Super Creepshow #2 // Review
A superhero hides a secret that threatens to destroy him. A newly-embraced vampire tries to become something more than a monster. Two horror superhero one-shot stories make their way across the page in Super Creepshow #2. Writer Gerry Duggan and artist Scott Buonscistiano tell a tale of a hero, a villain and a secret. Writer Marv Wolfman delivers a simple vampire tale that is brought the page by Michele Rubini. Though Wolfman’s story doesn’t fit perfectly into the superhero horror sub-genre, it’s deep enough to be compelling. Duggan’s story sets-up a remarkably tight, little mutation of expectation.
The Keg is a Minneapolis-based superhero who has the firm support of the people, but there’s something about him that even the local supervillain doesn’t seem aware of. The Scholar may be some kind of super-genius, but he’s about to learn something startlingly new about his longtime nemesis. Joey and Simon were playing D&D when Joey suggested that a vampire might be a hero. Simon is annoyed. Everyone knows that vampires don’t exist. They’re monsters. Of course...when they turn out to be monsters who have killed his family and turned him into a vampire, Simon must do something about it.
There isn’t a whole lot of room to move around in a one-shot superhero story that also debuts that superhero AND his arch-villain. Duggan does a strikingly sharp job of getting everything off the ground just long enough for it to completely resolve be the end of a very brief story. Marv Wolfman (Industry veteran and creator of Blade the Vampire Hunter) delivers a quick, little story of considerable complexity involving vampires, vampire hunters, belief and skepticism. It’s actually an incredibly tight package from beginning to end. It’s remarkably tight execution from an impressively accomplished storyteller.
Duggan doesn’t give Buoncristiano a whole lot of work with in relationship to traditional superhero imagery. There's a hero with superpowers. There's a villain. There's a strong element of horror as well. The artist is able to take these things and diffuse them together in a way that feels remarkably stylish and engaging. Rubini has a sharp sensor execution with respect to told her immersive suburban American horror. The rendering of a vampire hunter feels particularly impressive as Rubini makes a powerful impression with a peripheral character. Both of the action and the horror feel suitably captivating.
It's just really cool that these two particular writers happen to be working on something like this. Duggan’s work on Deadpool had been impressive. Wolfman had done incredibly influential work with Perez on The New Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths. It’s deeply appealing to see writers like this craft clever, little one-shots for a different spot on the new comics rack. Horror mixes with heroism and other strikingly satisfying package. Impressive stuff on a whole bunch of different levels. Once again, it really feels like something like this can just be an ongoing anthology. Great fun.
