Ryan Fitzmartin

 Filmmaker & Writer

Recent Writing

Macabre Daily •

Resident Evil Requiem Is An Ambitious And Gripping Elegy For The Legendary Horror Series [Review]

Thirty Years since the release of “Resident Evil” on PlayStation One, Capcom faces down a long legacy with “Resident Evil Requiem". The series spans dozens of games across every conceivable console, from the GameCube to the N-Gage to the Oculus Quest 2 VR. This incredible catalogue contains some of the most beloved and acclaimed games of all time, as well as some of the most controversial and hated. Capcom has completely reinvented the series twice to massive success, and somehow remade its best...
Macabre Daily •

Todd And Mike Mignola Deliver Torment And Treachery In "The Crown: A Tale of Hell #1" [Review]

The Mignolas have not returned to Gammon and Lusk after all this time without good cause, though, and “The Crown: A Tale of Hell” is quite captivating and good fun. The dialogue is snappy, but carries the grandiosity that readers have come to expect from Mignola’s demons. This might be a bickering family, but they are bickering about the fate of a kingdom. Spending time with Gammon and Lusk as they feud is quite fun, but it’s the introduction of Sedara that makes this comic. The inspiration is c...
Eleven-ThirtyEight •

The Case for Mid-Budget Star Wars [Essay]

Star Wars is at a crossroads. While The Rise of Skywalker’s worldwide box office will gross over a billion dollars, that’s a far cry from The Force Awakens’ two billion. ROS will end up below every Avengers film, both Jurassic World films, and even its predecessor The Last Jedi. Perhaps most shockingly, the finale to the Skywalker saga could well end up with a lower total gross than DC’s Joker. Uncertain, the future is.


Imagine it’s 2016, and someone says to you an R-rated psychodrama would m...
Macabre Daily •

Blood On the Streets: Revisiting “The Purge” Series - The Purge (2013) [Essay]

James DeMonaco saw it all coming. America’s descent into government-sponsored white supremacist violence in the streets has been both slow and shockingly fast. It has always been here, whether in the form of lynchings, police brutality, redlining, deportations, and stand your ground laws. Still, the brazen, unrepentant horrors we witness every day on the news now seem unfathomable just twenty years ago. Yet some people saw the imperial boomerang swinging back, long before it hit. DeMonaco’s “The...
Macabre Daily •

Digging Our Teeth Into "The Devil's Luck” With Writer Rafael Scavone [INTERVIEW]

Macabre Daily: The original Hailstone was set in the Old West. What motivated you to change the time period of the story to the Great Depression? Rafael Scavone: Since the first series, Hailstone was conceived to work like a horror playground where, at each volume, a new horror story is presented in that snowbound town. Once I decided to follow this path, shifting the historical time became a powerful tool for shaping different horror stories in that same place. Devil's Luck was set in the Great...
Eleven-ThirtyEight •

How Lucasfilm Games Can Be a New Era For Everyone [Essay]

After eight years and five new games, the divisive era of EA Star Wars exclusivity has come to its conclusion. On January 11th, Disney signaled a change, launching the “Lucasfilm Games” brand, and promising “a new and unprecedented era of creativity”. Two days later Ubisoft announced a new open-world Star Wars game was in development, confirming that EA’s grip on Star Wars gaming had ended. The death of EA’s monopoly was long awaited and long called for by fans and prominent gaming personalities...
Macabre Daily •

Rae Allen Rustles The Hellboy Universe into the Weird West: Carmen Red Claw #1 [Review]

Allen fits her story neatly in the standard mold offered by most of Mike Mignola’s classic paranormal investigator adventures. Longtime Mignolaverse fans will settle into the comfortably familiar formula as Carmen tracks monsters while uncovering hints of a larger and more sinister evil. Seeing as this is Carmen’s debut, small hints of an origin story are drizzled in, which are likely to be expanded on in further issues. The story and dialogue of “Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast #1” isn’t an...
Macabre Daily •

