Review: Criminal Macabre: The Iron Spirit, Hard Cover

Available tomorrow in all fine comic book shops is Steve Nile's continuation of his Cal MacDonald mysteries, titled Criminal Macabre: The Iron Spirit. Over the last few years Dark Horse Comics has featured stories of Cal MacDonald and obviously they believe this character is worthy of your time and money. This is best said about this new release; this hard cover edition is illustrated by comic book and animation artist Scott Morse and features only 32 pages (all of which are unpublished material) for the hair raising price of $19.99. That's right folks, your purchasing the equivalent of a $3 comic for six times the average price of most single issues. Given the fact that this is a hard cover and the size is larger than normal (9" x 12", to be exact), this comic should be worth the fifteen extra Washingtons, right?

Wrong.

Unfortunately Criminal Macabre: The Iron Spirit does not live up to the retail price. The story finds our main protagonist (or antagonist, for those postmodernists out there) Cal MacDonald once again on assignment, this time recruited by a World War II veteran with an eerie past. This Criminal Macabre episode features the same structure featured in most of Niles' MacDonald tales: customer in desperate need of help, explanation of situation, things go awry, and all ends with MacDonald to the rescue. That's my cookie cutter version. 

By the looks of Scott Morse's cover for this book, I was hoping the content inside would be just as glamorous and spectacular. But the tale is not told in normal comic book fashion with panels and word bubbles, but rather in typical story book fashion. This could be fresh and exciting if the illustrations liven up the narration. Instead Morse's artistic depictions are lackluster and come off boring, which is sad to say because the watercolors he uses set a wonderfully murky tone. 

If you are a Steve Niles, Criminal Macabre, or Scott Morse completest, chances are you will want this comic to add to your collection. However, I guarantee you after the first read you will regret the amount you spent on purchasing this. Buyers beware, you might wish to bargain shop this one.

Overall Rating: 2/5

Graham, Stokoe, and Niles Help Friedrich's $17,000 Marvel Court Payment

Brandon Graham's Ghost Rider says "fuck Marvel."

In the past few days, many comic blogs have been abuzz with Marvel's screw-happy, counterclaim lawsuit filed against former Ghost Rider artist Gary Friedrich. The court ordered payment of $17,000 filed against Friedrich has left the artist in a world of financial pain. Gary Friedrich wrote on FaceBook:

"Since the various news agencies and websites have reported the ruling against me on my claims against Marvel in the Ghost Rider lawsuit, and the assesment of a $17,000 judgement against me and my company instead, I have read an amazing amount of comments in my support on the internet, and have received many messages of support directly. Although the reports of my employment situation and financial difficulties as well as problems with my health are unfortunately true, I want to let everyone in the comic book world, especially my supporters and fans of the Ghost Rider character whcih I invented, created, and wrote, that I am going to appeal the Court's ruling and continue to fight this as long as I am able and that your support of me means more than you will ever know. I have heard your voices. I thank you with all my heart, and I appreciate your thoughts and best wishes as I soldier on.
Feel free to keep in touch with me via e-mail: fgroovygary@aol.com
Thanks again and God bless you."

James Stokoe "esq." Ghost Rider

Now, comic book writers and creators are taking a stand against Marvel comics (owned by the corporate giant Disney) and are offering help in unique and inspiring ways. Two of my personal favorites, Brandon Graham (creator of King City, Multiple Warheads, and writer of Image's Prophet relaunch) and James Stokoe (creaor of Orc Stain, Wanton Soup, and Sullivan's Sluggers) have offered to donate 100% sales from the next 10 pages of King City sold and the next 10 pages of Orc Stain sold. Graham wrote on his blog Royal Boiler: "Marvel and DC seem to be having some bizarre contest on who can be shittier to the people who've done the best work for them." A wide selection of pages may be purchased now at McConnell Art.

Fellow comic book writer, Steve Niles (creator of 30 Days of Night and Criminal Macabre) is spearheading a relief fund for Friedrich. "As you can see in Gary's last update," Niles wrote on his website, "[Friedrich] is going to appeal but in the meantime, he and his lovely wife are broke and in need of our help. I've seen the comics community come together and it's a beautiful thing when it happens." Donations are encouraged and accepted now at Steve Niles website here.

Review: "Dark Horse Presents" #4-- Beasts of Burden, Criminal Macabre, Age of Reptiles, and MORE!

When it comes to comics, anthologies are the best place for beginning readers. Take for instance the most popular comic anthology in our nation: the comics in the Sunday newspaper. Not all readers dive into the comics section of their paper knowing they like Zits over Blondie, or Peanuts over Garfield. Not all readers understand the office jokes in Dilbert and the political laughs in Doonesbury (I sure know I didn't as a kid). And most indefinitely, not all readers are lucky enough to pick up their favorite comic-strip from it's first printing through it's entirety. But as devoted anthology readers we understand our tastes tend to vary in the comic medium, and without the pairing of the good, the bad, and the ugly, we could never understand just what we like. Continuing this ritual, Dark Horse Comics released their 4th issue of an on-going monthly anthology called Dark Horse Presents.

