Insane Tales From the Dead, Vol. 1 issue 2 edited by Doug Randazzo

(pb; October 2014: graphic novel - comic book. Published by Caustic Comics. “Introduction” by Mike Howlett )

Overall review

Insane is a good collection of illustrated, horror-centric works that recall the bump-in-the-night humor, gore and morality of EC/Creepy comics while updating those underground elements with fresh-twist terrors and raw, artist-varied artwork. Once again “hosted” by The Grim Faced Pale One (a.k.a. the Grim Reaper), Issue 2 is more mainstream and less sexually explicit than Insane’s first issue. Issue 2 is worth owning.

Review, story by story

 1. “Call of the Wolf” – Silvano and Doug Randazzo: While driving back from a Halloween convention, a man’s car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. That proves to be the least of his problems when a monster shows up. Good, familiar read.

2. “Sub Alien”– John Schumacher, Doug Randazzo and Micheal Joseph: Excellent, clever and funny story about two stoners who are visited by four aliens on a heavy metal mission.

3. “Torture” – Doug Randazzo and Chris Laskowski: Visually- and grammatically-detailed vignette about a slow, sadistic killing, sans whos and whys. Solid exploration of its titular theme.

4. “Who Gives a Nut?” – John Schumacher and Doug Randazzo: A suburban housewife feeds birds and squirrels in her backyard, unaware that a predator lurks nearby. I love the subtle, nature-based horror of this work, as well as how the visual aspects add plot details to it. Excellent piece.

5. “Tales From the Cesspool – S**twrecked”– Mark K. Allen and Doug Randazzo: Gross, imaginative and ridiculous story about the aliens and the end of our world. This is a good, fun work, if you are not squicked out by fecal humor.

Creepy Comics, Volume 1 by various writers and artists

(pb; 2011: graphic novel, collecting issues #1 - 4 of the Creepy comic book series)

From the back cover:

"What's that huge, terrifying thing clawing its way onto your bookshelf? It's the biggest, bloodiest, most creepy collection of new terror tales you'll find this year! Creepy Comics Volume 1 gathers all of the new material from the first two years of Dark Horse's celebrated new Creepy series and collects it into one gargantuan book.

"This 184-page monstrosity features a spellbinding assortment of gory stories about all your favorite terror-inducing topics including: cannibals, lurking demons, werewolves, zombies, psychic trauma, and psychotic murderers, illustrated in glorious black and white, following the great tradition of classic Creepy. If that's not enough to make you scream with delight, we're also adding a special color section featuring the two Creepy stories that helped re-launch Dark Horse Presents on Myspace. You'll get all of this tantalizing terror for under twenty bucks - it's a killer deal."

Review:

If you are a fan of the old EC Creepy comic book-magazines, with their twisted, clever and (often) icky morality plays, there is a good chance you will appreciate the spirit, writing and the mixed/updated artwork of this resurrected and welcome series. I am thrilled that Dark Horse Comics brought this back.

This is a collection worth owning, one that lives up to its back cover description.

Followed by Creepy Comics, Volume 2.