Creepy Archives HC Collection

Creepy Archives Vol. 1; Cover painted by Frank Frazetta

Warren Publishing Continued ... Part 2

Warren Publishers first break-out success was Creepy in 1964.  It was published in magazine format, larger than that of regular comics.  It also cost $.35 as opposed to the usual $.12.  It was published in glorious black & white which brought a unique atmosphere to the horror tales contained within.

Originally published quarterly, because of popularity it quickly moved to a bi-monthly basis.  Jim Warren was more than just a publisher, he was very hands-on in his approach to Creepy.  One of his best assets was luring some of the best writers and artists at the time to work for him.  Much of the early success of the horror magazine was the leadership of Archie Goodwin, who came on as editor in 1965.  Some of the writers and artists who worked for Warren Publishing over the years include: Alex Toth, Frank Frazetta, Joe Orlando, Wally Wood, Neal Adams, Steve Ditko, Angelo Torres, Al Williamson, Carmine Infanto and too many others to name.

Uncle Creepy

This 48-page horror magazine was hosted by none other than Uncle Creepy, who introduced stories and generally guide the reader through the issue.  Creepy was not just EC Comics resurrected under another name, it was it's own creation.  That said, it did employ some of the storytelling techniques that has mad EC Comics so popular.

Creepy debuted in late 1964 and ended in February 1983, with a total run of 145 issues.  These issues are now very rare and hard to come by.  Fortunately, a group of creators and investors, New Comic Company LLC, reached a deal with Jim Warren in 2007 acquiring all rights to publication for Creepy, as well as it's sister magazines, Eerie and Vampirella.  They soon merged with Dark Horse and in 2008, the first archive edition of Creepy was published, containing the first five issues of the magazine.  These hardback archived editions are absolutely beautiful.  Check them out for yourself.