Fortune Turns Men Fiendish: “The Devil's Luck: A Hailstone Story #3"” [Review]

Scavone comes back swinging from the slight dip in quality in issue #2, bringing back the fantastic “Fargo” vibes from the first issue. Taking the action out of the abandoned mine and back into the decrepit snowbound environs of 1930s Hailstone is a very welcome change. This unique setting was one of the most appealing things about “The Devil’s Luck”, and it’s a delight to revisit the snow-covered streets, vintage cars, and rugged townsfolk.  Flipping the dynamic from the previous two issues on...
Macabre Daily •

IN MEMORIAM: James Ransone [In Memoriam]

Ransone would go on to be an HBO Icon and a regular part of the David Simon ensemble, playing Corporal Ray Person on “Generation Kill,” and Nick on “Treme.” Ransone went on to guest and series regular roles on a variety of TV shows, “Low Winter Sun,” “Mosaic,” and “SEAL Team,” to name a few. He achieved critical notice for his independent film work in Sean Baker’s “Tangerine,” playing Chester the Pimp. Ranson’s unique energy perfectly fit Baker’s style, and he delivered maybe the funniest work o...
Macabre Daily •

Todd Mignola Talks The Family Ties And Feuds Of “THE CROWN: A TALE OF HELL” [Interview]

MD: Of Hellboy’s three siblings, do you see yourself as a Gamon, or a Lusk, or perhaps more as Gamori? Or are you the Hellboy of the family?TM: Oh, geez, I don’t really see myself as any of them—although, as a writer, you always inject a bit of yourself into every character. You can’t help it. Now, do I recognize aspects of my childhood self in Gamon? I do. And clearly Mike does too.MD: I have a sister, and I found the sibling rivalry fairly relatable! Do you feel as if you and your brother are...
Macabre Daily •

Menace In The Abandoned Mine!: “The Devil's Luck 2” [Review]

Ferigato’s work is just as impressive as it was in issue #1, and he handles the transition to the new mine setting of “The Devil’s Luck #2” very effectively. Darkness heavy settings in comics can often feel one-note, but Ferigato makes expert use of black and blue to create layering and depth to the caves. As with issue #1, his control of light via coloring is excellent, with warm yellow lanterns creating high contrast and stylization. Ferigato puts a ton of effort and attention to the specific...
Macabre Daily •

Pig Wife Is A Must-Read Saga Of Multi Generational Madness [Review]

Standing at a towering 540 pages, “Pig Wife” is the massive debut graphic novel from animator and writer Abbey Luck. Standing in the tradition of “From Hell,” “Persepolis,” and “Watchmen,” Luck’s horrifying and expansive story of family tragedy spans decades of trauma and terror. Featuring breathtaking, truly disturbing art from Luck and Ruka Bravo, “Pig Wife” announces the arrival of a powerful new voice in comics and horror.WHAT’S IT ABOUT“Pig Wife” is the story of the Harlow family and their...
Macabre Daily •

EC Comics’ “CATACOMB OF TORMENT #6” Tantalizes with More Twisted Tales [Review]

“The Composite Man” follows the plight of Riel Tran, a woman being stalked and harassed by a group of men to the point of insanity. Working closely with a police sketch artist, she tries to identify her attackers, but the cops are always three steps behind and doubt her stories. Bors escalates the narrative well, and Riel’s story is compelling and grim as her life disintegrates around her in just a few short pages. The ending isn’t particularly notable as Bors rushes to wrap it up at the end. Th...
Macabre Daily •

EC Comics’ “CATACOMB OF TORMENT #5” Serves A Trio Of Twisty Tales: [Review]

The strongest and most entertaining story is by far ‘Necronomiccomicon’. Dorkin has come up with a very clever concept, a delightful little satire of fandom and collecting culture. It’s a perfectly executed short story that establishes fully developed characters as well as its unique concept, and delivers a fully satisfying narrative arc within a dozen pages. Lukas Ketner’s art displays some terrific facial expressions, gnarly violence, and the final panel is absolutely killer. ‘Necronomicon’ is...
Macabre Daily •

