by Jayden Leggett, Editor

Greetings, boils and ghouls, to another spine-tingling comic book review from the cretinous creatures at ComicsOnline. Today’s terrifying tale is a book designed to make you shiver with both fear and delight. I call it… “Eeek!”

In case the opening paragraph wasn’t enough of a giveaway, Eeek! No. 1 from Asylum Press (check ’em out here) is a collection of short horror stories all written and illustrated by Jason Paulos (check out more of his works here). The style of the book is very much a throw back to the classic horror titles of old like Creepy and Eerie.

This issue features four different short stories, “Deadline of Death“, “Lights! Camera! Murder!“, “Stuffed” and “Just Desserts“. Sometimes the stories have supernatural elements, other times they just involve grim and dire events, but one constant is that each story always involves some form of vile or despicable character. Just like the classic terror tales of old, I loved how these stories always finish with the “bad guy” getting their comeuppance.

While being well written, the stories often don’t feature anything ground-breaking or come with surprisingly unexpected endings. And honestly, who cares? What Eeek! No. 1 does fantastically is recapture an era in comic books that have been all but lost long ago. Deals with the devil, murdered souls seeking their revenge from beyond the grave, this is all standard fare within the world of Eeek!. If you are perhaps too young to remember the classics like Creepy but just old enough to have experienced the television show Tales From The Crypt (or its cartoon offshoot aimed at youngsters, Tales From The Cryptkeeper) then you will have a fair idea of what to expect.

One story in particular brought a sinister smile to my face. Without spoiling the plot, it involved an immensely obese and incredibly gluttonous food critic who’s never-ending appetite becomes the source of his own demise. This tale stood out because it was clever, contained morbid yet giggle-worthy black humor, and had an ending that I didn’t see coming.

As mentioned before, all of these stories are not only written by Paulos, but he is also responsible for all of the artwork, and Eeek! No. 1 serves as a testament to the versatility of his artwork, as well as being a fun comic book in its own right. Across the various shorts, Paulos pulls off a variety of styles ranging from pieces consisting mainly of sketched outlines to more painted-looking scenes full of wonderful tonal work. Words won’t do this versatility justice, you really need to experience his art for yourself to truly appreciate the man’s talent.

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute I spent with Eeek! No. 1, and the only time I felt disappointed with the book was when I reached the end. I crave more, dammit! No doubt horror comic fans will have already heard about this book, but for the rest of you, I thoroughly recommend grabbing a copy of this book for yourself, especially if you need a break from the spandex crowd. Head to the Asylum Press website or purchase it from Comixology.

Rating:

ComicsOnline gives Eeek! No. 1 4.5 out of 5 comic books written from beyond the grave.

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