Let’s give it up for Steve Niles and Christopher Mitten. These guys have teamed up for my favorite Cal McDonald story so far. I actually thought that last month’s issue was the best of this arc, but it turns out that this month’s was pretty great too. Does that mean that the finale will be even better? I wouldn’t be surprised considering what goes on here. Cal and Mo’Lock have entered the Los Angeles Eye Bank in search of some new eyes for Adam (a.k.a. The Frankenstein Monster). After being transported there by Jason Hemlock, they find themselves face to face with some kind of (well I don’t really know how to describe it) freaky looking creepy-crawly with one hell of a long tongue. I wonder how Steve’s script described this thing. I’d like to see that. Well, this creature is no pushover. It shows our two ghoulish friends that it’s not looking to have its mission interrupted without a fight. But thanks to some newly discovered power, Cal manages to scare it off, if only temporarily. After Cal and Mo’Lock get back to Hemlock’s place with Adam’s new eyes in hand, Hemlock performs the transplant and voila, new eyes. But that’s not the crazy part. Or even a spoiler, as much as it sounds like one. We find out that there may be a link to Cal and the newly developed disease that is weakening and killing the Ghouls. And that’s not all we find out. Cal’s dislike for this Hemlock guy may not be as unwarranted as we originally thought. Anyway, if I keep typing I’m going to ruin everything. Let’s just put it this way, my jaw dropped on the last page of this issue.
Niles has honed his skills in writing for these characters so much so that I kind of forgot that I was reading at one point. Everything just flows so smoothly. Of course when you have a group of characters so diverse like this to work with, giving them all specific personalities is probably a blast. It wouldn’t even be difficult at this point, I bet. Of course Cal is his normal sarcastic self. His humorous personality really allows the reader to identify all of the other characteristics within the book. It almost feels like he is entertainment for every other character. And I don’t mean that negatively. Just imagine a situation where everyone at a party turns to look at the same distraction, but they eventually return to their own conversations. So all that paired with Christopher Mitten’s art really makes for a solid product.
Leave it to Steve Niles to make you think that a story is going in one direction, but totally throw you off last minute. That’s what I found so exciting by the time I got to the end of this issue. He always keeps you guessing. We have the finale of this arc next month and I can assure you that you’ll want to be there. I definitely will be.
But just a side note, Cal McDonald is my favorite chain-smoking, paranormal detective ever.
Score: 5/5
Writer: Steve Niles Artist: Christopher Mitten Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 11/27/13