Steve’s collaborator, artist Nick Stakal, was recently featured in an interview about their new Cal McDonald mini series. We’ve got an excerpt below, and the entire interview can be found online at CBR, here.

Stakal said film-noir and down-and-out detective type stories fascinate him, which “Criminal Macabre” delivers with a ghoulish twist, naturally. “I draw a lot of inspiration from movies and my favorites are stuff like ‘Touch of Evil,’ ‘Third Man,’ ‘Out of the Past,’ ‘Chinatown,’ ‘Angel Heart,’ etc. I guess that’s what I’m trying to bring to the project too, a kind of cinematic vibe with stark lighting and maybe a more realistic look to the characters than what’s been done in the past.”

Niles & Stakal have stayed in touch since their “Hyde” collaboration and have discussed working together again, but the timing just wasn’t right until now. “It just happened that they were looking for a new artist and I was finishing up my commitment on ‘Strange Girl.’ I showed Dark Horse my ‘Strange Girl’ work and some Cal McDonald doodles I’d done and we were off and running.

“Criminal Macabre: My Demon Baby” #1, pages 3 and 4
“I’ve been drawing it for a while now, with a few issues already in the bag,” continued Stakal. “I don’t want to say too much about what I’ve been drawing for fear of spoiling the story, but let’s just say the undead Knights Templar has been one of the most fun bits to draw.”