Comic Review: Creepshow Issue #2 (of 5) from SkyBound Entertainment (Image Comics)

Creepshow #2 (of 5)
Series: Creepshow
Arriving: October 26, 2022
Diamond ID: AUG220174
Imprint: Skybound
Image Comics

The Creep scares up two all-new standalone stories in this star-studded anthology based on the hit Shudder TV series.

DAVID & MARIA LAPHAM (STRAY BULLETS) terrify with the tale of a tree whose roots grew so deep they reached Hell...and the girl who sat beneath it.

STEVE FOXE (RAZORBLADES) and KELLEY JONES (Batman Sandman) share the shocking story of legendary comic creator Sal Medina-and the dedicated fan who went too far.

I forgot how much I love this format for horror storytelling. I remember reading reprints of Tales from the Crypt (my mom use to read them and told me about them.) I've never watched the Creepshow TV show on Shudder TV, but I heard about it becoming a comic book... I couldn't wait to indulge. My GenZ daughter once told me when I talked about all the cool stuff from my generation, "Is it really good, or is it just nostalgia?" HA! Creepshow #2 (I missed issue #1 *sob*) was both.

The nostalgia was comforting and the two stories in issue #2, "The Gorgamorahh Tree" and "Creator's Rites," are everything I love about horror comic shorts. I can't talk about the stories because that would spoil the fun. But if you enjoy horror anthology comics you will definitely want to check out Creepshow from SkyBound.

Check out the artwork for each story.

5 "Creepy" Sheep

SharonS

A genuine MULTI-PLATFORM ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY led by passionate creators of content for all sizes of screens – Big, Small and everything in between…

Comic Review: The Strain: Master Quinlan, Vampire Hunter #4

The Strain: Master Quinlan, Vampire Hunter #4
Writer: David Lapham
Penciller: Edgar Salazar
Inker: Keith Champagne
Colorist: Dan Jackson
Dark Horse Books
December 14, 2016
Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror

Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries

Read the comic! Watch the series!

Quinlan races against time to move the dwindling troops into place and support Tacitus’s surge against the Berber horde. Can he hold out against the vampire menace lurking in the desert and fulfill his mission?

* The origin of Mr. Quinlan from The Strain—by Pan’s Labyrinth and Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro and writer David Lapham—begins here!

Quinlan and his Roman soldiers battled vampire hordes in this issue. During the last hour before dawn, and later, when the vampires hide during the day in the desert.

The Strain: Master Quinlan, Vampire Hunter is a vampire tale that is gritty, bloody, with a taste of humanity.

5 vampiric sheep

Pamela Kinney

Comic Review: The Strain: Master Quinlan, Vampire Hunter #3 from Dark Horse Comics

The Strain: Master Quinlan, Vampire Hunter #3

Writer: David Lapham

Penciller: Edgar Salazar

Inker: Keith Champagne

Colorist: Dan Jackson

Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror

Dark Horse Comics

November 09, 2016

Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries

Price: $3.99

UPC: 7 61568 00065 8 00311

While leading heat-stricken and water-deprived Roman soldiers through the scorching desert to fight back against the Berber hordes, Quinlan uncovers a grave scheme that has the potential to obliterate his troops entirely.

buy from amazon

In this issue, Master Quinlan has fought with the Roman army against Berbers for five years. His commander is Tacitus, and Quinlan is his most trusted centurion. He would gladly die for him…if he could die. And though he is in the Roman army, he not fighting for Rome, who has not always treated him well, but for himself, a free man. More so, six years ago he learned through the other ancient ones like the Master that they needed him to learn so they could determine if he would be their ally, or must be destroyed. Thinking the Master had more to worry about than searching for him, Quinlan is told to lead some men to a pass to cut off a Berber army, while his commander would lead the rest to surprise the enemy. Quinlan would find more than Berbers though.

This is well written, keeping to historical accuracy, while giving us more insight to Quinlan and his past.

