Creepy #105 - Warren

I'm not sure what this cover by Esteban Maroto has to do with the "Spectacular Giant Holiday Issue!" tagline, but I love it anyway--especially how detailed it is, except for the comely lass' red hair, which is just a flat blob of red. Way cool.

First up is "Shrivel", by Bob Toomey and Val Mayerik, a light-hearted tale of a dragon that's eaten too much and gotten too fat to fly away and find more worthy prey. Silly but cute, except the ending is sort of a "that's it?".

Next is "Night Life" by Toomey and Auraleon. A vampire's old life comes back to haunt him in the streets of New York...beautifully drawn by Auraleon, but I had a heck of a time figuring out what these people were talking about.

Third is "Dime Novel Hero!", by Nick Cuti and Russ Heath, one of the favorite stories of Nick's that he mentioned in his interview. A western tale that is simultaneously straightforward and yet also a comment on these types of stories:

The story is crisp and scary, and there's something about Russ Heath's clean, no-frills style that gives the piece an extra oomph. Here are two panels from it, one featuring a moment of startling violence, and the other a solemn cameo by a famous cowboy:

I never was that into the Lone Ranger, but he look so cool here...I would've liked to have seen a Warren Lone Ranger magazine drawn by Russ Heath, wouldn't you?

Next is "Always Leave 'Em Laughing" by Len Wein and Alex Nino, who turns in his typically amazingly detailed, nuanced work, with an amazing splash page:

...and yes, this is story is about what it looks like...Space Clowns! A fun tale, with an ending out of a Batman vs Joker story, which of course author Wein would be familiar with.

Next is "The Sign" by Roger McKenzie and Moreno Casares, a grim story tied in to one of the seminal moments in our world's religious history.

Following that is "Visit To A Primitive Planet" by Bill DuBay and the always-great John Severin, an O Henry-type tale that is told almost entirely without dialogue. Funny and sad.

Last is "The Summoning", by Bruce Jones and Gonzalo Mayo, a great, classic scary monster story about a horrible creature that lives in the swamp, and the unwitting scientist and his improbably-built wife who stumble upon in. It has a goofy, dark humor ending right out of the ECs, and a great tale to go out on.

A very fine issue--I've stated before that I'm a little wary of all the sci-fi content in Creepy and Eerie, and this issue has a lot of it, but "Dime Novel Hero" and "The Summoning" are such classic old-school horror stories that it makes the whole issue better.