First off, let’s make one thing clear: TALES FROM THE CRYPT: NO. 1 – GHOULS GONE WILD! isn’t your father’s EC Comics CRYPT. Those looking for a direct ape of that beloved style will walk away disappointed. But remember that the CRYPT movies – from the ’70s British one to the ’90s American ones – weren’t exactly EC, either, nor was the long-running HBO series. Sure, some captured the spirit better than others, but the comic was its own thing.

That’s why this revival has both a blessing and a curse in carrying the official CRYPT name: because it already has garnered far more attention than it would have otherwise … as well as the criticism. If you can approach it with an open mind, you can enjoy it as the harmless horror-lite comic that it is.

This handy digest-sized collection contains the first two issues of the Papercutz title, making for four stories, each introduced by The Cryptkeeper. This is the only real EC carryover, as the host looks the same and delivers plenty of groan-worthy puns, even in the old blocky font. The individual stories, however, are modernized.

In one, a young married couple wonders about the strange old man next door and why he paints in the graveyard at night. Others concern a wealthy but miserly apartment landlord who’s brought to justice for mistreating his tenants and a DEVIL WEARS PRADA-esque fashion maven who thinks nothing of murdering underlings.

CRYPT’s main problem is that about half of it fails to find a comfy balance between script and art. In most cases, either one or the other is off. Either dialogue is too stilted and plot too predictable, or the illustrations just aren’t right – too pretty, too outré – for the horror genre. But everything comes together quite nicely in the best tale, Rob Vollmar and Tim Smith 3’s “For Serious Collectors Only!,” a funny poke at middle-aged action-figure collectors who still live with their mothers.

Sometimes there’s comfort to be found in simple pleasures, and CRYPT is one of them, although there is much room for it to grow. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.