Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery
Encyclopedia
Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery is a comic book
series starring Cal McDonald, an antihero American comic book character created in 1990
by Steve Niles
(writer). The character's adventures have been published by Dark Horse Comics
and later IDW Publishing
.
Cal himself is akin to John Constantine
, a DC Comics
paranormal detective
. He takes illicit drugs, and befriends a network of ghouls to assist him in his cases. Policemen do not really care to be involved with Cal.
Fly in My Eye: Daughters of Fly In My Eye from Arcane Comix, with art by Jim Whiting
. That story led directly to the four-part "Hairball", serialized in Dark Horse Presents
#102-105 in 1996
. Hairball was later printed as a one-shot comic.
Cal's subsequent appearances were in two 2002 novels, Savage Membrane, and Guns, Drugs and Monsters. In the latter, Cal relocated to Los Angeles, after following a living, decapitated head searching for its body.
Following the novels Cal made his debut again in comic book form in the Dark Horse Comics
mini-series
, Criminal Macabre (2003) with Ben Templesmith
as artist. The two would pair up again for a one-shot comic titled "Love Me Tenderloin" in 2004. Cal's adventures have continued in other mini-series such as "Last Train to Deadsville" and "Supernatural Freak Machine", both with artist Kelley Jones
, where he re-encountered the decapitated head. Next, he starred in the mini-series "Two Red Eyes" with artist Kyle Hotz, where he does battle with the vampire Nosferatu. He also made a brief appearance in short story format in the Dark Horse Comics released title Drawing on your Nightmares, again with Ben Templesmith as artist. From there, he went on to do "My Demon Baby" & the current series "Cell Block 666" (starting in Sept 2008) with artist Nick Stakal
. The series "Two Red Eyes" started a trend continuing in "My Demon Baby", where action film actor Thomas Jane
would portray Cal on the issue's covers, stylized by artist Tim Bradstreet
.
During the release of some of the comic book series there was another novel released in 2003
titled Dial M for Monster: A Cal McDonald Collection. This novel included several short stories featuring Cal.
Criminal Macabre: The Complete Cal McDonald Stories collects the entire catalogue of Cal McDonald short stories (not the comic stories) until this point. It was released on December 26 of 2007
.
:
does not want to compromise or "water down" Cal McDonald, making it tough to find a studio that will finance the film as is.
Universal Pictures has just signed a deal to produce a Criminal Macabre movie with Kyle Ward scripting. It is set for release in 2010.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series starring Cal McDonald, an antihero American comic book character created in 1990
1990 in comics
-Year overall:Days of Future Present, the sequel to Days of Future Past, appeared in the annuals of Fantastic Four, New Mutants, X-Factor and X-Men.-January:* Dinosaurs for Hire is cancelled by Eternity Comics with issue #9....
by Steve Niles
Steve Niles
Steve Niles is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as 30 Days of Night, Criminal Macabre, Simon Dark, Mystery Society and Batman: Gotham County Line....
(writer). The character's adventures have been published by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
and later IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
.
Cal himself is akin to John Constantine
John Constantine
John Constantine is a fictional character, an occult detective anti-hero in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly under the Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing #37 , and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch...
, a DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
paranormal detective
Occult detective
Occult detective stories combine the tropes of the detective story with those of supernatural horror fiction. Unlike the traditional detective the occult detective is employed in cases involving ghosts, curses, and other supernatural elements...
. He takes illicit drugs, and befriends a network of ghouls to assist him in his cases. Policemen do not really care to be involved with Cal.
Publishing history
Cal McDonald's first story, entitled "Big-Head", was released in 1990 as part of the anthology comicComics anthology
Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication.- U.S. :- UK :British comics have a long tradition publishing comics anthologies, often weekly...
Fly in My Eye: Daughters of Fly In My Eye from Arcane Comix, with art by Jim Whiting
Jim Whiting
Jim Whiting is a British artist and inventor. He was born in Paris and spent his early childhood in Salisbury , Zimbabwe before returning to the UK with his family in 1959...
