Comics Review: EDGAR ALLAN POE'S SNIFTER OF TERROR SEASON TWO

EDGAR ALLAN POE’S SNIFTER OF TERROR SEASON TWO  #1  (Ahoy Comics, September 2019) Various creators, as described below. www.comicsahoy.com

   The first season of Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter Of Terror was described as “EC Comics’ Tales From The Crypt Meets Mad Magazine”.  That’s a perfect summation of this book. Coincidentally, all the cover illustrators so far have been depicted by Richard Williams of Mad Magazine fame. Each one is a spoof of popular culture. This time, Poe stands in for Captain America in that famous legendary Nazi-punching cover from the 1940’s.

     The Ahoy comic follows the format of Tales From The Crypt with a horror host (none other than Edgar Allan Poe, drunk but lucid enough to explain and set the stage for these stories) introducing creepy tales that make us laugh. Rather than make our bodies shake and shiver, our funny bones are tickled by these inventive and humorous spooky narratives.  Also, Ahoy also offers more than standard comics, with a combination of stories and text pieces in every issue of their titles.

Creator Dean Motter opens the new issue by writing, penciling and lettering “The Tell-Tale Black Cask Of Usher” with Poe as both introductory narrator and main character. It’s a funny saga of a planned revenge that manages to touch base on and pay brief homage to nearly every classic Poe story — The House of Usher, The Cask of Amontillado, The Premature Burial, The Tell-Tale Heart, Murder In The Rue Morgue,The Raven, and others. Motter’s illustrations evoke memories of Creepy magazine, and his depiction of Poe is spot-on. Motter even sneaks in some hanging portraits of classic film icons Boris Karloff and Vincent Price, both of whom were featured in several movie adaptations of Poe stories. It’s an extra-long (for this title, at least) story of 21 pages, inked by Alex Ogle with colors by Julie Barclay.

Issue #1 of Season Two also includes “Four Poems” by Walt Shepperd, illustrated by Greg Scott;  “Voodoo Burger” a funny text piece by Brendan Mallory illustrated by Elliott Mattice; and the hilarious Spy-Vs.-Spy inspired “Poe And The Black Cat” a regular feature of this book written and drawn by the creative Hunt Emerson.

    

RATING SYSTEM

 STORY: I love horror anthologies, especially when they are funny. This is funny. It made me laugh.  2.5 POINTS

ART:  Well done and well suited to the narrative.  2 POINTS

COVER: Every cover on this title so far has been a zinger. Leaves no doubt as to the nature of the internal contents.  2 POINTS

READ AGAIN? Any time you can benefit from a good laugh. 1 POINT.

RECOMMEND? Two of my favorite genres thrown together, just like peanut butter and chocolate. This time it’s horror and comedy. 1 POINT

TOTAL RATING: 8.5 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10 POINTS. DEFINITELY ABOVE AVERAGE.