Creepy #5 – Review

By: Timothy Truman, Benjamin Truman, David Lapham, Dan Braun & Doug Moench (writers), T. Truman, Lapham, Lucas Marangon & Mike Vosburg (artists), Nate Piekos (letters), Shawna Gore & Dave Land (editors)

The Story: Uncle Creepy is back with 4 new black and white tales of horror.

What’s Good: There is just something about B&W horror comics.  Because Creepy is an anthology that comes out quarterly, it never has rushed looking art and there is almost never a need for separate inkers.  That means that the art for each story is nothing but the vision of the artist creating the story.  Further, B&W allows the linework to shine through in a pure manner that is not possible with colored comics.  If these artists want a shadow, they damn well better get out the fine nibs and some ink rather than just letting the colorist render a dark spot on the characters.  Creepy is a complete throwback and really makes me wish we had more B&W comics on the shelf.

All the stories in this issue are somewhere between “solid” and “quite good.”  First, Benjamin and Timothy Truman team-up on a story of a tribal shaman who must venture to the underworld to fight a demon and save her child.  This story is probably the artistic star of the issue as the linework is just wonderfully nuanced and Buscema-like.  Next up is the best story of the issue: a tale by David Lapham of how some farmers will go to any length to have a prize winning crop.  Third is a very short interlude-type story about cults in the United States.  And, we wrap up with a Doug Moench & Mike Vosburg story about a man who gets what was coming to him.  All in all, this is a pretty solid batch of stories for a horror anthology.