Final Night: Criminal Macabre/30 Days of Night Crossover #1 Review: The Beginning of a Beautiful End

Steve Niles knew that combining his two signature series across two comic book companies would result in cataclysmic events.

The end of one of them.

But by the conclusion of issue one, you have no idea which one will meet its maker.

That’s probably the best part.

A foundation for the rest of the series, we see monster hunter Cal MacDonald is still the best at what he does, but former Alaskan sheriff turned king of the fang-ers Eben, has plans on expanding his business into Los Angeles. If you’ve only been briefly connected to CM, you know McDonald can’t let that happen. If you only have a passing knowledge of 30 Days, you know Eben has nothing left to live for, except destruction.

What happens when an immovable force meets…you know the rest. Something will have to give here eventually. From the beginning, it’s poised to be a wild ride.

Niles has done a stellar job of combining these two worlds. Even though there are only a few scenes where these two universes interact, it’s seamless voyage thus far. McDonald is his normal charming self, while the vampires are as gruesome as they’ve ever been. Nothing has been watered down. This is the way the crossover should be done. Regardless of what series you’re more a fan of, you’ll find the story unbiased and unblemished.

Christopher Mitten’s art isn’t Ben Templeton’s the guy who’s art is synonymous with both series, but it’s damn good nonetheless. Even in the blurry noir style he works in, he has a penchant for expression and motion.  Again, it doesn’t matter which comic has your indie heart in the palm of its hands, you’ll feel right at home with the visuals.

With this kind of fluidity between characters powered by Niles and Mitten’s true to formula, yet strikingly fresh visuals, the first issue of this highly anticipated mini-series doesn’t disappoint.

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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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