Dark Horse Comics 2019
Created & Written by Steve Niles
Illustrated by Gyula Németh
Lettered by Nate Piekos of Blambot
A noir tale of mysteries, vampires, love, and betrayal. Supernatural detective Cal McDonald, found wandering the streets as a disheveled vagrant, is ripped from his self-imposed retirement to resume his monster-killing career. But Cal is reluctant to return to the fray. What has the hard-bitten investigator so shaken? It's a long story that begins with a beautiful woman who happens to be a vampire . . . and ends with a bang.
I am thrilled beyond belief that Cal and Mo'lock are back! One of my all-time favourite series so I may be a tad biased here but that's okay because I am here to talk about books I love and that you should be reading. On that note if you've never read anything of the previous arcs that's okay because Steve is a master of making each arc individual and new reader friendly so you can easily pick this up and find yourself getting lost in their world. That we see these characters constantly grow, evolve and change with each circumstance and situation they find themselves in. So yeah this really is a great opportunity to just jump on board.
I love the way that this is being told. From the opening that starts off the story and how it takes us into the main story is extremely well done. It has that interest factor that makes you want to see and know more about what's going on here. The story & plot development that we see here through the sequence of events unfolding before us as well as how the reader learns information is sensationally well done. The character development is phenomenal and as you turn the page we learn more and more about them. The pacing is strong and easy feeling that allows the twists and turns come out to the reader creating this nice ebb & flow. This is just so well structured that there isn't a moment that you don't find yourself without something interesting to learn.
Also there is something great about seeing Mo'lock in action here and being not only the kind of friend he is but that's he's pretty amazing in his own right. After all he's a ghoul right and he's Cal's partner and friend so it's nice to see him as the kind of glue that holds things together. This added dimension to the story is utterly fantastic.
The interiors are freaking amazing to see. The linework is bloody brilliant in how we see the utilisation of the varying weights to bring about the attention to detail. I love seeing the individual faces and facial expression more so in the opening when we see a lot of homeless folks. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a talented eye for storytelling. I'll say this the colour work is interesting to see. I loved the opening grey tones that was beautifully done. With the addition of colour we get those pops that work in such interesting ways.
This is a beautifully done first issue in how we meet the characters and see how the meat of the story is going to be. It engages the readers' mind and imagination with these touches of humour that are subtle and well timed. The pacing with how it brings everything to us really does take the reader on the beginning of a journey there's no escape from and you don't want to. The blend of characters, species, races or whatnot is impeccably done and turns the city of Angel's into a much more intriguing place to be.