Friday, May 10, 2013

Review- THE CREEP


THE CREEP (Dark Horse, 2013; Hardcover)

Collects The Creep Nos. 0-4 (cover dates August- December, 2012)

Writer: John Arcudi

Artist: Jonathan Case

Oxel is a private investigator who receives a letter in the mail from an old college sweetheart. Her son has committed suicide six months after his friend has and she wants to know why. Oxel suffers from Acromegaly and looks like, well, a creep. His investigation leads him to Stephanie (his old flame)'s father, Jeff, who is a homeless man out of sorts with reality. Jeff's meeting with Oxel snaps him back into the real world for a bit. There's something that he must do, a secret that must remain a secret. That secret is...ah, but that would be telling, and that's something that I seldom do in this blog.


The Creep takes place in the early '80s, although I'm not sure why. Aside from a few “set pieces” (rotary phones, old cars, walkie talkies) there isn't a whole lot that couldn't have not occurred today. That very minor concern aside, John Arcudi has written a rock solid suspense story. Jonathan Case's artwork is equally effective, moody and clearly laid out.


I know that the seemingly endless parade of new titles on the racks can seem overwhelming, but if you are sick and tired of reboots, “New” this and “Now” that then don't give up on comics altogether; try something new. Something like The Creep.
Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This is one of the “Graphic Novel” sized books, meaning that it is smaller than a standard trade paperback but larger than a digest.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Thick coated stock with a slight sheen and that delectable toxic Chinese ink. I suspect that the ink is a mixture of mercury from recalled thermometers, lead paint chips, broken asbestos tiles, and the final ingredient: the tears of the Chinese children working the sweat shop printing press. When combined with the paper which is sourced from virgin Amazon rainforests it makes for a scent that can't be beat.

Binding rating: 5 out of 5. Beautiful sewn binding with room for the casing to flex. In English: it lays flat.

Hardback cover coating rating: 4 out of 5. More of that dull matte finish coating on the hardback. No dustjacket. It seems durable enough on this book but is not to my liking.

4 comments:

  1. John Arcudi - one of the most under-appreciated comic writers of all time?

    ...and where's the Iron Man 3 review??

    ReplyDelete
  2. Iron Man 3...well you see I went and saw it opening day, first showing. There was a group of people texting. I asked them to stop. They told me to get lost. I went and got an usher that never came. After a bit more of them texting I lost it, took the lid off of my pop... and gave the texters a Diet Coke bath. They got an usher who removed me from the theatre about an hour of the way into it. I was ejected from the premises while they got to enjoy the rest of the movie. My wife stayed and watched the rest of the film. The best part: the texters kept on texting!
    I did get a full refund AND a refill on my Diet Coke though.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmm well in that case you saw the best of it and got to skip the worst of it.

    Thank god Los Angeles theaters are all basically zero tolerance in regards to texting

    ReplyDelete
  4. ha! great story! - steve

    ReplyDelete