Vampire, werewolf, repeat. Who knew horror comics were like washing hair?
Creepy Archives Volume 1 HC
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writer: Various
Artist: Various
Cover: Frank Frazetta
Summary: Gather up your wooden stakes, your blood-covered hatchets, and all the skeletons in the darkest depths of your closet, and prepare for a horrifying adventure into the darkest corners of comics history. Dark Horse Comics further corners the market on high quality horror storytelling with one of the most anticipated releases of the decade, a hardcover archive collection of legendary Creepy Magazine.
This groundbreaking material turned the world of graphic storytelling on its head in the early 1960s, as phenomenal young artists like Bernie Wrightson and Neal Adams reached new artistic heights with their fascinating explorations of classic and modern horror stories.
* Brilliant, classic Creepy stories from 1964-1966 raised from the dead after twenty-five years.
* Featuring work by such comics luminaries as Joe Orlando, Al Williamson, Alex Toth, and Frank Frazetta.
* Archive editions of Creepy will be the cornerstone of any comic-book library.
* Volume One reprints the first five terrifying issues of the magazine’s original run, reprinted in the original magazine size!
Review: What can I say about an anthology consisting of horror comics from the 1960s? Well, my mom once said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Fortunately that sentiment doesn’t apply to us reviewers.
Creepy Archive Volume 1 collects issues 1-5, originally printed between 1964 and 1966. Even though Creepy may look, feel and dare I say, smell, like a comic book, technically speaking, it’s a magazine. Or was a magazine. The original run was printed larger than comics of it’s day to get around that pesky Comic Code Authority. Vampires, witchcraft and pretty much everything else in the book were on their naughty list and the format allowed publisher Jim Warren the creative freedom he so desired. Alas, Creepy does not withstand the test of time for me. With few exceptions the book bored me to tears. I wasn’t kidding when I said vampire, werewolf, repeat. I felt as if I were reading the same stories over and over again. Stories about vampires, werewolves and all manner of corpses lay the foundation for several other varied horror tales all with easily predictable outcomes.
I did say there were a few exceptions. However, Archie Goodwin, who wrote the majority of the stories, did not once fall into that category. Even though Otto Binder’s “Wardrobe of Monsters” had both a vampire and a werewolf in it, the uniqueness of being able to inhabit their forms at will (as well as a devil and Frankenstein monster) provided just the right amount of appeal to catch my attention. “I Robot,” also by Binder, stood out mostly because it was a touching Edward Scissorhands-like story rather than a conventional horror yarn. It wasn’t until I looked him up later that I realized Binder was responsible for several classic DC characters so maybe that subconsciously played a part in their appeal to me. Although the art is handled by several different artists throughout, it’s no doubt impressive. Famous sci-fi and fantasy artist Frank Frazetta provided the covers for each issue, which are absolutely works of art, but the rest mostly run together since they are all in the same general style.
I will say one thing, comics have come a long way since the 1960s. Especially horror comics. As with other mediums like television and film, the content in horror comics has become more gruesome and explicit to meet the needs of an audience that becomes increasingly bloodthirsty as the years wear on. I can completely understand how the content in Creepy would shock and entertain the masses over forty years ago but they just can’t do the same in today’s world, at least not for everyone. Do they have a place in history? Absolutely. Do they have a following? No doubt about it. If you’re a fan of this type of work, Creepy is perfect for you but if not, you run the risk of getting fed up pretty quickly like I did. Even for fans of the Twilight Zone, which the book is in the same vein as, Creepy falls flat. Sorry mom.
Rating: 2/5
September 21st, 2009 at 11:02 am
The Warren magazines, especially the early ones, had some great art from old EC veterans and newer artists (from South America, for some reason). However, the stories were a tad . . . bland. Even without CCA editorial interference, the stories lacked much of the “zing” that the old EC comics had (Shock Suspenstories coming to mind as the best of the lot). Admittedly, some of the problem was too much catering to the adolescent male audience, and since I was one back when these first came out they still hold a place in my fanboy heart. But even the best writing in these books was “swamped” by the larger number of forgettable stories.
September 21st, 2009 at 11:55 am
Sorry you didn’t like the CREEPY ARCHIVES but I think your reasons are well founded. I grew up reading ‘em so I still love them today but, given the market, I doubt if they would sell if they were to come out now. The stories do have a tendency towards repetition particularly when you read a bunch at once. Even when I first started reading them in the late 60’s/early 70’s, I noticed that as well. However, taken in a historical context, they were ground-breaking for that time. Remember that the regular comics had been so completely sanitized by the CCA that they couldn’t show a vampire or werewolf. CREEPY was a magazine that openly flaunted their ability to do what other comes couldn’t back then. Once the code relaxed and horror comics started coming out more regularly, the Warren magazines faded. Still, for a 10 year old boy in 1972, they were the greatest!