Written by Dave Ulanski
Art by Keith Williams
Edited by Joe Gentile
Published by Moonstone Books
Poor Kolchak, the poor guy never gets a break, and in the trade paperback of Kolchak, Tales of the Night Stalker, The Rise and Fall of Carl Kolchak the story line holds true. What are you going to do as a paranormal investigator long before we saw series like Ghost Hunters or the Ghost Adventures on TV. Carl Kolchak was the first truly original ghost hunter, and this trade paperback collects numbers 1 through 7 of the acclaimed Tales of the Night Stalker. In this book we get human plant monster hybrids, a man eating shadow, a manipulative demon, gremlins, Sasquatch, Bloody Mary, a mummy from ancient Egypt, and a publisher that is out for blood. Out for blood as long as it is Carl Kolchak’s blood, seriously you do not want to miss a dead line at all with this guy. If you are a fan of Kolchak, this is one of the best trades to pick up, if you are new to Kolchak, then this is a good starting point without having to try to find all of the comic books in the series. You get the full story start to end, which ends up being more scary comedy than anything else you are going to read. If you love Kolchak, then you are going to love this trade.
Carl ends up doing what he does best throughout this book, kicking the hornets’ nest of paranormal activity, ticking off the undead, and trying to prove to his often abrasive editor that he really is seeing ghosts and other worldly activity. The paranormal is normal in this book, as Carl tries to keep from falling even deeper into the world of the undead. I was not so much impressed with the man eating shadow, but the manipulative demon was very cool as a story line. Gremlins was just plain funny, and nothing like the movie at all, while Sasquatch was just a simply enjoyable story line. Overall the only weak story was the man eating shadow, the rest were either executed brilliantly, were funny, or otherwise simply enjoyable to read.
This is going to be another one of those five of five star trade paperbacks, mostly because I am a fan of Carl Kolchak and really enjoyed everything that Moonstone has put out on this title series. It would have been fun being a paranormal journalist back in the day, long before we had white noise generators, EVP’s and the things we think are paranormal investigation today. Carl simply goes in with what he has, which more his bravado than anything else, and somehow manages to save the day. Well worth picking up and adding to your Carl Kolchak collection.
Related articles
- The Kolchak Papers (comicsforge.com)
- Kolchak: The Rise and Fall of Carl Kolchak (comicsforge.com)
- Sherlock Holmes & Kolchak: the Night Stalker #1 (comicsforge.com)
- Kolchak Tales: The Frankenstein Agenda #2 (comicsforge.com)
- Sherlock Holmes & Kolchak: The Night Stalker #3 (comicsforge.com)
- What does it take to be a paranormal investigator? (cincypararadio.blogspot.com)