Review: Issue #1, Issue #2

5 vampiric sheep

Pamela Kinney

Comic Review: The Strain: Master Quinlan, Vampire Hunter #2 from Dark Horse Comics

The Strain: Master Quinlan, Vampire Hunter #2

Writer: David Lapham

Penciller: Edgar Salazar

Inker: Keith Champagne, Dan Jackson

Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror

October 12, 2016

Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries

Price: $3.99

UPC: 7 61568 00065 8 00211

Dark Horse Books

Preview

Now a champion in the ancient arenas of Rome, Mr. Quinlan finds himself up against the fiercest of all of the gladiators. But his chances of survival outside the arena are even worse, as the Master closes in on Mr. Quinlan after years of searching!

* The origin of Mr. Quinlan from director Guillermo del Toro and writer David Lapham—begins here!

The comic issue begins with  Mr. Quinlan as an arena gladioator in Rome, 55 A.D. At that time, he is known as Bellator Candidus, and almost undefeatable. But the Emperor is not impressed and feels his favorite warrior, Spiculus, will beat the white newcomer. Spiculus fought with honor, skill and dignity, something the vampire half-breed aspired to. And when Quinlan does defeat the other gladiator, the Emperor thinks he fights like a demon. It is at that moment a stranger appears—the Master.

It is great to see how Quinlan began with the first issue and now this second one. Hopefully, it will go all the way to the time when the Master first arrives in America on a plane, like the first book and in the TV series.

5 vampiric sheep

Pamela Kinney

Comic Review: The Strain: Master Quinlan, Vampire Hunter from Dark Horse Comics

The Strain: Master Quinlan, Vampire Hunter

Writer: David Lapham

Penciller: Edgar Salazar

Inker: Keith Champagne

Colorist: Dan Jackson

Cover Artist: Juan Ferreyra

Dark Horse Comics

Genre: Horror, Action/Adventure

September 14, 2016

Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries

Price: $3.99

UPC: 7 61568 00065 8 00111

The origin of Mr. Quinlan!

A vampiric abomination seeks to destroy the monster that sired him. Born as a mistake of a powerful vampire known as the Master and raised in the brutal gladiatorial arenas of ancient Rome, Mr. Quinlan must survive long enough to carry out his mission when his target begins hunting him.

* Go back to the beginnings of a popular character from The Strain.

* Watch The Strain on FX!

In this first issue, we learn the origins of the half vampire, half human vampire hunter, Quinlan. Like Blade the vampire hunter, he too can walk in the daylight, unlike the vampires in The Strain. His life began in his mother’s belly, as she and other slave girls were brought to the Master, now called Thrax. Thrax was a trusted confident of the mad Roman Emperor Caligula. Before he could finish her, guards came to get Thrax because Caligula needed him. Quinlan’s mother was already infected and changing and able to overpower her guard to escape. She gives birth to Quinlan, who grows like a normal child, except he has the vampire tongue like her and subsist on blood. Unlike her, he can hunt in the daylight and he doesn’t have the worms in his blood, so he cannot infect others. Thrax is chased away after Caligula’s death, but he searches for the woman and her child.

Dark Horse gives us the frightening horror, blood and darkness from The Strain, but this time, takes us into the past, adding a historical aspect to it. If you enjoy historical vampire horror stories, you will enjoy reading this comic. The Strain: Master Quinlan, Vampire Hunter could be called the bloody love child of Anne Rice if Guillermo Del Toro was the father.

I give The Strain: Master Quinlan, Vampire Hunter 4 sheep.

Pamela K. Kinney

Comic Review: Guillermo Del Toro’s and Chuck Hogan’s The Strain: the Night Eternal issue #10

THE STRAIN: THE NIGHT ETERNAL #10
Writer: David Lapham

Artist: Mike Huddleston

Colorist: Dan Jackson

Cover Artist: E. M. Gist
Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
Dark Horse

Publication Date:June 17, 2015Format: FC, 32 pages

PREVIEW

Two years ago, the Master won.

He spread the vampire virus across New York and, by triggering a series of nuclear meltdowns, defeated the ancient vampires that opposed him.

Now, in a world where the sun is all but blocked out by nuclear winter, the Master’s influences reaches across the globe.

Hope is on life support, but a few remain who may revive it: an alcoholic, a doctor, an exterminator, a criminal, and a renegade vampire are humanity’s last chance…

This issue, those fighting the Master are looking for a detonator for the nuclear bomb they have to destroy the Master. Plus find the place where it must go off. There is a book, but Eph figures out how to read it. Made for humankind to fight vampires, it has a silver cover and its secrets were written so they could only be read in sunlight. They take off in a truck, heading for where the island they need to be on the right day is. Meanwhile the Master and Zack’s vampire mother visit Zack at the zoo, to tell him his father is still alive. That he did not come for Zack; as like the snow leopard in the zoo, he wants to be the last obstacle between the Master and his vamps and total domination.

