Creepy #21 - Warren

The cover, by Gutenberg Monteiro, looks like the kind you saw on those Warren knock-offs that drove Jim Warren into fits of apoplexia. I just love the juxtaposition of the horrific image of a guy being attacked by rats alongside the cheery "More Great Comics" tagline.

"Creepy's Loathsome Lore" is about the hidden treacheries awaiting you in the jungle, with art by Bob Jenney. I think "Loathsome Lore" subjects were running a little thin by this point. What's next, "Running with Scissors"?

First up is "The Rats in the Walls", by H.P.Lovecraft, by an uncredited writer and art by Jenney. A plague of rats drives people insane, but the art by Jenney is so dull that the story just sort of limps along. Lovecraft deserved better.

Second is "Room With A View!" by Archie Goodwin and Steve Ditko, reprinted from Eerie #3, which was only two years ago. That said, its a fine choice if you had to run a reprint, about a guy consigned to Hell. Nobody did a sweaty guy trapped in a room better than Ditko.

Next is "The Immortals!" by Ron Parker and Sal Trapani, a horror story set in the future. An ok story, but the visuals are really dull and the outfits look like they came from the back of old issues of Strange Adventures.

Fourth is "A Reasonable Doubt" by Parker and Tony Williamson, about a young woman hounded the locals of a 19th century Massachusetts town. Once again, an ok story, with a twist ending that Goodwin was so good at, but the execution is so bloodless(no pun intended) that its nothing memorable.

Next is another reprint, the Warren classic "Swamped!" by Goodwin and Angelo Torres--vampires in the bayou! Reprinted from Creepy #3.

Last is "Timepiece to Terror!" by Bill Parente(who had taken over the editing of Creepy by this point) and Gutenberg Monteiro, about a pawnbroker who gets ahold of a magical watch and immediately uses it to execute his darkest fantasies. A fun story, but the art is very cartoony--it sorta looks like the stuff Wally Wood did for Plop!--which doesn't really match the story. But of all the new material here, this is probably the best of the bunch.

As issues go, Creepy had done, and would do, much better.