Criminal Macabre: The Third Child #2
Dark Horse
Words: Steve Niles
Art: Christopher Mitten

Dammit, I’m loving this book!  I mean, holy ball sack, it’s just so good.  Ok, enough gushing.  No, wait… Yeah, I’m done.  For now.

Sorry.  But really, I’m totally digging watching the transformation of Cal McDonald into whatever it is he’s becoming.  And to say that things have reached a boiling point is a bit of an understatement.  Things are downright grim.  I mean, honest to god, end of the world any minute type stuff.  Those two creepy baby demon things are still on the loose, this time getting an entire congregation of folks to go bat shit crazy on each other.  And speaking of bat shit crazy, Cal lays into a mob of monsters like there’s no tomorrow.  And for these monsters… there isn’t. I mean he kills ‘em all dead.  Like really dead.  Way dead.  There’s ain’t no coming back from this one kind of dead.

But it’s not all just action and punchy things; we get some very human and tragic moments in this issue.  When Cal has a reunion of sorts with his Dad, we see that no matter how far gone Cal may appear, he’s still very human.  And Wheatly… Man, what happens to him and his family is just plain gutting.  Chalk one up for Hemlock on that one, geesh.  And what may be the most human moment of all comes from our undead ghoul pal, Mo’lock.

Steve Niles continues to craft just plain fantastic stories that are consistently good on so many fronts.  And Christopher Mitten matches Niles stroke for stroke with art that is truly gorgeously gruesome.  I’m pretty sure it’s easier to count how many people keep their heads on their shoulders in this issue, than it is to count the heads that go flying.  (It’s  11 by my count anyway.  Eleven heads go bye bye in this issue.  That’s a lot.)

I’ve said before, give me story, art and action, and I’m there.  Steve Niles and Christopher Mitten deliver again and again.  I’m so there with Criminal Macabre.

4.75 out of 5 Bouncing Heads