Creepy Archives Volume 6 TPB Review
Summary: Tales of terror and stomach churning horrors.
4.5
Terrifying Tales
Before the major success of superhero comics… there were often genre comics, science-fiction, adventure and horror to name a few. Creepy Archives takes the latter and compiles a large collection of stories to keep your teeth chattering in fear long into the night.
Writing
The writing here is far more akin to what you might find in short stories than your average comic. There’s a lot more context provided out of dialogue, scene setting notes, character details and the like… things to help flesh out the worlds you are being taken into. It certainly helps to add atmosphere and as mentioned, it makes some of these stories feel more like illustrated short stories rather than horror written for comics. For younger readers the stories might seem very antiquated… for us older readers they will likely provide a touch of nostalgia for those old pulp style comics.
Artwork
Much as the stories themselves are in the older style… the art is certainly of a more classic variety. Simple black and white and hand drawn. There are no signs of computers being used to bring these panels to life. This is pure line work and hatching. There are some panels that you can just about feel the attention to detail the artist put in to every line, trying to draw out as much character and expression as possible. I would have to imagine a lot more time was provided for the art in at least some of the stories (or the artist was just extremely prolific) as the complexity of the scenes certainly suggests a lot of time working on subtle shading, proportions, scenery.
Final Thoughts
There is no question these anthologies are fantastic value for anyone who is keen on horror comics. There are a large number of stories collected with a good variety of tales. The artwork is certainly “of an era” but that also means it shows a more personal touch than you might see on more modern works. If you enjoy horror stories and especially if you have a taste for the classic style of story telling and art… then grab a copy to add to your collection!
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writer: Various
Artist: Frank Frazetta, Tom Sutton, Neal Adams, Ernie Colon
Genre: Horror
Format: 288pgs, B&W, TPB
Release Date: 19th June 2024
About the Author
Chris O'Connor Father of four, husband of one and all round oddity. Gaming at home since about 1982 with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Moving on to the more traditional PC genre in the years that followed with the classic Jump Joe and Alley Cat. CGA, EGA, VGA and beyond PC's have been central to my gaming but I've also enjoyed consoles and hand helds along the way (who remembers the Atari Lynx?). Would have been actor/film maker, jack of many trades master of none.
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