From the EC Comics-style cover and narrator, to the warped justice of the story, this is straight up pulp horror storytelling that doubles as an origin story, with legitimate ties to the proper Marvel U.

The script is well-paced and accessible, and Kano’s artwork strikes the right balance of sketchiness and cartoonishness to complement perfectly the scenery-chewing fun and horror of the story. It reminds me of a slightly cleaner and tighter version of what Kieron Dwyer’s doing on Crawlspace: XXXombies.

And that series is probably an apt comparison for this one – this is titled Dead of Night Featuring Man-thing, as Marvel appears to be aiming to do the same thing with Dead of Night that Rick Remender, Tony Moore and Dwyer have said they’re doing with Crawlspace – put out a series of mini-series under a common horror banner, all in homage to the pulp horror classics of the past.

While this issue doesn’t meet the brilliantly effed-up heights of XXXombies #3 – seriously, how can that be topped? – if you like that series, there’s a good chance you’ll like this. And if you hold fond memories of the Tales from the Crypt TV show or Creepshow, there’s no doubt you will.