Close to the end of the comic based on the third book in The Strain trilogy, the vampires seem less frightening and unsettling as in the first two novels and comics. I am not feeling this one particularly. Still, one still wants to follow this to the end, to see if the humans win against the Master. The artwork is still great and the dark colors perfect for this comic.

I give The Strain: the Night Eternal Issue #10

3 ½ sheep

Pamela K. Kinney

Comic Review: THE STRAIN: THE NIGHT ETERNAL #4

THE STRAIN: THE NIGHT ETERNAL #4Writer: David Lapham

Artist: Mike Huddleston

Colorist: Dan Jackson

Cover Artist: E. M. Gist
Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
Dark Horse Comics

Publication Date: November 19, 2014

Format: FC, 32 pages; Ongoing

Price: $3.99

UPC:7 61568 19195 0 00411

Preview

Read the comic! Watch the series!

The final chapter in the Strain Trilogy—by Guillermo del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan—begins here!

It’s been two years since the Master’s plan succeeded and a near apocalypse coated the world in darkness. Now able to roam freely, the Master’s legion of vampires rule the world—a horrifying police state where humans are harvested for blood.
Known as the Born, he works with the rebellion, but he’s a vampire . . . Who, or what, is Mr. Quinlan? And what, exactly, is his connection to the Master? This issue sheds light on the past of the mysterious and badass bloodsucker slayer who is bent on destroying the Master’s strain and ending his reign.

The final chapter in the Strain Trilogy—by Guillermo del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan—begins here!

This issue of the last book in The Strain trilogy is about Mr. Quinlan’s past and his connection to the Master. The Master tells the story of how he served the Roman Emperor Caligula. For his payment, he is given seven virgins. Not for sex, but for their blood. But the last victim is not a virgin, and is with child. He wanted to kill the unborn, but got called away to help the emperor at the time, he returns to find the soldiers took her, but she killed two of the guards and escaped. She finds a cave, where she gives birth and raises the child, ignoring the call of her master. When Quinlan is almost grown up, his mother is killed by the Master and he escapes. Through years of fighting as a gladiator, he is eventually bought by a Roman senator who realizes what he is and who he serves, battling in wars. His being able to walk in the sunlight helps him. His life ends up serving the other Ancients against the Master until he helps the humans fighting the vampires in New York City.

This issue is all about a true badass vampire. He may not be handsome as many paranormal romances write vampires as, but he truly has an interesting past. He may not be stone-faced ass kicker like Blade, but he holds his own as well as that daywalker.

5 sheep

 

Pamela Kinney

Comic Review: Guillermo Del Toro’s and Chuck Hogan’s The Strain, The Fall #8

The Strain: The Fall #8

Writer: David Lapham

Artist: Mike Huddleston

Colorist: Dan Jackson

Cover Artist: E. M. Gist
Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
Publication Date:February 19, 2014

Format:FC, 32 pages;

Dark Horse

Trapped in a tunnel below the Hudson River, Dr. Ephraim Goodweather’s son Zack and Dr. Nora Martinez fight for their lives against an onslaught of vampires commanded by Zack’s mother! Meanwhile, though the Master’s evil plan has almost sealed humanity’s fate, his oldest enemy, Abraham Setrakian, may have discovered the key to victory.
* Soon to be a TV show on FX!
“A fun action horror comic.”—Geeks of Doom

“A week ago, they invaded Manhattan. Now they will destroy the world. A vast conspiracy prevents the vampire epidemic from coming to light. A small force is humanity’s only chance: an alcoholic, a doctor, a pawnbroker, an exterminator, and a criminal. Can they prevent the Master from covering the planet in darkness?”

In this issue, Professor Setrakian learns the truth behind the star maps and more in the book, there is a nuclear plant accident in China, and Eldritch Palmer learns you can not screw over the Master, demanding his being turned. Worse, for Zack and Nora, the train Eph put them on to get out of New York City has derailed and Eph’s ex-wife now a vampire and other vampires are pursuing them. Things appear dark for the heroes and humanity.

