It was a very good read, but what mostly drew my attention were the superb Ben Templesmith's drawings. They add to the scariness so much! Cal is strong, complex protagonist, a mix of Sam Spade and Winchester brothers, a tough sarcastic detective with a ghoul for a partner. They are up against monsters like alien zombies and vampires and meanwhile Cal turns to drugs and alcohol every now and then to help him get through the day. The storyline was flawless since it had everything in it, perhaps a

Love the story and love Steve Niles' writing. Cal McDonald is everything that I want in an antihero. The artwork was provocative, innovative and good, but in my mind was too disoriented. It was nebulous enough that it caused unnecessary difficulty in flow and clarity. I will be reading the other collections, though.

At the heart of Criminal Macabre is a conceptually clever notion: take the hardboiled detective archetype epitomized by Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and recast him as a contemporary occultic detective à la Alan Moore's John Constantine. Cal McDonald is the story's cynical, hard-drinking antihero with friends in low places (and they don't come much lower than the underworld!).The story's central mystery -- which I won't spoil here -- turns out to be quite clever, and anchors Steve Niles' tak...

This could easily be someone's five star read, but it ended up being out of my comfort zone. Steve Niles has created a character who is both sarcastic and vile, which resulted in some seriously magical moments. Cal MacDonald is not your typical gumshoe. He attracts the bizarre. We're talking werewolves, vampires and ghouls. In fact, his partner Mo'Lock is a member of the undead. Is it any wonder Cal turns to drugs and alcohol on an hourly basis? Original, yes, but overall, I found the stories to...

Steve Niles recycles plot elements from prose and graphic stories. But I don't mind, because it sort of creates a mythology around this weirdly compelling set of characters. I wish I knew why I give a shit about his detective duo, Cal McDonald and ghoul sidekick Mo'lock. I think it's the partnership dynamic. Their energies are so opposite but their situations are so perversely similar... the comedy and pathos are both right at the surface.

I am extending SPCtYPDKED because I made it up so I can do what I want! Ok, this one is from Dark Horse, so you've probably heard of them if you ever read anything that isn't Marvel/DC, but whatever. Close enough. I came to LA following a severed head, and I've been here ever since. Criminal Macabre is a noir comic about an ex-cop, Cal, who attracts monsters in a world that doesn't believe in them. Monsters like vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc. The usual. Cal does what anyone would do if pr...

I’m not going to review it - if you love bad ass shit, freaks, monsters, drugs and bad language, excellent art work and simple but superb writing - that a is your poison!I fucking love Steve Niles for creating Criminal Macabre. It rocks so bad! And foreword by Rob Zombie - just excellent shit

With naught but a glance, I immediately noticed artwork redolent as reminiscent of another comic I particularly enjoyed years ago: Warren Ellis’ (still incomplete) Fell. Indeed, Wikipedia proved my suspicions correct, the talented Templeton showed up on this track as well. Featuring his grimy take on watercolors, an evocative feel became increasingly well nestled in with Niles’ good writing.As smooth as my kind intro might sound, definite faults prevent this offering from achieving anything beyo...

With a supernatural world that's totally unique, and eerily dark, beautiful, and blurry artwork, this tale of a PI investigating a vampire sighting quickly devolves into a crazy monster summit that Cal finds himself involved in. Interesting, and certainly not for everyone, this was a slice of some dark pie indeed.

Wonderfully fun graphic novel. The artwork takes an already cool story and makes it even better. Because the drawings are often blurred, you have to take extra effort to follow the story, which makes it more involving and scary -- an effect that worked equally well in 30 Days of Night. Cal McDonald is an awesome character who's wisecracks add a much-needed dose of humor to the generally dark story.

This is the best god-damned comic of the decade so far....and I'm not exaggerating. Niles and Templesmith's masterpiece. BUY IT NOW, IT WILL OWN YOU BITCH!

Like the story, but only somewhat impressed by the artwork.

This is pretty good. Templesmith is right on here, as usual, so not much needs said there. Steve Niles often doesn't do much for me - I basically bought this because it was super cheap and I knew I'd at least like the art - but it's not a bad read. There's definitely no new ground being broken, and the main character is that same wisecracking degenerate supernatural private eye character that pops up all over these days, but eh... It's still okay. Just about everything in this book is super obvi...

Wow, Sam Spade meets Supernatural! What a cool collection. I bought this book after meeting the fabulous Steve Niles at a comic convention in Calgary a couple of weeks ago.And I'm glad I did. Cal McDonald is a hard-boiled detective who investigates monsters and has a ghoul for a partner.McDonald is a pill-popping, coke-snorting, chain-smoking, whiskey-chasing cynic who's our last line of defence against the paranormal. Brain-sucking weasel? Check.Alien zombies? Check.Vampires? Check.Anybody who

Cal MacDonald is an ex-cop, who became a private investigator after he spectacularly failed the department's drug test. He has a nose for the weird, and this collection features a mystery that starts with some strange behavior by local monsters and takes Cal to the sewers and other odd places.The writing was absolutely superb, and I intend to read every issue of the various miniseries and novels Steve Niles has penned about Cal. Templesmith's art was great, although occasionally I had to stop an...

I really liked the story here: hardboiled detective, monsters, legends, plague... The concept and overall plot were great. However, it started off a bit slow, with mostly text, and not that much need for images - although I enjoy reading, I was starting to wonder why this wasn't a prose novel. It did pick up, the last two thirds or so were really good, up until the very end - the climax seemed to resolve a bit suddenly, but part of this feeling may have been from the art.How I felt about the art...

This feels a lot like the Dresden Files set in the 30 Days of Night universe. I enjoyed it.

Having never read Criminal Macabre, knowing anything about Cal McDonald or even what the series was about except for something to do with the supernatural, it made it intriguing to delve into. Our protagonist, our hero – sort of – is quite the complex character. He is a little Sam Spade and a little Donald Lam, a little Sam Durell and a little Sam and Dean Winchester with some Constantine sprinkled in. He’s brash, sarcastic and tough with hints of vulnerability that might come to pass in future

I really like the idea of this book and the noir type vibe it gives off. It's just really a shame that I can't tell what the Hell is going on because of the art. I understand it's a particular style, but seriously it's just so dark and scratchy that I can't make things out! There's a part where Cal is in the Evidence Warehouse and there's a guy in there and apparently he turned into a werewolf, but then he just died and I couldn't tell how! It's really frustrating at times! The good thing is tha...

The art, while interesting a graphic, is a bit hard to comprehend at times and as interesting as the characters are, I feel like I'm missing some details and background information by not having read the novel prior to the comic series. It reads like I've come in to the story, already in progress.I intend to read the original novels, in time, at which point I may change my opinion on this series.All in all, though, it's a nice concept and a fun read. It just feels incomplete.