Criminal Macabre
The Eyes of Frankenstein #3 of 4
Written by Steve Niles
Art by Christopher Mitten
Colors by Michelle Madsen
Letters by Nate Piekos
Cover by Justin Erickson
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: November 27, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Cal McDonald, the creation of Steve Niles (possibly best known for his title 30 Days of Night) is back in his latest mini-series under the Criminal Macabre banner. As the inset of the comic so accurately summarizes him, Cal is a pill-popping, alcoholic degenerate, who teams up with his ghoul associate Mo’Lock and traverses around the sin-infested streets of Los Angeles battling a growing horde of monsters. Think Dylan Dog but with less clarinet and more inebriation. The Eyes of Frankenstein picks up shortly after Cal’s last adventure where he found himself transformed into one of the undead and is now contending with life, so to speak, as a ghoul.

For Cal though, there is no rest for the weary and he finds himself quickly swept up in his latest adventure, this time providing his unusual investigative talents to Frankentstein’s monster, who is slowly going blind and it is up to Cal to find a solution. Through his associate Mo’Lock, Cal reluctantly turns to Jason Hemlock, an authority on the occult, for assistance. Hemlock may just be able repair the Monster’s eyes, and shed some light on Cal’s transformation into a ghoul, but is his help truly benevolent or is there a larger sinister plan at work?

Willow: Wonderland
Trade Paperback | Kindle Edition
Script by Jeff Parker and Christos Gage
Pencils by Brian Ching
Inks by Jason Gorder
Colors by Michelle Madsen
Letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
Cover and Chapter Break Art by David Mack
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: August 21, 2013
Cover Price: $17.99

If you haven’t kept up with Season Nine of the Buffyverse, here is the short version: All magic has disappeared from our world, now that The Seed had been destroyed. With some help from Angel, Willow has used Buffy’s broken scythe to open a way to another world where she might find a new source of magic and reestablish a connection to the powers she sorely misses. Willow: Wonderland is a five-issue limited series that is now available in graphic novel form for those who missed it the first time.

Jumping into a new world with nothing but a weapon in her hand, Willow establishes a destination after a quick incantation. Shortly after she is attacked by the local denizens and has a pretty close call with a humongous monster, she finds herself face to face with another mage from Earth (though he has had a bit of a mishap) named Marrak. Their adventures include meeting the original caterpillar from Lewis Carroll’s classic book, a reunion with Willow’s former mentor Aluwyn, and an introduction to Aluwyn’s Supercoven that she created near a Wellspring of magic.

X #0
Written by Duane Swierczynski
Illustrated by Eric Nguyen
Colored by Michelle Madsen
Lettered by Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Cover by Raymond Swanland
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 10, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

I love a character that doesn’t necessarily follow the typical path of the superhero; one that might be more inclined to cause a bit of pain before getting any answers; or someone with a dark past who may not have any powers, but believes in and fights for the notion of justice. This, I believe, is what Dark Horse is aiming to offer with its re-launch of the 1990’s comic vigilante, X. The problem, however, is that this particular anti-hero seems highly un-relatable in the initial issue, X #0.

Written by Duane Swierczynski with art from Eric Nguyen, we are immediately immersed into a dark, seedy criminal underworld within the city of Arcadia. While packaging up sausage links made from the meat of a previous associate, crime boss Duroc receives an envelope with a very disturbing image: his mug-shot crossed out by a large red “˜X’. Duroc meets in private with two other men, Pietrain and Hereford, both of whom have been given the same frightful letter. We learn through their conversation that other men have received letters and were murdered shortly thereafter by someone they’ve dubbed the “X-Killer.” The three men come up with their own schemes of how to either avoid or take down the X-Killer.

Robert E. Howard’s Savage Sword, Volume 1
Written by Paul Tobin, Scott Allie, Mark Finn, Marc Andreyko, Joe Casey, Robert E. Howard, Jeremy Barlow, David Lapham, Joshua Williamson, Dave Land, Peter Doree
Art/Illustrations/Pencils/Inks/Colors by Wellington Alves, Ben Dewey, Greg Scott, Pop Mhan, Tony Parker, Fabio Cobiaco, Patric Reynolds, M.S. Corley, Sean Phillips, Tim Bradstreet, Tim Seeley, Robert Atkins, Rebecca Buchman, Michael Atiyeh, Dave Stewart, Grant Goleash, Michelle Madsen, Jose Villarrubia, Brian Miller, Hi-Fi Colour Design, Dan Jackson
Letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: January 9, 2013
Cover Price: $17.99

Okay, first off, the individuals listed above were done so in the order in which their stories were placed in the anthology, subdivided by the type of work they contributed. No offense was implied towards any person who might have been placed incorrectly in this review. There, I’ve been about as politically correct as I can be. All characters are based upon the work of Robert E. Howard. This is, after all, Robert E. Howard’s Savage Sword, Volume 1.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 9 #10
Story by Andrew Chambliss and Scott Allie
Pencils by Cliff Richards
Ink by Andy Owens
Colors by Michelle Madsen
Cover by Phil Noto
Alternate Cover by Georges Jeanty with Dexter Vines and Michelle Madsen
Created by Joss Whedon
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 13, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 9 is all about the big existential questions interspersed with some brief action scenes and lovey bits thrown in. Joss Whedon is still the producer and occasional writer of his original creation, so all of those elements seem just as entertaining and challenging as ever. The Apart (Of Me) storyline has been no exception with Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 9 #10 rounding up the arc in an orderly fashion. There are no big explosions or revelations, but with a more internalized plot like this one, that would have just been rather tacky. Not to worry, there is stuff actually happening.

Buffy-Bot (body of robot, brain o’ Buffy) and Buffy-Not (body of Buffy, brain o’ Robot) get in a tussle with the latest big bad, the rough slayer Simone, Spike’s “bug army” shows up, Detective Dowling is upset over the loss of his partner turned zompire Cheung, Buffy makes a decision about her coffee shop gig, Spike and Buffy make some progress in their relationship etc. All that is rather important, as it sets up the next wave of Buffydom tales in a very natural manner.