[Review] "Jeepers Creepers #2" is missing the creep factor

Last we left our protagonist Devon, he was working on a college thesis paper on “the Dragon Man” who appears across various cultures and mythologies, and had just stumbled on a major clue. From Dynamite and written by Marc Andreyko (Manhunter, Torso), Jeepers Creepers #2 picks up with Devon traveling to North Carolina...

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...On his way, he finds himself on an Indian reservation, where the people seem to know more about the myth of “the Dragon Man” than they are letting on.
 
​Lets get one thing out of the way: Fuck Victor Salva, creator of the original Jeepers Creepers film. I completely understand any reservations in wanting to support a Jeepers Creepers comic because of who Salva is and what he’s done. But this comic has nothing to do with him, and damnit, the Creeper is just so damn cool.
 
There, now that that’s out of the way, I can safely say Jeepers Creepers #2 is a painfully average comic, and that has nothing to do with my feelings on Salva. I’ll give Andreyko credit, he’s doing his best to create a mythology around the creeper, but as much as I try, I just cannot get into it. The story is full of tired horror tropes, such as the mysterious Native American mythology, secretive townsfolk at the local bar, a sherriff that knows more than he’s letting on, and even a nightmarish “vision quest”. Throw all that in a blender, mix in a protagonist who is essentially putting himself on a suicide mission which HE KNOWS probably involves a monster, all for a damn college thesis paper, and you have yourself an eye-roll inducing concoction. Sorry, but two issues in, and there is just too little information about Devon to understand why this is so important to him. Maybe if he himself had some past connection to the Creeper, I could buy his desperation, but there just isn’t a lot of meat on the proverbial bone to chew on.
 
Where the comic stands out is through the art from Kewber Baal (Army of Darkness: Furious Road​) whose depictions of the Creeper are haunting to say the least. Every time the Creeper appears on the page, you can practically feel him peering into your soul, trying to figure out which part of you he wants to eat. Its clear that Baal spends a lot of time on trying to get the Creeper just right, and it pays off in making the Creeper fit right into the comic world. I only wish that there was a little more blood-letting in this issue to show off more of Baal’s style. Not that that’s a deal breaker, but for a Jeepers Creepers comic, its surprising that there’s so little violence and bloodshed (as in none). But, this is only issue #2, and I’m patient.
 
Don’t get me wrong on Andreyko’s writing. Its fine, and for those of you wanting to know the history of the Creeper, Jeepers Creepers #2 is where you’ll find it. But for those of you like myself who are looking for a little more terror and less of a mystery, two issues in, Jeepers Creepers has yet to deliver. 

By Matt Konopka