Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Steve Niles
Artist: Christopher Mitten
Release Date: 18th June 2014

Cal McDonald is dead.

Fortunately for fans of LA’s supernatural detective, he’s still kicking around as a ghoul, so his story’s not over yet.  After the recent battle with Eben Olemaun, the big bad of writer Steve Niles’ other main book 30 Days Of Night, Cal is even more of a broken man than usual, grieving over the loss of his friends and coping with his new undead status.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the rest of the Ghoul community are dropping like flies due to a mystery ailment that might have a connection to McDonald’s transformation.  Oh and Frankenstein’s Monster has turned up again, this time needing help with a new pair of eyes as he’s going blind.  Against his better judgement, Cal brings Frankenstein’s first born to Hemlock, a Criss Angel-type magician who isn’t as fake as he makes out.

With a lull in the ongoing war, Eyes Of Frankenstein is a lighter affair, full of the gallows humour that Niles writes so well, without losing sight of the darkness and horror that makes this series so appealing.  Cal is essentially a tragic character, with each story almost an exercise in how much crap he can put up with, but like a true hero, he never gives up, even when he’s dead.

With Christopher Mitten now established as regular artist, Criminal Macabre has a proper unified look. Yeah, it’s a horror comic first and foremost, but it’s frequently hilarious and often heartbreaking. Mitten is just the man convey each element, with a great sense of storytelling and comic timing slotting in with all the blood, guts and general creepiness.

30 Days Of Night may be Steve Niles’ biggest hit, but Cal McDonald is his finest creation. Eyes Of Frankenstein is another brilliant extension of this epic story, but crucially, one that can be jumped into without any prior knowledge of what has came before.

Buy it. You won’t regret it.

Rating: 5/5.

The writer of this piece was: Jules Boyle
Jules tweets from @Captain_Howdy