This 80 page full color comic features a number of different artists and writers with the added bonus of NO adds (eat that, you DC $#*t-heads). The first reason I picked up this copy was for the all new eight page Beasts of Burden story, written by Evan Dorkin and illustrated by Jill Thompson--I just can't get enough of those cute critters fighting paranormal oddities (click here for more Beasts of Burden). My second reason for the pick is Geoff Darrow's gorgeous cover illustration (just look at the cover pictured above, from his "Shaolin Cowboy" series, and the immense detail put into his work). Everything else in the comic was a complete mystery. New works by new artists and new writers. Just what any comic fanboy or fangirl needs.

Of course, with the obvious difference of opinion in anthologies, how does one go about critiquing it? Well, how about the orderly fashion of story by story "+" meaning good, "-" meaning bad.

"Beasts of Burden: Food Run,"
story by Evan Dorkin, art by Jill Thompson (+)

"Rotten Apple" Chapter 3,
story by Chuck Brown, art by Sanford Greene (-)

"The Adventures of Dog Mendoca and Pizzaboy" Chapter 1,
story by Felipe Melo, art by Juan Cavia (+)

"Number 13" Chaper 3,
story by Robert Love and Dave Walker, art by Robert Love (+)

"Resident Alien" Chapter 1,
story by Peter Hogan, art by Steve Parkhouse (+)

"Criminal Macabre: Die, Die, My Darling!" Chapter 1,
story by Steve Niles, art by Christopher Mitten (+)

"Marked Man" Chapter 4,
story and art by Howard Chaykin (+)

"Age of Reptiles: The Body,"
story an art by Ricardo Delgado (+)

"Finder: Third World" Chapter 4,
story and art by Carla Speed McNeil (-)

"The Protest,"
story by Dara Naragi and art by Victor Santos (+)

All in all, that's eight +'s and two -'s, giving this comic anthology an 80 percent. My only complaint is the price of this comic which happens to be $8, but if you look at it this way, you're actually getting your dollars worth and then some. Not convinced yet? Check out the following preview of five of the featured comics as well as two other variant covers by Fiona Staples and Michael Kaluta (all images courtesy of Dark Horse Comics).

For more information on Dark Horse Presents check out Dark Horse Comics website here.

Comic Review: Criminal Macbre/The Goon: When Freaks Collide

Hellboy? Dethklok? And now Criminal Macabre?

That's right. Dark Horse Comics treads familiar territory as Eric Powell's big, lovable brute the Goon and his world of weirdo, orgy monstrosity heads for another crossover. This time in Steve Niles' LA darkened rumpus, Criminal Macabre.

Is it a marketing attempt to urge more readers to different titles (the way the Hellboy/Goon one-shot slugged me a shiny and turned me a Goon fan for life)? Or is it two creator's attempt to, uh... umm... how to put this? squeeze our pockets for a little more child--*ahem*--excuse me, chicken feed? 

The answer: Neither.

The outcome of this one-shot is hard to describe. Imagine the cartoon Garfield and Friends paired with Thundercats because they both involve felines. Now imagine the film Rush Hour shaken and stirred with Enter the Dragon because of mixed-racial casting. Well, in this one-shot the common denominator happens to be monsters. In Powell's world, the Goon fights slack-jaws and an undead priest. In Niles', Cal McDonald fights off werewolves and vampires. Mix the two together and we should get a big bag of dead monsters and awesome camaraderie between our favorite monster slayers. Sounds good, right? But considering the two completely different tones of storytelling featured in Criminal Macabre and The Goon, it's tough to call this a good choice.

Fans of The Goon will instantly notice a change in direction from their comically morbid world into a serious comic entity. This is sad to say too, since it is Eric Powell listed in the front cover as the one providing the "Farts and Negativity." Sadly, no farts were made during the reading of this comic (unless they were made by yours truly) and little to any comedy panned out in the story (I blame Niles for this one. After all, he is credited the storyteller).

But the truly remarkable feature in this comic is Christopher Mitten's artwork, most particularly when it comes to action sequences. Mitten hones in on the epicenter of each delivered movement with a strong fluidity. The amount of awesome rock'em, sock'em action in this comic is a big plus. One minute the Goon and McDonald rebel rouse one another in stunning clarity, while in the next they fight along side an ominous horde of Lovecraftian ghoulies. Good times, ahoy!

By the time I finished this comic, I was truly happy I made the purchase. The story bounced around a bit before delivering the goods and ultimately paid off with decent artwork. I'm afraid new-readers will lose out on The Goon's full effect here around. This comic is certainly nothing like The Goon/Hellboy one-shot where the creator's offered even tastes to both characters. In adjustment to this one-shot, I'd recommend Powell's most recent publication The Goon #34, which delivers a very different story but far more original than this mash-up.

Truthfully, this story doesn't matter much in either of the two series and only introduces Criminal Macabre's plot with the hopes of luring new readers in Nile's direction. There are plenty of incentives to this comic that are well worth the four bucks (like extra artwork by Ben Templesmith and Christopher Mitten, and *gasp* a brief Hellboy cameo!). But sadly, Nile's story is too uninteresting, I think I'll sit on the golden egg dubbed The Goon for the time being and try to ignore further Dark Horse mix-tapes. Nice try Niles.