Criminally Intriguing

With a wild cast of supernatural characters, Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s “Criminal Macabre” has plenty of depth through issue one to make it a worthwhile read.

If zombies, werewolves and zombies are your cup of tea, this series is for you. Add in the fact that the first issue of the series is free on Dark Horse’s digital comic app on the i-Pad and there’s no real reason why it shouldn’t be at least skimmed through.

Helping matters even more is a unique look the duo perfected while working on the cult classic, “30 Days of Night.” while they are a bit rough around the edges, they call to mind the early work of Brian Michael Bendis in the way they lend themselves to the story. Simply put, this is a down in the trenches detective story and it needed grimy and industrial visuals to pull off its message. Considering that, Templesmith’s work gets the job done here.

As far as the writing of Niles is concerned, it’s equally as simplistic at first glance, but surprisingly as enthralling as the visuals. Similar to “30 Days of Night” is the inclusion of vampires and a lead character with law enforcement experience, but that’s where the comparisons conclude.

On its own accord, this issue is an enjoyable experience, solely due to the coolness of main character Carl McDonald. Edgy in a “Sam and Twitch” meets “True Blood” sort of way, his personality fits this hard-boiled noir adventure perfectly. With the reader confused as to why all the monsters have begun meeting up and McDonald just as puzzled, the search for answers is an intriguing one.

While none are offered by the end of the first issue, the trail gets hot at all the right times, lighting the fire for what appears to be an adrenaline-fueled adventure.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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