STRANGE CASES #3 by Steve Niles, Dan Wickline, David Hartman(2008).
© D2/Image Comics

Mania Grade: B
Title: Strange Cases
Issue: 3
Authors: Steve Niles, Dan Wickline, David Hartman
Distibutor: D2/Image Comics
Price: $2.50

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Strange Cases #3

Strange Cases features a group of monster hunters working together to rid the very-haunted town of Chapel Hill of the various supernatural beasties that plague it. The group works at the behest of an eccentric rich guy named Roger Astan, who feels the sting of so many ghosts and goblins in his investments. And, by writer Dan Wickline’s – Steve Niles created the concept – own admission, each of the characters draws inspiration from other famous monster hunters of film, television, and literature – namely, Carl Kolchak, Buffy Summers, Ash Williams, Fox Mulder, and Abraham Van Helsing. Names have been changed to protect the innocent – and their copyrights, of course – but anyone with a passing interest in horror should recognize most of them. In that regard, Strange Cases stands as a work of loving pastiche fiction, with a premise that one could imagine hearing excitedly thrown around at a 12-year-old’s pajama party

In this third issue of four, Ivy – the Buffy-like character – and Greg -- the Ash-like one – drive up the snowy whitehead mountain in search of a rare flower that could alleviate brain tumors. One group of explorers has already gone missing in the same pursuit, so you know something unpleasant waits for the two. Fortunately, Greg has a lot of guns (and apparently, the upper arm strength to fire a pistol-grip like a handgun, but whatever). This misadventure underscores the burgeoning romance between the two, which we glimpse when Greg jealously runs off one of Ivy’s dates at the start of the issue. Given that the miniseries has only one issue left – with the possibility of more – I hope Wickline plans to open that particular box in quick order.

All of the issues of Strange Cases are self-contained, so you can pick this one up at your leisure. The preceding two certainly merit a look, but like this issue, I’d say that they will mostly appeal to horror fans that want to see so many of our greatest monster hunters on one team. On their own, the stories feel relatively standard – a quick setup of a supernatural quandary, a bit of soap opera drama between teammates, an attack on the aforementioned quandary, a small twist, and then glorious victory and one less monster problem for the citizens of Chapel Hill. David Hartman’s art is mostly pleasing to look at, though it eschews realism in favor of an angular cartoonish style befitting of the pleasingly – and I mean no criticism in saying this – childlike tone of the book. 

This issue of Strange Cases proves a lot of fun, but anyone not already enamored of the characters it brings together may not see the appeal.

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