The artwork is superb and the colors of the comic reflect the growing darkness in this series of comics based on the second novel. The pacing is fast and terrifying. Who will live and who will die by the last comic of this second series? I can not wait.

5 sheep

Comic Review: The Strain: The Fall #6

THE STRAIN: THE FALL #6
Writer: David Lapham

Artist: Mike Huddleston

Colorist: Dan Jackson

Cover Artist: E. M. Gist
Genre: Horror, Action/Adventure
Publication Date: December 18, 2013

Dark Horse Comics

Format: FC, 32 pages; Ongoing

Price: $3.99

UPC:7 61568 19185 1 00611

Preview

When Nora tries to shepherd Eph’s son to safety outside the city, her subterranean escape from Manhattan is intercepted by the boy’s mother—a freshly turned vampire! Meanwhile, Eph comes face to face with the man that helped engineer the vampiric coup!

* The vampire conspiracy . . . REVEALED!

* The next chapter in the Strain Trilogy by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan!

"A high octane adventure filled with action and suspense."
—Bloody Disgusting

“A week ago, they invaded Manhattan. Now they will destroy the world. A vast conspiracy prevents the vampire epidemic from coming to light. A small force is humanity’s only chance: an alcoholic, a doctor, a pawnbroker, an exterminator, and a criminal. Can they prevent the Master from covering the planet in darkness?”

It appears we are nearing to the end of this second apocalyptic vampire series. In this comic, we have the professor and Vasiliy shown that the Master is not the only master vampire around, the professor bidding for the book he feels will stop the Master, The Occido Lumen, Nora is on the run with Zack Goodweather and her mother from vampires, and Goodweather is captured, but allowed a meal with the man he had hoped to kill. The pacing is fast and terrifying. Who will live and who will die by the last comic of this second series? I can not wait.

review: The Strain: The Fall #5
review: The Strain: The Fall #4
review: The Strain: The Fall #3
review: The Strain: The Fall #2
review: The Strain: The Fall #1

I give this 5 sheep

Pamela K. Kinney
Website Blog Facebook
aka Sapphire Phelan
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Comic Review: The Strain, The Fall #5

The Strain, The Fall #5
Writer: David Lapham, Mike Huddleston
Colorist: Dan Jackson

Cover Artist:E. M. Gist
Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
Dark Horse Comics
Publication Date:October 16, 2013

Format:FC, 32 pages; Ongoing

Price:$3.99

UPC:7 61568 19185 1 00411

Preview
Sure that an ancient tome, the Occido Lumen, holds the secret to defeating the Master, Fet and Setrakian head to the auction house for a different kind of battle. Meanwhile, Eph, sure of a conspiracy surrounding the vampire epidemic, mounts a secret mission to assassinate the wealthy and ailing Eldritch Palmer!
* The next chapter in The Strain Trilogy, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan!
* Soon to be a TV show on FX!

“I’ve got to say that they’ve created the vilest, most revolting looking vampires I’ve ever seen.”–Geeks of DoomNovember 2013. 
“A week ago, they invaded Manhattan. Now they will destroy the world. A vast conspiracy prevents the vampire epidemic from coming to light. A small force is humanity’s only chance: an alcoholic, a doctor, a pawnbroker, an exterminator, and a criminal. Can they prevent the Master from covering the planet in darkness?”

This issue begins with Eph writing a letter to his son who is speeding away with Nora on a train to hopefully safety from the vampires in New York City. He wrote it as he is about to try and assassinate Mr. Palmer. From there the comic had sections of each thing happening to each of the characters—from Eph to Vasiliy and the Professor talking about vampires and book an what it might mean to destroying the Master, to Nora trying to escape with Zach as Zach’s vampire mother and others attack the train. All of it ends at the space station in orbit above the earth. 

