Final Night: 30 Days of Night/Criminal Macabre Crossover #4 Review: The End of One Epic Series

SPOILER ALERT: If you do not want to know which series will never see the light of day again, pun intended, stop reading now.

Before this mini-series began, “30 Days of Night” and “Criminal Macabre” creator Steve Niles promised that by the end of it all, one of these series would be finished.

Well, it’s over.

“30 Days of Night” is dead.

In an epic, but all too quick final battle, zombie, private detective Cal McDonald will live to fight another day. But his fight to rid the world of evil has just begun. Even with Eben’s death, the vampires are still strong and organized. That being said, McDonald and Mo’Lock’s journey is just beginning.

This issue is essentially one huge fight. While artist Christopher Mitten’s art is solid, there are a few scenes were the zombies look a bit more like vampires. Other scenes make it a bit too difficult to tell what is actually happening. The scale of the battle and gore is absolutely there, but the emotional element isn’t as strong as it could be. McDonald goes through a heck of a lot emotionally and physically in this issue. you don’t necessary get it from the visuals.

Niles’ writing has McDonald as his usual wise-ass self; a few different facial expressions could have helped convey the sense of loss and adaption the character goes through. the same thing goes for Eben. In a mere 26 pages, Niles is able to basically end the work that put him on the map and almost reinvent his younger, but more diverse creation. It’s a lot to do. Although it feels rushed, it is a fitting climax.

This issue is also a shift for Niles too. After issue three, it appeared Eben and the vampires had McDonald’s number, but the shifty detective got the last laugh. Much like the “Criminal Macabre” series, it ultimately proved to have more staying power, even if it isn’t the attraction “30 Days of Night” was. Yet. McDonald is such an engaging character that it would have been silly and unfair to put him to bed before it was his time.

Instead, he’s been reborn.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 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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