"Change into Something Comfortable" - Creepy

Creepy was another one of Warren Publishing's comic magazines that was published in the 70's and into the early 80's.  Technically Creepy came first and was met with such success that Eerie was not far behind.  (I've discussed Eerie before, if you recall.  Also, you've already met Creepy's horror host Uncle Creepy in a previous post).

One of Warren's most prolific talents was illustrator Richard Corben who created the artwork for the cover above and the classic story below.  Be on the look out for more Corben in the future, he's one of my favorites!

"Change into Something Comfortable" was originally published in 1984 and was written by Doug Moench.

Always on the look out for new issues of Creepy and Eerie to add to my collection, I was thrilled to find a selection at a recent comic convention.  I was doubly excited to get my hands on an "All Corben" issue that reprinted some of the artists best stories at the time.

Funny story:  As soon as I picked the magazine up a gentlemen who sounded a lot like your typical surfer/stoner dude noticed the cover artwork and told me all about how he had read this very issue when he was growing up.  He then proceeded to completely ruing the ending for me...

"Monsters eating another monster?!?  I didn't see that coming!  That traumatized me as a kid, man!"

I suppose I would have been more disappointed, but the cover does kind of give it away...

Note:  You might have noticed that I took down Corben's adaptation of "The Raven".  After thinking about it for a while I decided that this comic might be more appropriate for the time of year.  I lose sleep over stuff like that...

Don't worry you worry, though, I'll definitely be re-posting it later on.

"Bookworm" - Eerie

"One for De-Money!" - Eerie

EC Comics met its untimely demise thanks to the creation of the Comics Code Authority...  But horror comics were resurrected in the the late 60's in the form of the comic magazines. To escape the curse of the Comics Code Authority, Warren Publishing printed in the magazine format.  The magazines Creepy and Eerie gave readers illustrated tales of terror in black and white on a bimonthly basis.  Featuring a roster established artists of EC fame along with budding new talent, the comics remain highly influential to this day.

Warren Publishing was a something of a spiritual successor to the EC legacy in many ways.  Like the EC Comics, each story was introduced by a "host" who usually made wise-cracking commentary on the plot using puns and dark humor.  Creepy stories were introduced Uncle Creepy while Eerie's hosting duties fell to Cousin Eerie.

The quality of the comics began to wane in the later years as the original creative team left and editors came and went on a regular basis.  The magazines began to rely on reprints of the early stories to stay afloat until they finally ceased publication in the early 80's.