The first comic you read in 2023 will set the tone for your year...uh-oh.

Maybe this'll be the year random exclamations come back as titles. From 1975, Arrgh! #4, featuring "The Night Gawker" Written by Russ Jones, pencils by Jerry Grandenetti, inks by Frank Springer.

This was a short-lived horror spoof book from Marvel, that appeared to also lean heavily on the perhaps-not-yet-completely-hackneyed premise that the cities were crime-ridden, unlivable cesspools. If you ever read, say, a Mad magazine from about the same timeframe, they were probably hitting that angle pretty hard too; although I think any given Mad from 1975 is probably a stronger read and not completely dependent on pop culture references that are going to age terribly. For instance, the bulk of this issue spoofs the beloved yet largely unwatched cult TV show, Kolchak: the Night Stalker. Which is pretty great, honestly: it's got Darren McGavin, the dad from A Christmas Story. But they had success with two made-for-TV movies, then went to series, and...crickets. Then they were released as late-night movies and popular again. Like people were willing to watch it for two hours, but not one? Anyway, the spoof pokes fun at the series' status quo: no matter what the monster of the week does or how many people see it, nobody's ever going to believe him. Even the cops are like, well, you've got the answers, you handle it, smart guy. (You can really see how the series influenced the X-Files!)

Also this issue: a Hunchback of Notre Dame spoof, that at least isn't based on any version I recognize; and the very short "Bang!" Both of which were reprinted from old issues of Crazy, which I'm not positive I've ever read an issue of? I read a fair amount of Mad, but...