Dark Horse Comics has been compiling every issue of Warren Publishing’s excellent horror anthology magazines CREEPY and EERIE for some time now and I’ve finally had the chance to sit down with a few volumes. I had most of these mads back in the late 70’s and early 80’s when my comic collecting was getting seriously out of hand, so these reprints have been kicking me right in the nostalgic bits and it hurts so good.

Creepy Archives #17 is available as a pre-order from Things From Another World (buy it!) and among the other fine and frightening tales in this tome drawn by some great illustrators, by the way) are a few I recall quite fondly for different reasons Creepy #83 (October 1976) featured “Country Pie”, an interesting tale from workhorse writer Bruce Jones about a small town’s police trying to track a serial killer using a psychic’s clues as the killer meets up with his latest victim. While far Jones’ best script (it gives up its secret too soon and some will guess the twist right away), the story is remembered for its art from the unusual pairing of Carmine Infantino and Berni Wrightson (yes, it’s as weird as it sounds, but it works wonderfully). Infantino gets to ink his own work later in Bill DuBay’s somewhat average “The Last Super Hero”, but you’ll need to be a huge fan of his quirky artwork to truly appreciate it…

The other major tale from the issue, “In Deep” (which just so happens to appear right after “Country Pie”) is one of the more harrowing illustrated horror tales of the period thanks to Richard Corben’s lush color artwork that doesn’t skimp on the gore when it needs to make a few key points. Without giving too much away, it’s the story of a couple stranded in the middle of the ocean after their yacht sinks and yes, sharks are involved at some point. Bruce Jones’ writing here hooks you in as things go way, WAY down south for the pair and as noted, Corben’s art is masterful. My only minor gripe is the story opens and closes with a black and white sequence that didn’t really need to be in black and white, but it works for a magazine better than it would a film or TV show, I guess.

Bruce Jones and one of my main artistic inspirations, Al Williamson team up for an amusing sci-fi tale, “Now You See It” that recalls Al’s glorious work for EC Comics (and Jones’ fascination with trying to recapture that era). It doesn’t fire on all cylinders thanks to a brief and stupidly rapey sequence that ruins the fun tone of the story, but Williamson’s lovely pen and brushwork is quite an eyeful. The other tales are OK and the rest of the volume features a good deal of other great writers and artists (Alex Toth and his striking style are well represented here, as are Esteban Maroto and other Spanish comic artists of the era). And if you’re a Scorcese fan, make sure to check out issue #78 for Archie Goodwin’s “charming” little New York City story, “CREEPS” (art by John Severin and Wally Wood!) for a slice of life about a native who goes a little too wild after he accidentally kills a beggar and gets ideas swirling in his messed up head. Stabby shenanigans ensue with a fitting finale is all I’ll say…

Anyway, as a whole, it’ll be $49.99 that’s very well spent if you’re a fan of classic 70’s mags or want to see what the fuss is all about. Of course, reading this book in the dead of night with a single light on will make things all the more frightening, but if you’re old like me, you’ll want to have that be a really bright light…