4 out of 5

Yes, complete kudos for construction on this.  ‘The Tooth’ is a 100% tribute to EC Comics style talk-to-the-reader “you think you’re safe now?” chills and puns, presented (via an original GN) as a collection of old, tattered ‘The Tooth’ comics from the apparent end of the series’ run – if we are to believe the checklist “hand-written” that’s included as one of the many great in-between issue extras, along with fake letter pages and fake ads, and a seeming evolution of a young creator’s designs for our “hero.”

The story itself… hm.  I do think one of the things that works in the book’s favor is that, yes, it’s all about presentation, but it’s not presented as a joke (mostly).  While the story of ‘The Tooth’ is pretty hammy – guy inherits creepy uncle’s house, finds talisman and tooth, tooth plants itself in his mouth and bursts out and grows into an emotionless battlin’ machine (that still looks like a tooth, but with arms and legs) when his owner’s well-being is threatened – you could definitely say that the stories it takes inspiration from were hammy, so instead of going the current Dark Horse Eerie / Creepy route of truly attempting to re-capture the style, Bunn and Lee spin a story that sits sort of half-in, half-out of smiles and nostalgia, and thankfully it leans moreso toward ‘in’, making the jokes from the omniscient narrator that do directly poke fun at the sort of sloppy scripting of the genre seeming well-intentioned and not obnoxiously distancing.  Like honest acknowledgment of this being fairly silly, but now back to the story.  Over the course of a few “issues,” we get a nice little story arc where we learn just enough about our tooth owner (Graham) and the origin of his new “pet” to make the havoc that unfolds enjoyable, even in this layered method it’s been written.  Some of it is questionable – having read Bunn’s Marvel work, which I don’t find greatly satisfying and feels choppy in comparison to his creator owned works, there are a couple hiccups in the narrative that don’t vibe with the other hiccups and thus don’t seem purposeful… and prevent the project from feeling complete.  Alas, Matt Kindt’s incredible efforts in the artwork sort of overwhelm the writing – I’m sure this was all very collaborative, but it feels like two writers who giggled endlessly in coming up with the idea, and then they just handed it to Kindt with the pitch and he dolled it up.

And good god is it not an awesome book just to flip through because of it.  I had to actually pick this up several times to understand what it was – there are no “hints” on the back cover or anything to let you in on the gag.  From start to finish – including “about the authors” which are written as if the creators are all still 12 years old – despite the high quality paper stock, Kindt ages the colors and his sketchy style works with the fading to just make this thing feel deliciously aged.  It’s legit.  I haven’t been a fan of Kindt’s style, really, but oddly it works here – most horror comics we expect a more Frank Brunner-esque swoosh to the lines, or the Corben-esque grotesque details – but Kindt’s looseness really defines The Tooth to be its own thing, and makes one of the running gags – Tooth’s overly violent method of disposal is to rip off limbs – work – really capturing the sense of motion in a way the EC artists generally didn’t, assisting our eyes in moving around and around these glorious pages.

There’s not much to take away from the book.  It’s not going to make you cry or think.  But it’s a lot of fun, and is one of the most dedicated all-around presentations for an original GN than has been seen for quite some time.