Book Review: The Serpent in the Garden by M. Mignola et al.

The Serpent in the Garden: Ed Grey and the Last Battle for England written by Mike Mignola, art by Ben Stenbeck, and colors by Dave Stewart

Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder to Queen Victoria, was granted immortality through a set of bizarre and convoluted circumstances that I won't relate here (many situations in the Hellboy universe result from the bizarre and convoluted). He lives in England, the only part of the planet Earth spared from the apocalyptic ravages that have happened everywhere else. He lives a simple cottage life with Mary, though he is called upon by Queen of Avalon Alice to defend the country from a last ditch attempt by Morgan le Fay to take over. Morgan has her own champion Gruagach, an old foe of Hellboy. Things come to a blows when the small, piglike Gruagach is transformed into a more fitting champion and Grey is similarly transformed into a Green Man.

The story is interesting but leans heavily on previous Hellboy lore, so I am sure newcomers will not appreciate all the details laced into the plot. As with most other Hellboy-adjacent works, the art is delightful, capturing the richness of the world that Mignola has imagined. The ending has a nice payoff that is unexpected and satisfying.

Recommended for Hellboy fans who have kept up with the Witchfinder's tale and the general arc of the Hellboy universe.

Book Review: Universal Monsters: The Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives! by D. Watters et al.

Universal Monsters: The Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives! written by Dan Watters and Ram V, art by Matthew Roberts, and colors by Dave Stewart and Trish Mulvihill

Reporter Kate travels to South America in pursuit of a serial killer who tried to killer by drowning months earlier. She has a hard time keeping up with him because she has some serious post-traumatic stress and some brain damage from nearly drowning. Her desperate investigation leads her into the depths of the jungle where she gets more than she bargained for, i.e. more than one encounter with the Creature.

The art in this story is quite good, fitting the horror theme and Kate's mentally unstable state. The book describes it as anoxic brain damage which is a real affliction where the brain is damaged by extended oxygen deprivation. She is not depicted as a damsel-in-distress. She's a hero with a debilitating condition that heightens the drama. The story is well-paced and satisfying without being earthshaking or over-the-top. I liked it and might try other Universal Monster graphic novels.

Recommended for Creature fans.

Book Review: Bowling With Corpses by M. Mignola et al.

Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales form Lands Unknown written and drawn by Mike Mignola, colors by Dave Stewart, and letters by Clem Robins

This collection of tales by Mike Mignola is a mixture of borrowed stuff from other folklore and his own creations. Like many stories, characters start out as simple folk seeking a larger life, if they be the young lad who leaves hearth and home to bowl with the undead or the young woman who doesn't want to marry her father's apprentice and stay in the same blacksmith shop for the rest of her life (she goes on to be a pirate). The tales are very fanciful and follow the typical visual style of Mignola, with a lot of dark hues and odds bits where normally there would be white space. I found the volume very entertaining (I have much fondness for Mignola's style as a writer and artist) though not particularly deep. It's not meant as a profound exploration of human nature or history, so no worries!

Recommend, highly for Mignola fans like me.

Book Review: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Secret of Chesbro House & Others by M. Mignola et al.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Secret of Chesbro House & Others stories by Mike Mignola, Olivier Vatine, and Christopher Golden; art by Olivier Vatine, Shawn McManus, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, and Mark Laszlo; colors by Dave Stewart

Another set of adventures from the history of Hellboy...

Night of the Cyclops: In 1962, Hellboy helps capture a minotaur in Greece, though that is just the first page of this story. He has a sense that something else is odd in the area, so he sticks around while the B.P.R.D. cart off the half-man, half-bull. A goat starts talking to Hellboy, telling him to follow her. She calls him by a different name and leads him down a waterfall. Of course the goat can navigate the cliffs easily but Hellboy falls and cracks his head. He wakes up in the land of people who are half-goat, half-human. His escort was once a very pretty (and only human) lady which displeased Aphrodite, who sent Eros to make her fall in love with a satyr. When Eros saw her, he fell for her and didn't do the deed. So Aphrodite cursed her people to live as goat/human hybrids. And to be attacked by a cyclops once a year to wipe out their harvest and any other gains they made over the year. Hellboy has been brought there just before the Cyclops attack, so the story ends with some action and reconciliation. The artist does a good job imitating Greek style for the flashbacks while having a more standard Hellboy look for the contemporary scenes. I like this a lot--usually Hellboy is mixed up in some mythology or folklore that is more obscure, having a more familiar setting is enjoyable.

The Secret of Chesbro House: A creepy haunted house story sees the great-great-grandson of a 19th-century industrialist visiting Chesbro House to break its curse (with the expectation of selling it for lots of money). The young man does not believe in superstitions but the rumors are many. Great-great-grandpappy got into the occult and had lots of secret rooms built into the house where they had lots of unsavory activities. Hellboy and a psychic join the young man and his fiancee for a seance to clear up the troubles. A lot of troubles ensue. The story feels a lot like Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher with some add-ons. I liked it but wasn't wowed by it.

