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CREEPS #1
Recommended (7/10)
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Image Comics
Writer: Dan Mishkin
Artist: Tom Mandrake
Colors: Frank M. Cuonso
Letters: Thom Zahler
Price: $2.95 US |
I honestly
wasn't sure what to expect from this series. Having now read the first issue,
I'm still not sure. But I have to say I am intrigued. Mishkin and Mandrake have
both been at this a long time, and so they've both got the basics of the craft
down pat. The introductions of characters, who they are, what they're doing is
excellent in this issue, and though the tone is a strange mix of humor, horror,
suspense and action, the introduction of characters and background is very
straightforward. Honestly, the book didn't grab me and pull me in like I would
prefer with a first issue, but I can't deny the level of craft, and I'll be
sticking around for at least another issue to see if this is to my taste.
I haven't read much by Mishkin, to be honest. An issue or two of his Dungeons & Dragons comics work way back when, maybe, and I've heard a lot about his Blue Devil run. But the reason I bought this was
the visuals, the work of Tom Mandrake, which rarely disappoints. He's in his
element here, drawing the strange and the bizarre, and he seems to be having way
too much fun coming up with disturbing visuals. His designs for these characters
are twisted, and their rather unusual powers (including prehensile body fat, the
ability to generate gobs and gobs of snot and the ability to use noxious bodily
emissions for chemical warfare) are too a person gross, disgusting and original.
Honestly, part of me recoils from the grossout humor (and horror) of the book. I'm no huge fan of the American Pie or Friday the 13th style of movies, and this owes a debt to both in its willingness to
push the boundaries of taste. However, it doesn't really feel gratuitous, it
mostly feels like Mishkin and Mandrake cutting loose like a couple of
adolescents with wild imaginations. Adolescents with the storytelling skills of
seasoned veterans, of course.
That's really the most
impressive thing about the book for me. In the space of one issue, we are
introduced to the characters and their powers, the company that they have a
problem with and a few personality quirks for each of them. We know despite
their appearances and rather offensive methods that they're the protagonists,
because the villains are even worse. And there are terrific action sequences
featuring the Creeps taking a corporate lawyer away from a courtroom so that he
can be properly interrogated and punished.
In essence, this isn't all
that new of a concept. It's the outsider team, ala the X-Men, taken to extremes
in visuals and personalities. However, that familiarity of structure, combined
with the gorgeous artwork by Mandrake and Mishkin's effective characterization,
makes for an accessible and entertaining book, one that could become another
breakout hit for Image.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
