Criminal Macabre: Omnibus Volume 1
Criminal Macabre: Omnibus Volume 1 – Steve Niles, Ben Templesmith & Kelley Jones (Dark Horse Books www.darkhorse.com)
What happens when darkness falls and all manner of abominations walk the world looking to feast on our flesh and grind our bones for their bread? What happens and who can we turn to? Well, for starters, a bad ass, pill popping, bourbon swilling, rough as all hell, foul mouthed anti-hero who’ll battle the ravaging hordes of the undead and all the nasties that spew forth from the dark dimensions, the places that we don’t talk about and Hell itself would be good. The one man monster destruction squad who’ll bitch slap the forces of evil back to their black dwelling places known as Cal McDonald. That’s right folks, finally old Cal, got himself collected in what’ll hopefully be the first of many volumes charting his ongoing war against the creatures of the night. In this collection, along with his trusted Ghoul sidekick, Mo’Lock, McDonald combats an unholy alliance between those who should never be allied and possessed Chevy’s, gets caught in a town that’s fallen under the influence of a Succubus and come face to face with his nemesis Doctor Polynice, in a cat and mouse fight to the death that changes his world forever. Unlike most comic heroes though, in McDonald’s world, people die, and it’s usually the people closest to Cal who end up paying the ultimate price, adding an extra noir twist to each and every story. Criminal Macabre isn’t pretty, it’s cold, hard and dark, just like the real world, but damn, it’s a lot of fun. Steve Niles’ writing is sharp, well plotted and paced, and his dialogue flesh’s out each and every character, giving Criminal Macabre a sense of gritty realism that as you consume each and every page, makes you wonder if maybe the things under your bed aren’t the just products of your imagination, and that maybe make believe is a little more real than it should be. When you throw the incredible, creepy and at times genuinely disturbing artwork of Ben Templesmith and the V8 pencils of Kelley Smith into the mix as well, then kids, it’s time to kiss your mummy and daddy goodbye and move over the to dark side. Cal McDonald is coming and he’s gonna stay for a while… Tim Mass Movement