. That story led directly to the four-part "Hairball", serialized in Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...
#102-105 in 1996
1996 in comics
-Year overall:* Malcolm Jones III commits suicide at circa age 37.* Boody Rogers, creator of Sparky Watts, dies at c. age 92-January:* January 19: Bernard Baily, co-creator of The Spectre and Hourman, dies at age 79.* January 28:...
. Hairball was later printed as a one-shot comic.
Cal's subsequent appearances were in two 2002 novels, Savage Membrane, and Guns, Drugs and Monsters. In the latter, Cal relocated to Los Angeles, after following a living, decapitated head searching for its body.
Following the novels Cal made his debut again in comic book form in the Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
mini-series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
, Criminal Macabre (2003) with Ben Templesmith
Ben Templesmith
Ben Templesmith is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry, most notably the Image Comics series Fell, with writer Warren Ellis, which is credited with pioneering a new format for commercial comics, and IDW's 30 Days of Night with writer Steve...
as artist. The two would pair up again for a one-shot comic titled "Love Me Tenderloin" in 2004. Cal's adventures have continued in other mini-series such as "Last Train to Deadsville" and "Supernatural Freak Machine", both with artist Kelley Jones
Kelley Jones
Kelley Jones is an American comic book artist best known for his runs on Batman with writer Doug Moench and on Sandman with writer Neil Gaiman.-Biography:...
, where he re-encountered the decapitated head. Next, he starred in the mini-series "Two Red Eyes" with artist Kyle Hotz, where he does battle with the vampire Nosferatu. He also made a brief appearance in short story format in the Dark Horse Comics released title Drawing on your Nightmares, again with Ben Templesmith as artist. From there, he went on to do "My Demon Baby" & the current series "Cell Block 666" (starting in Sept 2008) with artist Nick Stakal
Nick Stakal
Nick Stakal is a comics artist who is best known for providing the artwork for two of the Silent Hill comic books, Silent Hill: The Grinning Man, and Silent Hill: Dead/Alive.-External links:...
. The series "Two Red Eyes" started a trend continuing in "My Demon Baby", where action film actor Thomas Jane
Thomas Jane
Thomas Jane is an American actor known for his roles in the 1999 film Deep Blue Sea, the 2001 TV film 61*, the 2004 film The Punisher and the 2007 Stephen King adaptation The Mist...
would portray Cal on the issue's covers, stylized by artist Tim Bradstreet
Tim Bradstreet
Timothy "Tim" Bradstreet , is an artist and illustrator, best known for his work on comic books , book covers, movie posters, roleplaying games and trading cards.-Career:...
.
During the release of some of the comic book series there was another novel released in 2003
2003 in literature
The year 2003 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Peter Ackroyd - The Clerkenwell Tales*Atsuko Asano - No...
titled Dial M for Monster: A Cal McDonald Collection. This novel included several short stories featuring Cal.
Criminal Macabre: The Complete Cal McDonald Stories collects the entire catalogue of Cal McDonald short stories (not the comic stories) until this point. It was released on December 26 of 2007
2007 in literature
The year 2007 in literature involves some significant new books.-Events:*November 19 - First Kindle e-book reader released.*December 11 - Terry Pratchett informs fans on-line that he has been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.-Literature:...
.
