Cal McDonald is still coming to terms with being turned into a ghoul, but when a councilman is murdered by a werewolf on national television, he decides to investigate anyhow. Along the way, he runs into a gang of angry vampires, befriends
a police officer named Wheatley and is ambushed by a pack of weres. In other words, business as usual. Readers expecting Steve Niles’ usual humour, blood and mayhem won’t be disappointed, as each is delivered in spades with strong support from Christopher Mitten’s artwork. Niles also manages to sow some seeds for future storylines, most notably with Wheatley and his mysterious agenda. Whose side is he really on? Time will tell, but for now, Criminal Macabre: They Fight by Night serves as a nicely self-contained tale that also furthers McDonald’s overall storyline.
Bedlamopens with a group of teachers and schoolchildren being massacred by Madder Red, a
masked psychopath reminiscent of Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight. Red is eventually stopped by his Batman equivalent, but not in time to save any lives. Flash forward ten years, and readers are introduced to a men- tally disturbed man who is convinced he can help police solve the current slate of brutal murders plagu- ing the city. Is this man Madder Red, now re- formed? Or has Mad-
der Red only ever existed as a product of this man’s deranged mind? Instead of a simple Batman/Joker pastiche, this is actually a thought-provoking and truly disturbing study of persona, reality and perception. Riley Rossmo’s art is fantastic; colour is used for the modern se- quences, while the flashbacks play out in stark black and white, with random streaks of red. The two distinct visual styles comple- ment the schizoid nature of the story perfectly, resulting in a nightmarish and very confident debut.
Augusta likes to regale her younger siblings with stories
about how she was born on an- other world and one day floated down from the sky to become part of their family. People around her dismiss her stories as childish
fantasy, but the sud- den arrival of the Snabbit – a creature that’s part snake, part rabbit – reveals Augusta’s tales are in fact true. But be- fore she can regain her lost memories and determine why she ended up on Earth, she must face the monstrous Om- niphant, a dreaded Meeouch and the horrifying Balloonies. Augusta Wind is cut from the same classic fairy-tale mould as the Oz se- ries: a young hero(ine) is plunged into an unknown world filled with danger, where monsters lurk behind every corner. J.M. DeMatteis spins a good introduc- tory yarn, peppered with plenty of delightful and grotesque characters. Vassilis Gogtzilas’ art, however, takes a bit of getting used to. While he has the right aesthetic for this bizarre story, it feels as if his drawings are cramped by the standard comic page size with a lot of detail lost. Not a deal- breaker but it does lessen the impact of the story.
With the title Edgar Allan Poe’s The Conqueror Worm,
there’s no question as to where this yarn draws its inspiration from. Having just murdered his wife and her lover, Colonel Mann treats his friends to a
travelling pup- pet show, little realizing he is about to witness a stage re-enactment of his crime. Soon, both the puppeteers and the au- dience fall prey to Mann’s violent outburst and the sudden appearance of the ravenous con- queror worms. While the story itself is some- what derivative and takes as much inspiration from Shakespeare and EC Comics as it does from Poe, Richard Corben’s stunning art ele- vates the material and makes this a must-buy. Every panel is gorgeous, with the artist making even the mundane a wonder to behold. Luckily, his copious amounts of blood and gore are equally mesmerizing.
Usually I find holiday tie-ins to be useless filler but Mars Attacks the Holidays has shattered that no-
tion. Each of the four stories see Martians attacking a late-year holiday: Halloween, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. And each narrative man- ages to brilliantly weave the festivities with the carnage. For instance, Martians infiltrate a small town as trick-or- treaters; combat a group of soldiers on the inaugural Vet- eran’s Day; attack the Macy’s Day parade; and finally, find unexpected common ground with humans on Christmas. Every story is a winner, mixing healthy doses of humour, carnage and even pathos. Well worth tracking down, even in the post-holiday season.