Back in 1983 my Dad bought a VHS video tape machine for our TV. I don’t know the exact details on who’s idea it was to buy this gizmo as Pop wasn’t much of a TV watcher. I think he regretted that decision the first weekend the machine was home cause us kids watched the two movies we rented over and over again, all weekend long. One of those movies was Stephen King’s Creepshow.
Released in 1982, Creepshow was a horror anthology with a healthy dose of dark comedy which featured five spooky stories. Directed by George A Romero and written by Stephen King the stories were contained with framing scenes featuring Billy (played by Stephen King’s son, Joe). Young Billy is reading Tales of the Crypt style comic books without the permission of his father. The five stories in the movie represent tales in the forbidden comic book. My thirteen year old self couldn’t get enough of that flick.
Well imagine my surprise at finding a Creepshow comic book at the local book store a little later on. I grabbed that book and wouldn’t let it go until I got home. Beautifully illustrated by Bernie Wrightson and his wife Michele Wrightson with a cover by Jack Kamen. Billy was missing but the five stories; Father’s Day, The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill, Something to Tide You Over, The Crate and They’re Creeping Up on You were all there. If you watched the movie the tales were very familiar as they were fairly faithful adaptations.
Of course my copy is long gone. Lost to the ages of garage sales, trades with friends and various book purges necessitated by moving to new homes. Well imagine my surprise, again, at learning the book is coming back into print! Publisher Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Book imprint has started a line of graphic novels under the name Gallery 13. And one of the first few books coming out of that initiative is the reprint of Creepshow.
Sixty Four pages of classic Wrightson. What more needs to be said about the art? Stephen King’s writing. What more needs to be said there as well? This is quite simply a classic comic book publication that belongs on every comic reader’s bookshelf. Granted, it might be a bit corny compared to today’s standard in horror but there is just something great about stories like The Crate.
Available at your Local Comic Book store (Diamond code MAR171842) and Amazon at http://amzn.to/2p5pbqq
Title: Creepshow Graphic Novel | Publisher: Gallery 13
Writer: Stephen King | Artist: Bernie Wrightson & Michelle Wrightson
Price: $18.00US
About Author