Over 100 Years Later, “HÄXAN" Remains A Radical Sociopolitical Horror Film [Retro Review]

It's not often that I get the pleasure of saying "I've never seen anything like this", but tonight I did! “Häxan” is a film not like any other; it's a film essay, a history lesson, a horror film, and a fiery feminist political statement. I've mostly heard this film lauded for its monsters, makeup, and striking visuals, but it was the political and religious themes that struck me the hardest. “Häxan” is a film about witches, yes, but not really in a fun and cool way as I expected. Seeing it on th...
Macabre Daily •

Macabre Daily's Scary Season Selections: HALLOWEEN! [Listicle]

Halloween season leaps into the final stretch this week! Can you believe it?! If you are anything like us here at Macabre Daily, celebrating horror is a year-round affair. Many of you are likely participating in Hooptober, Sarah Stubbs’ annual #100HorrorMoviesIn92Days, some combination of the two, or something else entirely! That’s the special thing about this time of year; we all celebrate all things scary differently.To honor the dead, I have put together a theme for each week in October with...
Macabre Daily •

Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Man Discussion With Artist Jesse Lonergan [Interview]

MD: How did you come up with those complex and original overlapping and curving panel layouts? Was that in Mike Mignola's writing or did you decide to design those early pages that way?JL: I think one thought leads to another, so on page 4, there’s an evolution sequence, and circular panels felt like a good way to convey the passage of time, echoing the sun traveling across the sky, the cycles of the moon and the orbits of the planets, circles within circles, showing different passages of time....
Macabre Daily •

Gold Teeth And Greed In The Great Depression: “The Devil's Luck: A Hailstone Story” #1 [Interview]

Dentistry has never been so dangerous as it is in “The Devil’s Luck: A Hailstone Story #1.” Rafael Scavone and Eduardo Ferigato’s vicious new crime story brings darkness to a snowbound small town of Hailstone, Montana. This is Scavone’s second trip to the town of Hailstone; his previous series explored the town during the Old West. “The Devil’s Luck: A Hailstone Story #1” is a grubby and grim classic tale of small-town crime, and I am hooked on this first issue.WHAT’S IT ABOUT?Leopold Auberon, a...
Macabre Daily •

Hellboy Ventures Into The Fog! Hellboy and The B.P.R.D. The Ghost Ships of Labrador #1 [Interview]

The first sign that a reader is in for a good time with a Mignolaverse comic is seeing Laurence Campbell’s name on the cover. Of all of Mignola’s various collaborators over the past 25-plus years of Hellboy comics, few are as evocative as Campbell. Campbell’s scratchy art is some of the creepiest and most haunting to ever grace a comics page, and his work on The Ghost Ships of Labrador is no different.As Hellboy and Abe investigate the unfortunate town of Red Bay, the fog and mist seem to float...
Macabre Daily •

Curses And Cruelty In EC Comics’ “Catacomb of Torment #8" [Review]

Tobin’s take on modern dating revolves around expert miniature painter Lydia Greenleaf, a shut-in who sells high-priced custom minis. Lydia sells her hand-painted miniatures online as the “Miniature Minotaur”. As anyone involved in the miniature scene can tell you, these tiny and delicate models fetch incredible prices and require immense talent to paint. Lydia is faced with dozens of commissions, but her sister insists to her that there’s more to life and keeps trying to set her up. She even tr...
Macabre Daily •

Carmen Red Claw Battles Cattle Rustlers And Cat Beasts In: “Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast #2" [Review]

Allen and colorist Michelle Madsen’s design for Carmen was instantly iconic in issue #1, but we get more Carmen action in issue #2, and everything she does just radiates cool. Whether calmly staring down a railroad baron, casually practicing knife tossing, or striding into a sunlit saloon, Carmen radiates that perfect cowboy “aura”. She’s got ice in her veins and a steel gaze; one look at her tells you this is not someone to be messed with. This is exactly what you want from a Western story, and...
A Place to Hang Your Cape •

