Creepy #79 - Warren

I pulled this one out of the box simply because the cover by Sanjulian struck me when I saw it, even though, of course, I had seen it at least once before when I bought it originally--the mark of a great cover(it took me a minute to even notice the severed hand!).

Cover dated May 1976, this was the era when Louise Jones(later known as Louise Simonson) was the assistant editor under Jim Warren, and her reputation among artists as being fun to work for obviously paid dividends, as you can see from the line-up of talent in this issue.

After an Uncle Creepy pin-up by Jose Ortiz, we've got "As Ye Sow..." by Bruce Jones and Luis Bermejo. You know you're in for it when a story opens with your main characters about to eat a baby. Yeesh!

Next up is the O.Henry-ish "Kui", written and drawn by the master, Alex Toth. A delightfully simple tale, told with ruthless economy. Claustrophobics beware! Third is the classic "The Super-Abnormal Phenomenal Survival Kit!", which would end up being reprinted several times, cementing its classic status. It's by the always-inventive Jim Stenstrum with art by John Severin, and manages to parody almost everything Warren magazines were about--right down to the ads. It features aliens, zombies, insect people, and even a cameo by the Creature From the Black Lagoon!

Next is "The Shadow of the Axe!" by Dave Sim(listed as "Sims") and Russ Heath, a story of a young boy who commits a horible act...and gets away with it. "Visitation at Pliny Marsh", by Gerry Bourdreau and Martin Salvador, is about an alien visitor in a small backwoods town...and that's only the beginning.

The final tale, "The Pit in the Living Room Floor!", by Budd Lewis and Joaquin Blazquez, is about, you guessed it, a hole in a living room floor that people just can't resist looking into.

There's also a piece on the 1975 Warren Award winners, a self-created prize for the best work done in the last year, complete with portraits of the winners like Stenstrum, Toth, Severin, Sanjulian, as well as Ken Kelly, Berni Wrightson, and others.

And of course, we've got the usual assortment of Captain Company goodies, like Creepy and Eeerie rings, puzzles, Super 8mm films, and those great Super Adventure LPs with the awesome Wood/Adkins covers(I got 'em all!). I dunno--wouldn't it be neat if DC and Marvel did this now? Drop the ads for candy, CDs, and other crap like that and replace them with DC Direct stuff. That'd be coool.

All told, a solid issue, full of great stories and great art. One of Warren's best!