Product Description: Kolchak the Night Stalker: Fever Pitch: Moonstone's first all-original Kolchak story! Guts-Mayhem-KOLCHAK! For three nights straight, some poor innocent spontaneously combusts in front of a horrified witness. Like chain links, the previous night's witness is the following evening's victim. But who's behind these deaths? The Wolfman? An Anaconda? A Giant Spider? According to police reports, these three monsters were spotted at the scene. Kolchak, hot with the flu, makes a little report of his own that adds up to some life saving advice-NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON FEAR! Written by award-winning mystery novelist Stuart M. Kaminisky!
Kolchalk fans will adore it. This entry in the reborn Kolchak: The Night Stalker starts off with a bang, literally. An old woman steps into an ice cream shop and promptly explodes in front of the owner, who turns away because he then sees a werewolf leaping out of the woman. No surprise that that little tidbit snatches the attention of reporter Carl Kolchak, who happens upon the scene. The mystery becomes more gruesome when the ice cream shop owner explodes in front of someone a day or so later. Obviously something very odd is happening around Los Angeles.
Fever Pitch does a credible job of capturing the flavor of the cult TV show (and it follows the contemporizing that Mark Dawdiziak did in his Kolchak novel Grave Secrets - placing the series characters in Los Angeles). Kolchak still has a hard time making those around him believe the outlandish stories he runs across with regularity and the humor of the show is retained. My only complaint is that the monster is poorly thought out and the explanation given (while certainly unique) is nowhere near clear enough to satisfy. Nonetheless, the characters still look and act the way they did on the show and fans will certainly want this in their collections. I know I did. Kolchak lives!
Captures the spirit of the series A gory story of exploding bodies with the witness of the phenomena becoming the next victim has Kolchak on the case. This graphic novel (basically a comic book with professional graphics and high quality paper) recaptures the spirit of the original series, including its humor. The running gag has Carl with a cold receiving advice from everyone he encounters about the best treatment. The main story is well told and paced with the ending being just a bit loose. Fans should know that this issue, and I believe the others in the Moonstone series, do place Carl in a contemporary setting. So while Carl and the rest of the cast look like they did in the 1970s TV show, the 21st century Carl writes his reports on a computer not his familiar typewriter from the series. Overall, I believe fans of the show, and even those unfamiliar with it, will enjoy this read.