Hairball: A Cal McDonald Mystery
By Steve Niles and Casey Jones
Published by IDW
Savage Membrane by Steve Niles was one of my favourite non-comics reads this year, and I'm delighted to see Cal McDonald -- Membrane's drug-addicted supernatural private eye -- back in print again so soon. And this time, he's in comics form.
Originally serialized in Dark Horse Presents, this is a tightly focused PI story soaked in the supernatural and told with a post-ironic attitude that's blunt and to the point. McDonald is approached by a young man who believes his roommates are up to no good, and McDonald is on the case.
Ashley Wood set a definite style for this world in the Savage Membrane illustrations, and it's 180 degrees from the straightforward style in evidence from Casey Jones. But Jones's work suits the story just fine, and the cover is one of the most striking I've seen on a comic book this year.
This is an unpretentious and compelling story that should appeal to anyone who enjoys horror stories, but for my money the first-person narration Niles delivers is the real star. He's created a terrific character in McDonald, seems to know him inside and out, and has created an inner world and outer milieu for his character that is great fun to read about in comics or prose. Grade: 4/5