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| CREEPSHOW No. 1, September 2022 |
Considering just how high the anticipation was for this “five-issue comic book anthology based on Greg Nicotero’s hit Shudder television series” following Skybound's announcement in July 2022, Chris Burnham’s script for “Take One” was arguably always going to fall under incredible scrutiny from its readers’ nostalgia-tinted hand lenses. Happily though, the Halloween-based fright-fest is more than up to its task of depicting a disconcertingly disturbing thriller, and even manages to add an extra bump in the night at its conclusion by portraying the one victim with a conscience as the true villain of the piece; “Did he make it right? No! That little monster got his disgust desserts!”
In fact, the Connecticut-born writer somehow manages to cram his ten-pager with all the tropes fans of spine-chilling show might expect - including the Creep’s rather humorous cackling narration, a strong sense of foreboding before the tale’s errant adolescents stupidly decide to steal some sweeties, and a stomach-churning conclusion full of extreme bodily mutilation. Furthermore, all these 'dark doings' are prodigiously pencilled by Burnham himself, with the American artist conjuring up a truly unpleasant antagonist in the guise of the long-dead Mister Xander, who vengefully wanders the local streets as a decomposing, heavily-moustached zombie.
Slightly less successful, partly due to its silly and debatably non-lethal ending, is Paul Dini and Stephen Langford’s “Shingo”, which follows young Fee’s last-minute birthday party. Initially appearing to establish the unimpressed girl’s dysfunctional parents as the yarn’s central sacrificial offerings, this demonic warning not to employ a carnivorous monster as your kid’s shoddily arranged entertainer certainly accumulates an impressive kill-count due to the titular character furiously munching its way through a seemingly endless carousal of hapless children.
However, by the time Sherrie, the ex-pole dancing princess, has been mercilessly wolfed down with a single gulp, the rather repetitive nature of this fearsome fable’s plot means that the orange-furred, purple skinned clown has probably outstayed its welcome with the comic’s audience. As a result, this particular "debut edition" anecdote will probably be best remembered for some marvellous gratuitously gruesome panels by artist John McCrea showing Shingo swallowing his numerous victims whole as opposed to its actual standalone storyline.
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| Writer & Artist: Chris Burnham, Writers: Paul Dini & Stephen Langford, and Artist: John McCrea |
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