It's impossible to review the Dark Horse Comics collections of Creepy and Eerie without a few fond recollections. In the '60s and '70s, my father owned a men's tailored clothing shop on Moody Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. It was a fine place to hang around as a kid. My dad knew all the other business people in the area and I would spend part of the day visiting nearby stores. It was in Mr. Big's toy store where I first discovered Aurora models. Their "snap-tite" collection was perfect for the budding model builder, but it was the types of sets that really set my imagination on fire — dinosaurs, Universal Film monsters, and most importantly, the bizarre and sadistic sets that were part of their Monster Scenes line. There was Dr. Deadly and his lab, The Pendulum, and The Hanging Cage. Then there was Vampirella, a fairly X-rated kit, that was really special, because she had her own magazine, Vampirella, which was part of the Warren publications that also included Creepy and Eerie. These magazines became the foundation of my childhood love of fantasy and horror, but somewhere along the way my collection was lost. Rediscovering these magazines in the Dark Horse collections reminds me not only of the ghastly fun these stories were, but just how weird the 1970s really were.
Now up to volume 19 for Creepy (collecting up to issue #93) and volume 16 for Eerie (collecting up to issue #80), Dark Horse has done an outstanding job with these collections, capturing all that was vibrant and exciting of these magazines. Each volume contains five issues and includes reprints of the letter pages and some of the advertisements, which, to be honest, was a huge part of what made them so fun. At first dedicated to mostly horror, later issues showcased fantasy and science fiction. Eerie also offered serialized stories like the "The Mummy Walks" by Jaime Brocal and Steve Skeates, and in later issues "The Rook" by Bill DuBay.
Avoiding the heavy hand of the Comics Code, Creepy and Eerie enjoyed the freedom and there is fun "wink-wink" sensibility with all the nudity, gore, and occult scares. But these stories were not just meant to shock. Some of the stories are dated and their twisted versions of O Henry-like endings don't chill like they used to, but their cleverness is never lost. It's the artwork, however, that makes these volumes worth owning, both for the wonderful cover art by people like Frank Frazetta, and for the interiors, which feature some of the best in the day, including Berni Wrightson and Richard Corben. Unlike some the unwieldy comic omnibus editions, the Dark Horse collections are read comfortably, but contain enough great content to keep you poring over them wide-eyed, much like I did when I was kid.
Creepy Archives Volume 19
Dark Horse Books
Introduction by Jack Butterworth
2014, 280 pages, 8.7 x 11.1 x 0.9 inches
$35 Buy a copy on Amazon
Eerie Volume 16
Dark Horse Books
Foreword by Peter Bagge
2014, 288 pages, 8.7 x 11.1 x 0.9 inches
$35 Buy a copy on Amazon
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