Super Creepshow #1 reimagines classic superhero tropes, featuring ‘creepified’ versions of Spider-Man and The Flash.
Creepshow is one of the most popular and beloved horror anthologies of all-time. It all began back in the ’80s with the original movie, directed by genre legend George A. Romero (of zombie movie fame) and written by Stephen King. The movie spawned a sequel, and of course, Greg Nicotero’s cult TV series on Shudder. The series would make its natural progression into the comics medium through Image Comics/Skybound in 2019, garnering a dedicated audience of its own.
Hot on the heels of one-shot Super Creepshow Special #1, which imagined the creepy tales through the lens of superhero storytelling, the spinoff will continue through a five-part anthology series.
The first installment of a new Creepshow anthology is here. And issue #1 kicks off from superstar Kieron Gillen (Young Avengers, Darth Vader), Rossi Gifford (Wonder Woman: Black & Gold), Ryan North (Fantastic Four), and Derek Charm (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl), with letterer Pat Brosseau (Aliens). With two skin-crawling, super-powered tales, the debut issue instantly proves that the classic style of Creepshow, fuelled by cliches and plots inspired by the superhero genre, is a perfect match.
At their core, both stories are quite similar. They follow teenage boys who innocuously find superpowers. Both of them have girlfriends, as too are they considered outcasts in their schools. However, each story takes the consequences of their great powers in different directions.
The first story comes from Gillen and Gifford. Clearly, it has a little Spider-Man inspiration, with the whole plot of a teenager being bitten by a spider and experiencing physical changes. However, it also feels heavily inspired by David Cronenberg’s horror classic The Fly, which is absolutely a complement. It’s a gruesome body horror story that keeps things very Creepshow aligned. Readers with arachnophobia with definitely feel a shiver or two!
The second story, penned and drawn by Eisner Award-winning creators Ryan North and Derek Charm, feels almost like a superpower study, exploring how the super speed superpower would really work out. North takes the concept of super-speed and runs with it (literally), with lots of blood. This one was my favourite of the two. It really pushes what makes Super Creepshow fantastic — and holds nothing back.
Each story is well paced and offers a fresh perspective on traditional superhero tropes.
Of course, there’s a lot of excellent anthology comics out there nowadays, from Creepshow itself, to Assorted Crisis Events, to Cruel Universe. We can now add Super Creepshow to that list. It’s only a 5-issue series, but I already want it to continue indefinitely!
