The Creeps
Back in the 1950s, horror comics were quite popular, with numerous titles from various publishers, all ranging in quality, of course, popping up at newsstands. However, after some concern from some adults (parents always seem to need something to point to as the thing corrupting their children's minds-- in my day it was Garbage Pail Kids), along came something called the Comic Books Code which basically killed the horror comic. Sort of.
EC, publisher of the top titles of horror and crime comics in those days, attempted to continue publishing its horror and crime titles, just without the seal of approval. Apparently, sellers would return the comics to the publisher unsold. EC soon got out of the horror comic game.
There was, however, a loophole it seems. The code only applied to regular-sized comic books. If you had a larger format comic book, one the size of a regular magazine, then the code no longer applied, as it was now considered a magazine and not a comic book. Titles like Eerie, Creepy, Vampirella, and others now filled the void of horror comics. These magazine-sized comics were generally black-and-white and seemed to be aimed at a different, perhaps slightly older, audience.
Eventually, these comics ran their course too. Although in more recent years Eerie and Creepy have been resurrected, they are now regular-sized comics. However, there is a newer magazine-sized horror comic title carrying on the tradition, The Creeps.
The Creeps is clearly a modern successor/tribute to those magazine-sized horror comics of decades past and does not pretend to be anything else. I have picked up only a few issues of this quarterly title so far, but I have enjoyed them quite a bit, despite some spelling issues here and there that a professionally-made magazine/comic book should not have. The cover art on each issue is amazing and is definitely more old-fashioned than most comics and magazines these days. Just like older horror comic titles, this one even has its own host, The Old Creep.
From cover to cover, this magazine/comic brings back the vibe of those earlier titles, mainly the Warren magazines (The Creeps is published by Warrant Publishing, clearly another nod to the originals). Also, with a cover price of $4.95, it is very much worth the money, in my opinion, so check it out if you have not already.
EC, publisher of the top titles of horror and crime comics in those days, attempted to continue publishing its horror and crime titles, just without the seal of approval. Apparently, sellers would return the comics to the publisher unsold. EC soon got out of the horror comic game.
There was, however, a loophole it seems. The code only applied to regular-sized comic books. If you had a larger format comic book, one the size of a regular magazine, then the code no longer applied, as it was now considered a magazine and not a comic book. Titles like Eerie, Creepy, Vampirella, and others now filled the void of horror comics. These magazine-sized comics were generally black-and-white and seemed to be aimed at a different, perhaps slightly older, audience.
Eventually, these comics ran their course too. Although in more recent years Eerie and Creepy have been resurrected, they are now regular-sized comics. However, there is a newer magazine-sized horror comic title carrying on the tradition, The Creeps.
From cover to cover, this magazine/comic brings back the vibe of those earlier titles, mainly the Warren magazines (The Creeps is published by Warrant Publishing, clearly another nod to the originals). Also, with a cover price of $4.95, it is very much worth the money, in my opinion, so check it out if you have not already.
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