Creepy Presents Bernie Wrightson

[Jeff of Earth-J]

(The Definitive Collection of the Artist’s Work from Creepy and Eerie!) Last week we were talking about disturbing images in comic books. Among those cited were stories from Preacher and Sandman, and I’m sure that if the conversation had gone on any longer, Alan More’s Swamp Thing would have been cited as well. There is a story in this volume that disturbed me at the gut level. I’m not going to tell you precisely what it was, but I will point out that the definition of horror which Bernie Wrightson gave on “The Masters of the Comic Book Art” video tape interview is not the images of the walking dead and ghosts and ghouls he is best known for drawing, but rather the image of a man waiting for a bus, immaculately dressed, but there’s a spot of blood on his shoe. So if you buy this volume expecting to be grossed out seeing a graphic depiction of the flesh of a man’s face being stripped from his skull or something along those lines, that’s not what I’m talking about. What disturbed me is much more adult in nature, adult in the sense that a child might not even grasp the full ramifications beyond uttering an entertained, “Groooooss!” A few highlights… The volume opens with a masterful rendition of Poe’s “The Black Cat.” “Clarice” is an illustrated lyrical horror poem. I didn’t recognize the poem as a classic (by Poe or anyone else) yet it is so well-written I didn’t expect it to be written by a contemporary writer, Bruce Jones. I’ve seen (classic) poetry adapted into comics form before, but because this is a collaboration, it’s among the best examples I can think of. Carmine Infantino helped break Wrightson in at DC, and when Wrightson and Bruce Jones found him working in a “forlorn little office” at Warren, Wrighson suggested “a real pisser” for Jones to write, Infantino to pencil and he himself to ink. Country Pie” was the result, but Wrightson also inked Infantino on the touching “Dick Swift and His Electric Power Ring.” The art changes from story to story to suit the story, depending on whether wrightson is woring in pencil and ink, wash, or inking another artist’s pencils, for example, Wrightson inking a typical 1930s-era Howard Chaykin character (named Reuben Youngblood) or a Walt Simonson pin-up. “A Martian Saga” is another illustrated poem (by Nicola Cuti), but not as good as “Clarice” by Bruce Jones. The cover of the second issue of Pacific Comics’ Bernie Wrightson, Master of the Mabre is from “The Pepper Lake Monster” from Eerie #58, also included in this collection. “Cool Air” adapts a story by H.P. Lovecraft. “Nightfall” is a sort of twisted reinterpretation of Little Nemo in Slumberland. “The Muck Monster,” story and (color) art by Bernie Wrightson, is a sort of combination of Frankenstein and the Swamp Thing. This volume is approximately 2/3 black and white, 1/3 color, and I’ve really only scrathed the surface, believe me. And I’ve only mentioned the stories that appealed most to me; others might appeal more to you. Dark Horse’s Creepy and Eerie Archives series can be hit and miss propositions, but with Bernie Wrightson involved, you can bet on all the stories in this volume being hits.