Review: Bloke’s Terrible Tomb of Terror ♯12
Publisher: Jason Crawley
Writers: Jason Crawley, Samuel Agro, Alex Ogalla
Artists: Mike Hoffman (Cover), David Bromley (Back Cover), Rob Moran, Scott Shriver, Jeff Austin, Kevin Tuma, Salvador Lopez, Donaire Caesar Antomattei, Paul Rose, Emmanuel Derna, Samuel Argo & Trevor Denham
Release date: 4 May 2015
Price: $8.95
Twelve issues in and Bloke’s Terrible Tomb of Terror continues to mature, continues to have the courage of its horror homage convictions and poke its decaying, and sometimes decapitated, head above the parapet and (okay, some word play is unavoidable and may feel groan-worthy but, look, throw caution to the wind and come along for the ride, it’s a scream) stake a claim for the seer enjoyment of the portmanteau horror comic book. Rendered, as it always should be, in the glorious monocolour of black and white artwork. And the title, for all its tongue in rotting cheek alliteration, should not be mistaken for tone but for what lays in wait for all the characters in each individual story expertly told and deftly illustrated in Bloke’s Terrible Tomb of Terror.
The whiff of nostalgia is hard to avoid for those long enough in the tooth (fang? Look, I warned you, so you can’t back out now!), to recall Marvel’s 1970s Magazine line and, of course, Warren Publishing’s foray and success in the 1960s and 70s. The 1980s would witness Warren Publishing’s premature burial but the undead always rise up again.
Bloke’s Terrible Tomb of Terror has more to offer than a stilted zombie walk down the horror graveyard of yesteryear. Sure the contents page is homage but on the shoulders of giants and all that.
Publisher and writer Jason Crawley assembles not just the bare bones of what old gits like me remember (with a fondness and pawing over Dark Horse’s recently collected volumes of Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella, see what I mean about the undead) and is absence in the more po-faced, overly superhero dependant, publishers, naming no names. But you know who they are. They know who they are.
Crawley seems to be that rare thing, a master of all trades, he fails to miss a (heart) beat in writing, taking the horror genre seriously, ‘The Joke’s On You’ is pure classic terror and if clowns are your phobia, then you’ll need to skip over this one, if you dare. Rob Moran, who sticks to a traditional but effective panel layout, which propels the narrative along without overwhelming the reader with over-ambitious, over-stylised artwork, which does not mean the art is bland, it means it works and works well in its intended medium.
‘How Termity Have Fallen’ is another standout moment with Crawley back on the writing and Scott Shiver giving expressive and, again, well laid out artwork. ‘Treasures of the Past’, racks up the plus points too. Kevin Tuma and Jeff Austin are a real find.
Carbon copy of the past? Poor homage? No, Bloke’s Terrible Tomb of Terror is much, much more than that. The continuation of format for die-hards like me? Well, yes and no. Because picking up a copy of Bloke’s Terrible Tomb of Terror will make you a die-hard too.
This latest copy can be picked up from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blokes-Terrible-Tomb-Terror-12/dp/1511818751/ and here https://www.etsy.com/listing/232283866/issue-12-blokes-terrible-tomb-of-terror?ref=shop_home_feat_4
Reviewer: Steve Hooker