Customer Reviews

Completely Doomed

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I purchased this book because I was interested in reading "classic" horror/macabre fiction from Robert Bloch and Richard Matheson, as well as newer work from authors with disparate sensibilities, F. Paul Wilson and David Schow. I actually didn't realize this was not a text-based anthology, but a graphic-novel style anthology of short stories, from Doomed magazine.

But what an incredibly lucky accident. The stated goal of Completely Doomed was to bring back the feel of the "creepy" comics like Tales from the Crypt, an effort seen a few years back with Stephen King's "Creepshow." This volume met that goal admirably. The b/w artwork is outstanding, in a Frank Miller vein, with menace in the shadows, and film noir desperation bleeding from every panel. Several artists are involved, and their styles are disparate enough to create real visual interest.

The art is supported by very nice adaptations of the underlying stories, and the narrative drive of "good stories, well told" run through each piece. I loved reading an older story from Bloch with echoes of a Leave it to Beaver world gone mad, juxtaposed with the post-apocalyptic Nosferatism view from Horror's younger crowd. I would call out specific tales, but the truth is, I thought they all worked well when considering the author's era. I particularly enjoyed the early incarnations of motifs that have become classics...evil bugs, voodoo curses, tricky doppelgangers, and old deserted places with strange bespectacled men that you SHOULD NOT VISIT (but do.)

The book ends with a gallery of Doomed magazine covers. Several of these are exquisite, beautiful paintings that rival or surpass Norman Rockwell for detail, motion, and evocation of emotion. If horror short stories are your cup of tea (or maybe more accurately, cup of blood), then you'll enjoy this graphic anthology.

Advisory things: The gore is there, but very consistent with the "creepy comic" genre. It's artfully done, and hidden in shadows for the most part. There is some nudity, but artful and not pornographic. A small dose of implied sex, nothing explicit. (And, of course, because the genre requires it, if you have sex, you die.)

The bronze age of comics is the most overlooked of the various comic book eras. It doesn't have the historical significance of the Golden Age, the panache of The Silver Age's rejuvenation of comic books, or the gritty realism of the Modern Age. But one thing that the Bronze Age could boast, that none of the other eras could, was the great black & white horror magazines of the 70's. Because they were magazines and not comic books, they did not have to be submitted to the dreaded Comics Code Authority, and were able to do stories which would not have been permitted under the code. Magazines like Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella boasted impressive artistic talents, including many veterans of EC Comics: Reed Crandall, Al Williamson, Wally Wood, Frank Frazetta, and Johnny Craig. These magazines, along with those put out by Skywald during the same period continue to be enormously popular among collectors and horror fans.

IDW Publishing has certainly channeled the spirit of those great old magazines with Doomed Magazine, a throwback to the 1970's both in style and substance. Completely Doomed is a 240 trade paperback collecting some of the best work from Doomed featuring the work of legendary horror writers Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson, David J. Schow, and Paul F. Wilson. Like Creepy and Eerie, Doomed has its own host presiding over the stories and supplying introductions, the lovely Ms. Doomed. Artists contributing to the book include: Eduardo Barreto, Toby Cypress, Mike Hoffman, Nat Jones, Ted McKeever, Tony Salmons, and Ashley Wood. As you page through the book you'll note that all of the artists are working in a style similar to those old mags. The art is all in glorious black and white with very liberal uses of zip-a-tone or screentone, which is almost a lost art among today's comics. I've always enjoyed the uses of zip-a-tone for creating textures and gradients that you don't get with mere pencil and ink.

The first story in the book is Matheson's "Blood Son" adapted by Chris Ryall with art by Ashley Wood. Jules is a strange little boy...a quiet loner whose first word was "Death!" When Jules turns 12 he discovers Bram Stoker's Dracula, and becomes obsessed with it...very obsessed!

Scott Tipton adapts Matheson's story "Crickets" with art by Mike Hoffman. Hal and Jean Galloway are enjoying the last couple of days of their vacation at a lakeside resort when they meet a strange man who claims that crickets talk to him. The crickets call out names to him...the names of the dead!

"Slasher" by F. Paul Wilson is one of those tales with a twist ending in the great EC tradition. A man's daughter is murdered and he is out for revenge. An FBI agent informs him that the killer is an important witness in a federal trial and cannot be touched until SHE testifies. But this man's revenge cannot wait...Great story!

"Cuts" by F. Paul Wilson and Ted McKeever is a grisly tale of retribution when a writer wants revenge on the director who skewered his book when it was adapted into a film.

I've mentioned only a handful of the sixteen stories in the book. Trust me there's not a dud among them. Doomed has virtually channeled the spirit of Creepy and Eerie in this collection.


REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

I originally purchased this book to complete my collection of works featuring the art of Ashley wood: my eye caught on the instantly recognizable Wood-cover of "Completely Doomed." I didn't even know what the book was about: I literally judged the book by its cover. IDW and Ashley Wood have been a dynamic pairing thus far, and so I took it on good faith.

If you like anthologies such as Tales from the Crypt or The Twilight Zone, this book is completely up your alley. The format is what you would expect from the previously mentioned titles: it is 240 pages of short story anthology horror from some of the best writers and illustrators in the business. Some of the names include Ashley Wood (duh), Robert Bloch (the guy who wrote the original Psycho), and Richard Matheson (writer and contributor for The Twilight Zone). It's all told in black and white, but that doesn't matter. It keeps that old school, pulp-comic vibe and is grossly entertaining down to the very last page.

I'd talk about some of the short stories, but they're so well-written and, at times, so shocking in their finales that it would do you a great disservice if I were to spoil them here. If your intuition is telling you that this looks like a great read for those dark and stormy nights, you should heed that call.

This collection of horror stories has excellent art and great writing. If you love the old EC Archive comics such as ShockSuspense Stories and Tales From The Crypt, this collection is for you. Great price because you get a lot for the money.

The reviews posted for "Completely Doomed" are nothing short of raving. I'm not so sure they're not being a tad melodramatic, though, as I found this collection to be merely good. Above average? Possibly, though with there being so many horror anthologies out there the standards vary wildly. I've thought about it and I'll grade it on three areas: Illustration (I am a classically trained professional artist); Stories (I'm also published, albeit in college fiction journals only); and the Total Package (I was an art editor and contributing artist and writer in college for two different publications). First off, the illustration quality varies in this book; Ashley Wood's style is beautiful and unique but at times a bit hard to decipher. His style is the most suited to the genre. The other artists have varying levels of success, but the worst of them come off as crude and amateurish. Next, the stories. Again, a wide scale of variation. Some stories ("Blood Rape of the Lust Ghouls") are simply poorly written. It's as if large parts of the narrative got left out. The F. Paul Wilson story "Masks" was by far the most successful, blending horror and human tragedy perfectly in a sad, frightening story that shows surprising maturity for being based around cannibalistic mutants. Unfortunately, the illustration was not very strong. "Blood Son" was intriguing but felt like there were pieces missing. Finally, the overall product was supposed to be an homage to the "Creepy" pulps of the '50's and '60's but it didn't seem like the publishers could make up their minds as to which direction to take it- kitsch or classy. It's a mix of both that simply doesn't come off. The cover gallery is not at all what the comics of the era used (the illustrations are too good!) and ditto the binding and stock. Make up your minds, folks- if it's pulp, go all out. So, Illustration: B-; Stories: C; Total Package: C+. Bottom line, while I enjoyed this work, I wouldn't purchase another and I would instead recommend readers just check out the individual writers on their own, such as F. Paul Wilson and Robert Bloch, and then try the artists on their own, like Ashley Wood. I think you'll get superior results.