The artwork is still super and the storyline growing more intense. If you love scary vampire stories and even te end of the word scenarios, then you need to read this series. 

review: The Strain: The Fall #4
review: The Strain: The Fall #3
review: The Strain: The Fall #2
review: The Strain: The Fall #1

I give this 5 sheep

Guest Reviewer: Pamela K. Kinney 
Website Blog Facebook
aka Sapphire Phelan
Website Newsletter Facebook


 

Comic Review: The Strain: The Fall #4

The Strain, The Fall #4
Writer: David Lapham, Mike Huddleston
Colorist: Dan Jackson

Cover Artist:E. M. Gist
Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
Dark Horse Comics
Publication Date:October 16, 2013

Format:FC, 32 pages; Ongoing

Price:$3.99

UPC:7 61568 19185 1 00411
Preview
As a full-fledged war breaks out in Harlem, Gus’s heavily armed gang and an old luchador let the Master know they won’t give up their city without one helluva fight! It’s an all-out vampire brawl! Elsewhere, Fet makes a groundbreaking discovery about the vampires as Eph makes a fateful decision about his role in the ongoing battle for survival.

* Coming to the FX Network in 2014!

“The subtle build of tension and terror still peppers every page.”—IGN
“A week ago, they invaded Manhattan. Now they will destroy the world. A vast conspiracy prevents the vampire epidemic from coming to light. A small force is humanity’s only chance: an alcoholic, a doctor, a pawnbroker, an exterminator, and a criminal. Can they prevent the Master from covering the planet in darkness?”

Number 4 in The Fall series of The Strain has arrived for October. The first scene begins in Flatlands, Brooklyn, where the Professor is talking to Vasiliy about the pest exterminator turned vampire hunter returning to the tunnels where the strigoi are using to destroy them. The next one has vampires breaking into The Professor’s former digs. From there it hits fast and hard with explosions. Quick and short, readers won’t be disappointed. The only disappointment might come from how it ends and readers hooked into wanting the next installment. But they’ll have to wait until November for that.

The artwork is as good as always. The storyline is short, to the point, and with more excitement.

review: The Strain: The Fall #3
review: The Strain: The Fall #2
review: The Strain: The Fall #1

I give this 5 sheep

Guest Reviewer: Pamela K. Kinney 
Website Blog Facebook
aka Sapphire Phelan
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Comic Review: (ARC) The Strain, The Fall #1

The Strain: The Fall #1
Writer: David Lapham
Artist: Mike Huddleston
Colorist: Dan Jackson
Cover Artist: E. M. Gist
Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
Publication Date: July 17, 2013
Format: FC, 32 pages;
Dark Horse Comics
UPC:7 61568 19185 1 00111

Preview

Dr. Ephraim Goodweather’s failure to kill the Master—the ancient vampire behind the epidemic infesting New York City—has led the former alcoholic to relapse as the city burns around him. It’s the end of the world, but Eph, beaten but not dead, has still got to protect his son Zack from his mother, who’s now a bloodthirsty vampire that craves her child more than any artery.* From the mind of visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan.* Ongoing series continuing the story of the critically acclaimed comic The Strain.
“Essential reading.”—Bleeding Cool
“The subtle build of tension and terror still peppers every page.”—IGN

The beginning of the comic version of the next book in the series has Dr. Ephraim Goodweather's failing to kill the Master, creator of the start of the vampire apocalypse in New York City that began the week before. The former alcoholic goes into relapse as the city burns around him. It's the end of the world, but Eph, still needs to protect his son Zack from his mother. No longer human, but a bloodthirsty vampire, she craves her ‘dear one,’ more than any artery.

With “The Walking Dead” on television viewed by millions, zombie movies watched by fans, vampires have been forced back into the darkness, unable to come out into the light. But this series (both the books and the comics) are bringing fresh blood to the vampire story. No longer a monster wearing a black cape stalking crumbling gothic castles, is the Master using New York City to bring forth drinkers of blood en masse. It is a week after the plane had landed at the airport with the infected people and the Master. Now vampires are stalking the night, finding victims and drinking their blood, infecting them. An alcoholic, a pawnbroker, an exterminator, a criminal, and a doctor are all that stand between the end of humanity on earth, and that is if they can get their hands on a certain book, based on ancient Mesopotamian tablets discovered in 1508. It may reveal all about the Master and how to end him.

The artwork drawn for this horror story evokes the creepiness and desperation in this comic. I can not wait for the next installment in this saga. I give this five sheep—BLOODY sheep.

5 "BLOODY" Sheep

Pamela K. Kinney Website Blog Facebook
aka Sapphire Phelan
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