Richard Corben clearly loves exaggeration in his depiction of characters. He started writing in the 80s in comics like Creepy and Eerie, then of course he went on to write and draw for Heavy Metal (or no metal at all!).
His style is easy to spot. Just look for a lady with huge boobs, and a dude with a beak. Anyway, on to issue #1 of his adaptation of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe.
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher #1 (Dark Horse Comics)
Much like in Corben’s adaptation of The Conqueror Worm (which I went over at the bottom of a Horror Comics Breakdown a few months back) we get an intro from the lovable Mag the Hag. Not to be confused with Rob the Slob, Barney the Carny, or Ashley the Gassy.
Corben combines the tale of The Fall of the House of Usher with Poe’s other tale The Oval Portrait. The meshing works well, and combined with other macabre elements not found in either of the original tales, Corben weaves together a fun throw back to the golden age of horror comics. Dead horses, ravens, skeletons. They are all up in this bitch!
9.0
- Great atmosphere
- Fun!
- Interesting adaptation choices from the original source material
- Throwback to the good ole’ days of horror comics
- Dude, those noses.
Is It Good?
Is it good, kiddies? Hell yeah it is! A distinct artistic style, and interesting adaptation choices make this issue a definite must for Poe fans, and definitely a must for Corben fans. The atmosphere created is entirely immersive, even with an old lady randomly popping into the panels to spout bad puns at the beginning and end. I would go on to say this actually added to the charm. This comic is a lot of fun.
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