Starting from where it left off, the conclusion to this brilliantly odd football themed murder mystery continues with celebrity cameo’s, hard nose Yorkshire detectives and ill-fated sports stars. Now that the plot and characters are established, the ball is well and truly rolling, as Sheffield United progress further through the FA Cup, much to the chagrin of one extremely disgruntled spectator. Although there are only glimpses of the killer for the majority of the story, it’s clear he doesn’t want United progressing, but it’s not clear why. And the seemingly ritualistic nature of the killings aren’t becoming any clearer.
With her team disbanded, DCI Charlton is now having to work with a more cynical group of detectives who seem reluctant to follow her leads and theories, one of which finds them chasing up clues in the Blades’ club shop, after another body shows up, this time smelling of Eau de Wag, a fragrance marketed for football teams. The climax is very silly, but very funny and one that you won’t see coming. As far as modus operandi go, it is certainly one of the more out-there reasons for serial murder, and for the culprit and motive to be revealed in such a way, well, makes for one of the most amusingly absurd conclusions to an already tongue-in-cheek story. Credit where it’s due, the writing is superb. Creative, witty, and all too aware of everything covered in the story.
Football Crazy: The Theatre Of Nightmares On The Road To Insanity, part of the CD Comics Surreal Murder Mystery Series, is certainly a different type of comic, and a world away from the mainstream. Whether you have an interest in the beautiful game or not, there’s enough there to keep anyone hooked, and the fantastically off-the-wall pay off makes for an amusingly different ending to this sort of tale, more than likely poking fun at the numerous, seemingly massed produced crime dramas that tend to flood the TV schedules. Once again Jim Rosenthal’s stellar FA Cup draws get sent up in hilarious style, along with regional news programme, Look North, which pretty much hits the nail on the head. With these quirks adding to an overall brilliant story, you really are missing out on some genius story telling if you don’t give Football Crazy a go.
You can find CD Comics back catalogue at the following sites, and with each issue being less than £1 each, what are you waiting for?
DriveThru Comics
CDComics at Smashwords Comics
KoboBooks
Diesel E-books
Kindle –Amazon
You can follow CD Comics on twitter, too! @CDGraphicNovels
Thanks for another detailed review and particularly for not giving away the ‘off the wall’ twist and ending. I’ll be sending you Part One and Two of Meadowhell: The True Horror of Shopping, next. Hope you enjoy.
It’s not got as many giggles as Football Crazy, but is equally macabre and was the first in the Surreal Murder Mystery Series.
cheers
Craig