and their magazine format has historically kept them from having to adhere to comics code facists. Those days of censorship are thankfully over, and while anything Garth Ennis makes the new Creepy title look like an old Goosebumps novel, nine issues in this is now one of my favorite books out there. A horror book that does not lean on sex and ultra-violence is a refreshing change, and while I love Crossed in all of it's depravity, shorts like The Red Knife prove that psychological, cerebral thrillers can be even better than their gory counterparts. Emily Carroll also has some quality web comics on her website, so after you read The Red Knife and it leaves you wanting more, I encourage you to check there.
The book is released quarterly, and the cover price of $4.99 may seem a little high at first glance, but keep in mind that you are getting a 48 page book, and a quality one as well. Creepy retains a lot of it's old charm with an Uncle Creepy letters page full of cheesy puns, and fans of those early Warren books will be happy to know that the Dark Horse website is full of Creepy merchandise including t-shirts, pins, and Creepy fan club swag, a fitting homage to the early books. Another strength is that this compilation of horror tales gives you four different artists an issue, along with four eclectic and completely different stories. Each one gives you a little taste of sci-fi, horror history, Lovecraft mythos, or taught psychological thriller. It's almost too good, because the reboot has inspired me to get online and purchase collections of the early 1990's series as well as some of the old Warren publications that are now in hardcover.
Dark Horse is starting to come back in a big way with Reset, Mind MGMT, Fatima, B.P.R.D, and even a brand new Eerie as well. So take some of the sub-par mainstream junk that you are throwing cash at month after month and make room on your pull list; replace it with some of the quality titles listed above. The world of comics is a much better place when fans put cash in the pockets of people producing quality books. To date, I have not come in contact with a single person that doesn't think Before Watchmen is a complete waste of both time and money. But the series is one of the top selling comics in 2012 even though Dan Didio and Jim Lee continue to ruin Watchmen, one of the greatest comics of all time. The dynamic duo of shitty comic books will consider this series a success due to the strong sales, so if you want to avoid an After Watchmen reboot in a couple years, take Before Watchmen off of your pull list and replace them with some Dark Horse originals today. Everybody wins.
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