Series titles
- Hairball (series of back-ups, collected as one-shot)
- Criminal Macabre (Dark Horse 5-issue mini series)
- Love Me Tenderloin (one-shot, Criminal Macabre #6)
- Drawing on your Nightmares (short story)
- Last Train to Deadsville (Dark Horse 4-issue mini series)
- Supernatural Freak Machine (IDW series - issues 4-5 were never published. Soon to be collected in trade paperback by Dark Horse)
- Feat of Clay (Dark Horse one shot)
- Two Red Eyes(Dark Horse 4-issue mini series)
- My Demon Baby (Dark Horse 4-issue mini seires)
- Cell Block 666 (Dark Horse 3-issue mini series)
- Call Me Monster (Dark Horse FCBD 2011 issue)
- When Freaks Collide (Dark Horse one shot crossover with The Goon)
- No Peace for Dead Men (Dark Horse one shot)
Collected editions
The series has been collected into a number of trade paperbacksTrade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
:
| Title | Artist | ISBN | Collects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Macabre | Ben Templesmith Ben Templesmith Ben Templesmith is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry, most notably the Image Comics series Fell, with writer Warren Ellis, which is credited with pioneering a new format for commercial comics, and IDW's 30 Days of Night with writer Steve... |
ISBN 1-5697-1935-7 | Issues 1-5 |
| Last Train to Deadsville | Kelley Jones Kelley Jones Kelley Jones is an American comic book artist best known for his runs on Batman with writer Doug Moench and on Sandman with writer Neil Gaiman.-Biography:... |
ISBN 1-5930-7107-8 | Last Train To Deadsville 1-4 (Criminal Macabre 7-10) |
| Supernatural Freak Machine | Kelley Jones | ISBN 1-5930-7731-9 | Supernatural Freak Machine 1-5(Criminal Macabre 11-15) |
| Two Red Eyes | Kyle Hotz | ISBN 1-5930-7843-9 | Two Red Eyes 1-4 (Criminal Macabre 17-20) |
| My Demon Baby | Nick Stakal Nick Stakal Nick Stakal is a comics artist who is best known for providing the artwork for two of the Silent Hill comic books, Silent Hill: The Grinning Man, and Silent Hill: Dead/Alive.-External links:... |
ISBN 1-59307-908-7 | My Demon Baby 1-4 (Criminal Macabre 21-24) |
| Cell Block 666 | Nick Stakal Nick Stakal Nick Stakal is a comics artist who is best known for providing the artwork for two of the Silent Hill comic books, Silent Hill: The Grinning Man, and Silent Hill: Dead/Alive.-External links:... |
ISBN 1-59307-908-7 | Cell Block 666 1-4 (Criminal Macabre 25-28) |
| Omnibus Vol. 1 | Ben Templesmith and Kelley Jones | ISBN 1-59582-746-3 | Issues 1-5, Love Me Tenderloin, Last Train to Deadville 1-4, Supernatural Freak Machine 1-5 |
| Omnibus Vol. 2 | ISBN 1-59582-746-3 | Two Red Eyes 1-4, My Demon Baby 1-4, Cell Block 666 1-4, Feat of Clay, The Creepy Tree, The Trouble With Brains, Hairball |
Novels
| Title | Publisher | ISBN | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Savage Membrane | Idea & Design Works | ISBN 978-0-9712282-3-8 | April 2002 |
| Guns, Drugs & Monsters | Idea & Design Works | ISBN 978-0-9719775-2-5 | February 2005 |
| Dial M For Monster | Idea & Design Works | ISBN 1-932382-05-4 | September 2003 |
| Criminal Macabre: The Complete Cal McDonald Stories | Dark Horse Books | ISBN 1-5958-2118-X | December 2007 |
Film
A Cal McDonald film is said to be on the way, however due to the nature of the character, Steve NilesSteve Niles
Steve Niles is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as 30 Days of Night, Criminal Macabre, Simon Dark, Mystery Society and Batman: Gotham County Line....
does not want to compromise or "water down" Cal McDonald, making it tough to find a studio that will finance the film as is.
Universal Pictures has just signed a deal to produce a Criminal Macabre movie with Kyle Ward scripting. It is set for release in 2010.
External links
- My Demon Baby #1 review, Comics BulletinComics BulletinComics Bulletin is a website with an emphasis on the American comic book industry, updated daily with news, reviews, interviews, and editorial content. Coverage ranges from mainstream to independent/small press comic book and graphic novel publishers.-History:...
, September 24, 2007