The Top 10 Freakiest Hellboy Monsters! (Listicle)

The pages of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy comic are full of weird and wild monsters. For twenty five years, Mignola and his collaborators have come up with some truly strange and creepy creations. The key to how real these monsters feel is how fleshed out they are. Rarely does Mignola create a flimsy and dull creature and toss it away. He paints his creatures in three dimensions, giving them minds, motivations and often eloquence. Drawing on the rich tradition of gothic horror, many of his creatures a...
Eleven-ThirtyEight •

Shadow Fall: Where Will Alexander Freed’s Starfighter Story Go From Here? [Essay]

The novels of Alexander Freed focus on the trials and tribulations of frontline soldiers in the Galaxy Far, Far Away. Both his original works and his novelization of Rogue One center on characters’ experiences on the periphery of main galactic events. His latest novel, Shadow Fall, Part II of the Alphabet Squadron trilogy will be released next month. This piece will take a dive into what I’m expecting from Shadow Fall based on the contents and themes of Freed’s previous novels, Twilight Company...
Eleven-ThirtyEight •

I Swear It’s Good Now: Why You Should Return to Battlefront II [Essay]

Is it possible to overhaul a video game so radically that it becomes almost an entirely new, better product? I think so, and I think Battlefront II proves it. After well over two years in release, Battlefront II has been revitalized with new game modes, playable characters, and skins. The wealth of new content is a shot in the arm that’s resulted in a completely changed game. 


I don’t really play a lot of online shooters. I’ve dabbled in Battlefield and Call of Duty as much as any other gamer...
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Archived Publications

Multiversity Comics •

Blade II: A 20th Anniversary Retrospective [Retro Review]

In May 2002, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man would see release, becoming the first film to open to a $100 million dollar box office in one weekend. The film industry would never be the same. Superhero movies in the mold of Spider-Man would go on to dominate the industry. Marvel would soon become the biggest name at the box office; Spider-Man would change everything. A few months earlier though, in March, a smaller Marvel film was released. An R-Rated, gritty vampire action film, with a black leading acto...
Multiversity Comics •

Captain America: The Winter Soldier A 10th Anniversary Retrospective [Retro Review]

“Whose strong and brave, here to save the American way? Who vows to fight like a man for what’s right night and day?” These are the opening lyrics to “The Star Spangled Man,” the in-universe Captain America theme song from a glorious era of swashbuckling, swastika smashing, do-gooder action. In the 1940s, the bad guys were obvious –right and wrong never seemed so clear. It hasn’t been quite the same since. The modern world is a complex, difficult place, and those 1940s ideals seem outdated. Or a...
Multiversity Comics •

Light Carries On: Graphic Novel Review [Review]

What if death wasn’t the end? What if we got another shot at living, a second chance to find happiness and meaning? Ray Nadine’s supernatural drama “Light Carries On” explores queer romance and the meaning of life and legacy with tenderness and warmth. The Chicago set story is a moving dive into the emotional roils of a life unfulfilled, and a death unresolved. It’s a slow-moving but engaging walk through the life of one person and the afterlife of another. “Light Carries On” is a poignant and h...
Multiversity Comics •

Blood City Rollers: Graphic Novel Review (Multiversity Comics)

Do you like your sports with a side of the spooks? Do you think that competitions of strength and skill could be improved with a splash of the supernatural? Well if the idea of Vampires and Witches playing Roller Derby sounds enticing, then “Blood City Rollers” could be for you! This inventive teen-targeted graphic novel takes a typical underdog sports story, and adds in a healthy dose of the undead. The result is more comedy than horror, and things never get too gruesome.Cover by Tatiana HillWr...
Multiversity Comics •

In Memoriam: David Warner (Multiversity Comics)

