Super Creepshow #5 Review: Hero Worship Gets Horribly Twisted
Super Creepshow #5 closes out Skybound and Image Comics’ superhero-horror experiment with two stories that understand exactly what makes the Creepshow formula work: give readers something familiar, bend it until it snaps, then let the punchline bleed all over the page.
This final issue brings together a sharp creative lineup. The first story, “Superfan,” comes from writer Ram V, artist Riccardo Burchielli, colorist Matteo Vattani, and letterer Pat Brosseau. The second story, “Everyone Loves the Phantom Professor,” comes from writer Christian Ward, artist Fábio Veras, and letterer Pat Brosseau. Together, they deliver a double feature about fandom, power, obsession, magic, and the ugly side of loving something too much.
For readers following the series, this issue feels like a strong capstone to what Skybound has been building across the Super Creepshow run. If you missed the earlier coverage, Comic Book Addicts previously covered the Super Creepshow #5 Skybound/Image Comics preview, and this issue fully leans into the promise of that setup.
Super Creepshow #5 Review
The theme here is right on the cover: never meet your heroes.
That idea drives “Superfan,” the Ram V and Riccardo Burchielli story that opens the issue. On the surface, it plays with the kind of superhero nostalgia every comic reader understands. There is the fan who remembers every issue, every appearance, every “classic” moment. There is the old-school hero who has become larger than life through decades of comics, cartoons, merchandise, and mythmaking. Then Creepshow does what Creepshow always does best: it asks what happens when that nostalgia curdles into something dangerous.
Ram V writes the story with a sharp awareness of comic book culture. The dialogue pokes at collectors, continuity obsessives, old-school fans, newer readers, and the way fandom can turn from love into ownership. That gives the story an extra bite. This is not just a superhero horror story. It is a horror story about the way some fans refuse to let their heroes change, grow, disappear, or belong to anyone else.
Riccardo Burchielli’s artwork helps sell that shift beautifully. The comic shop scenes have a believable texture. They feel crowded, colorful, and full of history. Then, when the story moves into stranger territory, the visuals become more unstable and grotesque. The superhero imagery starts as bright iconography and gradually becomes something sickly, warped, and tragic. Matteo Vattani’s colors push that contrast even further, making the supernatural moments feel charged, radioactive, and wrong.
What makes “Superfan” work is that it does not simply mock fans. It understands why people attach themselves to characters. Comics can become comfort food, identity, memory, and escape. But the story also knows that obsession can become a trap. When love turns possessive, the thing being loved can become a monster.
That is vintage Creepshow material.
The Phantom Professor Brings the Weird Magic
The second story, “Everyone Loves the Phantom Professor,” changes the flavor without losing the horror. Christian Ward and Fábio Veras build a wild, mystical tale about public adoration, occult power, and the horrifying human need to be worshiped.
The Phantom Professor is the kind of character who immediately feels like he wandered out of a forgotten spinner-rack oddity. He has the big title, the theatrical silhouette, the strange powers, and the kind of exaggerated pulp energy that fits perfectly inside this anthology. But the story is not just interested in magic for the sake of spectacle. It is interested in what magic does to people who crave attention, love, and validation.
Fábio Veras gives this segment a different visual identity from the opener. Where “Superfan” has a grimy superhero-comic-shop edge, “The Phantom Professor” feels more occult, theatrical, and strange. The layouts embrace big supernatural imagery, shadowy crowd reactions, and a sense of public performance gone wrong. The result is a story that feels like stage magic mixed with cosmic embarrassment and body horror.
Christian Ward’s script also has a nasty sense of humor. The Phantom Professor is ridiculous in the right way, but the horror underneath the ridiculousness is very real. This is a story about ego. It is about wanting applause so badly that the applause becomes its own curse. In true Creepshow fashion, the moral is obvious only after it is too late.
Why This Issue Works
Super Creepshow #5 succeeds because both stories understand the anthology format. They move quickly. They establish their worlds fast. They give readers colorful characters, a nasty hook, and a final turn that feels earned. There is no wasted space here.
The first story attacks superhero nostalgia from inside the comic shop. The second story attacks celebrity worship through occult absurdity. Both stories are about people who build their identities around larger-than-life figures. One looks at the fan. The other looks at the figure being adored. That makes the issue feel more connected than a random two-story anthology installment.
It also helps that the book never forgets to be fun. Yes, there is gore. Yes, there is horror. Yes, there are grotesque reveals and twisted consequences. But the issue has that EC-style showman energy that makes Creepshow more than just a horror brand. It is mean, playful, colorful, and theatrical.
This is horror with a grin.
Art and Atmosphere
The cover by Pye Parr captures the issue’s tone immediately. It has that mock-vintage magazine energy, with a giant monster, terrified city crowds, and bold cover copy advertising the creative team like a horror attraction. It looks like something pulled from an alternate universe newsstand where superhero comics and monster magazines evolved into the same beast.
Inside, Burchielli, Vattani, Veras, and Brosseau give the issue a strong visual rhythm. The lettering keeps the pacing clear through both stories, which matters in an anthology issue where each tale needs to land fast. The art teams also avoid making the two segments feel too similar. Each story has its own texture, while still fitting under the broader Super Creepshow umbrella.
The first story feels like a corrupted love letter to superhero comics. The second feels like a cursed stage performance. Together, they give the issue a strong visual split without making it feel disconnected.
Final Thoughts
Super Creepshow #5 is a strong finale for this superhero-horror experiment. It delivers two nasty, clever stories that use superhero tropes as fuel for classic anthology horror. Ram V and Riccardo Burchielli turn comic fandom into a haunted mirror, while Christian Ward and Fábio Veras transform mystical celebrity into a supernatural nightmare.
The issue is funny, gross, strange, and sharp in the way a good Creepshow comic should be. It does not just throw capes and monsters together. It understands why superheroes inspire devotion, then asks what happens when that devotion becomes rotten.
For horror fans, superhero readers, and collectors who love anthology comics with personality, Super Creepshow #5 is worth grabbing when it hits shelves.
Super Creepshow #5 will be available at comic book shops and on digital platforms including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play on July 15, 2026. Readers can also check the official Image Comics release page, track the issue on League of Comic Geeks, read Skybound first-look coverage at Comicon, and see another horror-focused take from Comic Crusaders.
Book Details
Title: Super Creepshow #5
Publisher: Skybound / Image Comics
Story: Ram V & Christian Ward
Art: Riccardo Burchielli, Fábio Veras & Matteo Vattani
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Cover A: Pye Parr
Price: $3.99
Format: Comic Book
Release Date: July 15, 2026
Genre: Horror, Superhero, Anthology
Rating: Mature Readers / Horror Fans
Review Score
8.5/10
A twisted, clever, and grimly funny finale that turns hero worship into classic Creepshow nightmare fuel.
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