5 out of 5

It’s a rare comic – or rare anything, really, but the 4-color format is especially lacking in examples – that can catch me completely unawares for what’s on the next page.  It’s a special comic that can do that, but still maintain its integrity from start to finish, and still be a rewarding re-read.  I really thought I had Arcudi’s ‘Creep’ pegged, its noir hat casting the story down recognizable lines, dropping details I was convinced would be the ‘key’ to an eventual reveal.  And the unawares moment to which I’m referring actually has nothing to do with these keys, although I must say: I was wrong about those too.

I became interested in Arcudi when my negative opinion of the current Abe Sapien ongoing book made me separate Mike Mignola’s writer title from the co-authors on each book.  Scott Allie?  No.  Christopher Golden?  Cheesy, but propped up by good stories.  Arcudi?  Arcudi is a Mignolaverse architect, even appearing without that constant Mignola co-credit on some BPRD books.  Research showed I’d missed quite a bit, actually, his name appearing on some notably oddball books like Major Bummer and the Mask.  I stumbled across two issues of ‘Creep’ (#2 and 3) in a dollar bin and, although I haven’t been much satisfied with Dark Horse’s horror books outside the Hellboy stuff, wanted to give it a shot.  A few pages into #2 and I closed the book.  I knew I wanted to read this whole thing and I pretty much knew I would like it.

My interest in a good crime / mystery comic goes back enough years now to finding ‘Scene of the Crime’ in a dollar bin.  It was a whole new genre for me.  As time has passed, my appreciation of that genre has only grown, but my tastes have evolved: some things I ain’t gonna like.  And enough books and comics have passed my eyebeams now to say that many things fall apart after the conclusion, ‘Scene’ included.  If you build your story too much around the reveal, it’s a risky venture if that reveal ain’t enough of a stunner to keep the reader shocked until THE END.  Arcudi seems aware of this trap: ‘The Creep’ is about life.  Private Investigator Oxel, a man suffering from acromegaly – a bone-growth related disease that sets in during adulthood – is our proxy, the monsterous outsider to whom, miraculously, we can relate, investigating a pair of teen suicides for the mother of one of the boys, whom Oxel dated in high school.  Life; changes.  The story is resplendent with layers and layers of this, skillfully roped around and threaded through Oxel’s picking at this mystery.  A mystery, mind you, which can have no proper resolution, as the deed is done, damages dealt.  And yet he proceeds forth…

…And, like me, you’ll probably spot these signs that suggest that it’s solution A, and then when that’s dismissed, obviously it’s solution B…  We’re not wrong to have spotted these elements, but the truth of the matter is much simpler, and much more tragic.  And then that page.  On which I paused, totally caught off guard.  But again – we shuffle on with Oxel.  This resolution resolves nothing, and you can start the cycle again from page one and still appreciate the awesomely gloomy noir reality Arcudi has created.

Richard Case was a perfect pick for art.  He uses a very effective method of dividing imagined moments – drawn sketchily – from what’s actually happening – drawn clearly – and although I’m reading too much into it, I felt this same “waking up to the truth” to be found in the progression of guest artists on covers 0 through 3 until the Case – the ‘truth’ – draws the cover for #4.  The colors are cold, heavy.  I’d be interested to see an Oxel tale take place in Summer.  And the framing… its beyond cinematic.  Mignola has a method of paneling and framing that shuffles you around a scene in a way that’s pure comic book; no other format can do it like that.  Cases panels are much more formal, but he takes you through a scene and sets his camera with a similar only-in-comics gift, guiding us through and around scenes for maximum effect.  Nate Piekos (lettering) takes perfect advantage of the space in each panel such that words resonate or whimper as appropriate.

So who is The Creep?  Right, well, Oxel’s on the cover… so, sure…  But the wonder of some stories is to have their own meanings evolve as you read through, and the title of this book works the same way.  Can’t wait to explore more of Arcudi’s works.