Booknote: Creepy Presents: Bernie Wrightson

Bernie Wrightson, et.al., Creepy Presents: Bernie Wrightson. Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse, 2011. ISBN: 9781595828095.

This is an anthology that collects the artist's stories and artwork. Wrightson does all the art, some of it with collaborators, and he wrote most of the stories collected here. The volume covers Wrightson's works from the 1970s featured in Creepy and Eerie! comic magazines. This is definitely a great reading for the Halloween season, but if you enjoy horror and suspense, you can enjoy it at any time.

Wrightson has a classic art style that makes great use of detail and shadows. His style may have been considered "old fashioned" at the time. Keep in mind he was working the era of artists like Jack Kirby. Wrightson's stories really flourish  with the fine detail printing and the black and white. The art just draws you into the stories. As for the stories, we get some good tales of horror and suspense, often with ironic and/or twisted endings. The volume also features a story adapted from Edgar Allan Poe and another one from H.P. Lovecraft. Personally, I always enjoy a good adaptation.

Finally, the volume includes a gallery of Creepy and Eerie! illustrations and frontispieces. A few of these are in color, which makes them "pop" nicely, but even in black and white, they are a pleasure to look through. I borrowed this from my local public library, but it is one I would add to my collection. I certainly recommend it.

Giving it the full 5 out of 5 stars.