There are no small parts for some actors. There are those of such strong talent that adding them into a movie in any way increases its quality tenfold. David Warner was one of those actors. We lost this Emmy-winning, BAFTA-nominated titan this year at the age of 80. Warner was a prolific, highly visible actor with literally hundreds of screen and voice credits to his name. He played a vast variety of genre roles. He portrayed everything from Klingons and supervillains to vampire hunters and seri...
Multiversity Comics •

Kali: Graphic Novel Review [Review]

Violent, energetic, and frenzied, “Kali” is an erratic whirlwind. Thinly scripted but heavy on extreme violence and gorgeous action, Kali comes from the Mad Max: Fury Road or Crank school of storytelling. This is a comic that is loud, aggressive and in your face. Writer Daniel Freedman and artist Robert Sammelin have crafted a tale of post-apocalyptic desert revenge. “Kali” is vivid, brutal, but it’s also strongly lacking in good characters or interesting dialogue.Cover by Robert SammelinWritten...
Multiversity Comics •

Dredd: A 10th Anniversary Retrospective (Multiversity Comics)

“America is an irradiated wasteland,” a voice gravely intones, as the camera swoops over the dystopia of Mega City One. This is the striking opening to Pete Travis and Alex Garland’s vicious, gritty and violently over the top Dredd. Set in a dystopia, fascist future where supercops function as judge, jury, and executioner, and gangs rule the street, Dredd stars Karl Urban as Judge Dredd. It was unloved upon release ten years ago, but it’s a phenomenal film and deserves a second look.The initial...
Multiversity Comics •

The Killer: Film Review [Review]

Is there a director more suited to telling the story of a cold, calculated killer than David Fincher? The man who has so expertly turned his eye to countless serial murderers takes his vision to those who slay for pay in The Killer. Fincher’s vision is ruthless, tight, and thoroughly planned to the minute detail. Fincher and his team take a rather boilerplate revenge tale, and make it tremendously thrilling.The script, adapted and condensed from the French comic of the same name, is your standar...
Multiversity Comics •

Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham Film Review [Review]

Something evil lurks in the shadows, a greater horror than any Batman has ever faced. After decades of facing a plethora of horrors on screen, Batman finally finds himself locked in battle against H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Christopher Berkley and Sam Liu direct this adaptation of Mike Mignola, Richard Pace and Troy Nixey’s comic, with a script by Jace Ricci. It’s DC’s latest foray into the horror genre, and it’s a fascinating effort to take Batman into new territory.The story does a terri...
Multiversity Comics •

The Wolverine: A 10th Anniversary Retrospective [Retro Review]

Editor’s Note: As a site founded on the idea that X-Men Origins: Wolverine is good, actually, it seemed fitting to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its sequel. Thanks to Ryan for stepping up to the task and reevaluating this second standalone Wolvie outing. For those craving more Wolverine film goodness, we’ve got you covered.When talking about Wolverine movies, the first movies that comes to mind are the Oscar Nominated smash-hit Logan, or the infamously derided X-Men: Origins: Wolverine. The...
Multiversity Comics •

Extraction 2: Film Review [Review]

Action heroes never truly die, and despite the ending of the first Extraction film, Chris Hemsworth is back again as Tyler Rake. The world’s greatest expert on getting people out of dangerous places is back. This Rake is smashing his way through a Georgian prison. For fans of the first film, Extraction 2 provides all the same shooting, punches, kicking, and car smashing. Extraction 2 is loaded from start to finish with virtually non-stop top-notch action, although whenever someone pauses for dia...
Multiversity Comics •

Noir Burlesque: Graphic Novel Review [Review]

“Noir Burlesque” is a gritty story of murder, mayhem and gangster’s molls. Dangerous men and seductive women fill the pages of Enrico Marini’s brutal story about mob violence. It’s a dark and grimy tale, sometimes to the point of verging on parody. Enrico Marini is clearly in love with the world of “Noir,” and he crafts a story that while effective, sometimes feels too much in love with its own grittiness. The story isn’t as grim and bleak as something like “Sin City,” but all the tough guy talk...