Niles and Mitten have created yet another heartbreaking issue of “Criminal Macabre,” this time with even more breaking. “CM: The Third Child” is without a doubt the most raw, uninhibited, and personal arc in the decade long “CM” history. Issue two slams the reader into all new territory with two particularly poignant scenes and a sorrowful moment of unexpected violence (you’ll know it when you see it and you’ll feel deeply for it). There have been a handful of horror comics to touch me so deeply, and “CM: The Third Child” is sitting right on top of that list.
WRITTEN BY: Steve Niles
ART BY: Christopher Mitten
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: October 15, 2014
All of the paranormal and supernatural creatures of LA are rioting, fighting, massacring, and generally being wholly unacceptable. The comic opens with Cal using his newfound aggression to wipe out a fair amount of these good for nothing monsters. If you ever doubted the brilliance of Mitten’s artwork, check out Cal slicing off the heads of an entire crowd of monsters with his fucking wing!
As with last issue, Mo and Adam can only sit back and watch as Cal slaughters and smashes his way into figuring out who he has become. The issue takes a sharp emotive turn when Cal flees the scene and shows up at his family members’ gravesites. For the first time in the sordid saga of “Criminal Macabre” we see Cal break—utterly shattering into a million little pieces—and there are no words to describe the emotional shock and awe I felt when Cal utters a few simple words—begging, pleading—for help. This breaks so many molds for Cal and the entire series. This, readers…was a gigantic moment in the history of “CM.”
Meanwhile, Hemlock is back and has teamed up with the bubblegum-baby-demon-blobs to essentially destroy the world and bring about the elusive Third Child. Which leads us to the second poignant, gut-wrenching scene. But I’m not going to spoil that. Because I want your jaw to drop as hard as mine did.
Niles is hiding a lot of messages in plain sight. His deft writing makes this an extremely fast paced and enjoyable read, but the deeper meanings, the hidden darkness, the wholly personal messages are there if you want to see them. Like I said in my review of issue one: this emotional river runs wild and I have a feeling we’ll be touching on issues like self-acceptance, addiction, forgiveness, and most importantly, redemption. Issue two is pulling absolutely no punches with these difficult subjects. The biggest war Cal is fighting right now is inside him and it’s very possible he might lose.
Mitten will forever and always blow my mind with his art, but never have I felt so deeply about his images as I do in “Criminal Macabre.” Take a look at Cal’s wings and the way they both blend into yet demand attention in each panel and come back to me on that. Mitten has captured the horrifying essence of everything this comic stands for while continuing to keep the art “loose,” as it were, leaving it up to the reader to fill in some emotional blanks.
In the end, LA is fucked. The vampires, monsters, ghouls, werewolves, etc., are irate and up to no good. Cal’s past is catching up with him and Mo can no longer come to his rescue. Hemlock and the demon babies are destroying humanity and the Third Child is coming. This is a shit storm of grand proportions and we have two issues left to resolve it. My heart aches for Cal and my anxiety for his wellbeing (along with Mo and Co.) is palpable. Next month’s issue cannot come soon enough.