Writer Steve Niles’ crash course through the two series that made him a household name in comic books continues and with it, fantastic art and a developing story rear their blood-soaked heads. It may not be as exciting as the first issue of the four-part series, but the ending and fight scenes alone make up for a few lulls.
As the case when combining separate comic book worlds, it takes take to get them to fit. While Criminal Macabre and 30 Days of Night already have plenty of things in common, this issue fleshes everything out and mixes the characters together more. At this point, nothing feels forced or out of place. Much of this amalgamation is done by simple conversation. The rest is done by death. There’s enough in this issue to satisfy the blood-thirsty comic fan.
Artist Christopher Mitten spares no expense in this issue with two, one-page pieces that sell the importance of the story all by themselves. They tell the reader two things: time is running out and don’t piss off a zombie. The rest of his work is gritty, yet fun. He captures the antics of McDonald and the seriousness of Eben to a T.
The same thing goes for the work of colorist Michelle Madsen. Although the book has a dark, noir look, Mitten mixes in various shades of blue and red at all the right times. Although there is no color in the eyes of the main characters, the white in them, usually just a dot or two, tells a story all by itself.
Behind the slow, but sure development, gory pictorials and a cliffhanger ending, Niles and his crew continue to deliver the experience fans of both franchises deserve. That said, the 30-night wait for the next issue of this comic will be a torturous one.
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.
Writer Steve Niles’ crash course through the two series that made him a household name in comic books continues and with it, fantastic art and a developing story rear their blood-soaked heads. It may not be as exciting as the first issue of the four-part series, but the ending and fight scenes alone make up for a few lulls.
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