Bigger Than Capes

“Take One”
Writer/Artist: Chris Burnham
Colourist: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Pat Brosseau

“Shingo”
Writers: Paul Dini & Stephen Langford
Artist: John McCrea
Colourist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Pat Brosseau

Editors: Alex Antone & Jon Moisan
Designer: Jillian Crab
Publisher: Image

Now I don’t know much about the Creepshow series on Shudder, but I’ve seen Stephen King and George A. Romero’s anthology film a good few times, so I’d like to think I’m at least partially the target audience for the first issue of the comic book take on the anthology. So as Bigger Than Capes’ resident Horror guy here I am.

Judging this issue by the cover for just a second I have to admit that the classic Creepshow visual immediately spoke to me with this one. I think knowing that the immediate aesthetic is in keeping with my expectation of the franchise did a lot to build my enthusiasm towards this issue.

Creepshow kicks off with two tales of horror, the first “Take One” follows a group of three kids that make the mistake of taking too many sweets from a doorstep bowl one Halloween. The second “Shingo” tells the story of a mother having to find entertainment for her daughter’s birthday party on short notice and getting more than she’d bargained for.

“Take One” is simple and feels like a good introductory story to open the anthology. It shows that the series isn’t afraid to get into gruesome and gory territory, even early on. However I do feel like some readers wouldn’t be entirely comfortable with the content here, even if the Creepshow Creep tries to make the brutal fate of our protagonists into a twisted moral.

“Shingo” equally feels like something you might’ve found amongst the strangely varied Creepshow films, slightly goofy but terrifying all the while. There’s a larger cast of characters and it feels like Paul Dini and Stephen Langford wanted to try to flesh out as many of them as he could even in a small number of pages, Fiona’s recently divorced parents feel pretty well realised. 

Both stories do feel quite a lot like classic Creepshow which is mostly positive, however I do have the criticism that some of the dialogue within “Take One”, while in keeping with the time period of the original film doesn’t feel very appropriate today, it’s not a major gripe but it is something that I feel could be improved on.

I would’ve thought Image were filled to capacity on horror anthologies with both Ice Cream Man and The Silver Coin on their roster, but I’m glad they’ve made space for Creepshow, though I’m not sure it’s the best of the three it’s definitely worth your time if you’re a horror fan.