Image credit: Jason Brown, midlifegamergeek.com
As is the case with countless 80’s movies, I saw Creepshow when I was too young. Still, I adored it. A homage to the 50’s EC horror comics. Its seedy colors, often tongue-in-cheek horror and plot twist ending were my introduction to George A. Romero and made me a fan years before I saw his iconic zombie films.
So it’s cool to see Creepshow return to comics (again). Because it feels like a natural fit for the medium. Of course, this movie (and its less-acclaimed sequel) is an imitation of the style of horror anthology comics, so I’ll mention it here. With the exception of Super Creepshow, there are more twists on the formula. Two superhero origin stories mixed with horror.
Kieron Gillen’s story Creeping, illustrated by Rossi Gifford, is a chilling and terrifying look at Spider-Man’s origins. It’s a little obvious, as the overused metaphor of teenagers releasing bodily fluids and giving in to their primal urges is used, but the narration is a little clunky at times. Gifford’s art is somewhat over-stylized, with some panels being just a mess of lines and gore. But in general, it’s a effectively messy story, and Gifford’s character designs are great. There’s also a nice twist.
Speed Freak, a riff on The Flash by Ryan North, initially has a lighter tone, but in some ways it’s strikingly similar to Giffen’s stories (each story’s revenge scenes against bullies feel very repetitive, even if they play out very differently depending on the protagonist’s powers). Derek Charm’s art is certainly more defined from a storytelling standpoint than the previous story, with a ridiculously creepy ending. However, while it didn’t sit well with me as much as Creeping, I thought it was a more satisfying horror story overall.
In general, it’s not bad, but it’s far from essential. It’s a great idea, but neither of the stories here live up to the potential of the concept. I think both stories could have used a larger page count.
Also, this is my fault, but as you can see in the photo, I bought the die-cut cardboard cover, but I really should have chosen the standard cover. This is a brutal homage to Spider-Man’s first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15. Oh, at least there’s a cardboard creep staring at me now, right?
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