Old Man Whittier: This much better haunted house story finds Hellboy visiting a dilapidated New England house that a young woman has just inherited. They wander around the house a bit when a local caretaker shows up and wants to talk to the woman. Hellboy checks out the family graveyard out back. He finds a crypt leading downstairs; the young woman finds a locked cellar door. Both paths lead to horror. The story is simple and works very well. It has the usual Hellboy humor, horror, and action. I liked it a lot.

The Miser's Gift: A man in Budapest slips into the past with a local professor and helps an old guy carry his sack home. The old guy gives the man a coin. The man and the professor return to modern day but the coin creeps him out, especially when the professor says the old guy was a famous miser. The man tries throwing away the coin (among other ways of getting rid of it) but he keeps finding it in his pocket. Hellboy joins the two for another visit to the past. The story is whimsical--both light-hearted and humorous. It has a nice resolution and makes a good Christmas story (which it was in 2019).

Time is a River: Well, the ending of The Miser's Gift had a little bit of tragedy that Hellboy goes to correct in this story. It's another fun and fanciful adventure.

This is another enjoyable volume of random Hellboy stories. The art in Night of the Cyclops is best, though the Old Man Whittier story might be my favorite. Oddly enough, the title story was my least favorite.

Recommended, highly for Hellboy fans.

Book Review: Catwoman: When in Rome by J. Loeb et al.

Catwoman: When in Rome written by Jeph Loeb, art by Tim Sale, and colors by Dave Stewart

Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, travels to Rome with Edward Nigma, aka The Riddler, in tow. She wants to find out something very important to her--who her parents really are. She suspects she is the daughter of Carmine "The Roman" Falcone, a top crime boss in Gotham City. Her investigation leads to a lot of other mafia (if there is such a thing) connections. She keeps having nightmares of Batman following her to Rome to "help" her. She really doesn't want help from the Dark Knight since she's dealing with enough problems for one plot line.

The mystery is intriguing. Selina is enough of a person (at least in this story) to hold her own as a lead. The conflicted nature of her character comes through. The art still has the dark and brooding style typical of Batman comics. She does appear scantily clad several times, so this particular story isn't for little kids. The narrative is good and Loeb has a great sense of how Selina/Catwoman talks. Another Loeb trademark shows up--a lot of other Batman characters are thrown in to the story to provide obstacles for Catwoman. She gets about what she deserves by the end.

Recommended for Batman and Catwoman fans.

Book Review: BRZRKR: Bloodlines by K. Reeves et al.

BRZRKR: Bloodlines created by Keanu Reeves, written by Steve Skroce and Mattson Tomlin, illustrated by Steve Skroce and Rebekah Isaacs,  and colored by Dave Stewart and Dee Cuniffe

The undying, raging fighter called Unute the Berserker has two adventures. First, he visits Atlantis where his talent for violence is put to the ultimate test when some priests summon Cthulu. The battle is so epic, it's a harbinger for the downfall of many. In the second story, a noseless woman shows up at a monastery where history is written down for posterity. She tells the story of her civilization and how it came to ruin through dealings with Unute. She's the last of her people and does not want them to disappear from history.

The second story is more interesting than the first. The plot is more involved and has some nice twists that make it narratively satisfying. Both stories are soaked in blood and violence, to a level where it is not enjoyable. This novel is very graphic and would be hard to take even for some adults. It's unclear what Reeves' contribution is to the story, other than lending his looks for Unute, who is a very destructive character. I sort of enjoyed it but probably won't read it again.

Barely recommended.

Book Review: Koshchei in Hell by M. Mignola et al.

Koshchei in Hell story by Mike Mignola, art by Mike Mignola and Ben Stenbeck, colors by Dave Stewart, and letters by Clem Robins

Sir Edward Grey, while a ghost in Hell, goes in search of Koshchei the Deathless, another former living person who is a denizen of Hell. He wants to warn Koshchei that Pluto, god of the underworld banished before Satan took over, is coming back to reduce everything to chaos. Koshchei has found a house with dozens of libraries and a mile-long wine cellar (how did that wind up in Hell?) and is taking it easy. The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes he does want to do something about the situation. Grey's strange odyssey through Hell's geography to Koshchei is just a warm up for the even stranger travels of Koshchei as he returns to the ruins of Pandemonium (the capital city of Hell) to seal up the hole through which Pluto will come.

The book is dominated by Mignola's narrative and visual style. He weaves in a lot of other stories and myths in the strange landscape of Hell. Koshchei is a reluctant hero, typical of Mignola. When he gets suited up for action, Koshchei is visually arresting, especially in fight scenes. The muted colors with lots of black suit the landscape. Mignola's stark characters and simple lines let the reader drink in the atmosphere. I enjoy Mignola's work a lot and this is a great example of it.

Recommended, highly for Hellboy and Mignola fans.

Book Review: Hellboy in Love by M. Mignola et al.

Hellboy in Love story by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden, art by Matt Smith, colors by Dave Stewart, and letters by Clem Robins

It's 1979 and Hellboy is in England acting as security for an archeologist about to get an artifact on a train. A bunch of goblins who also want the artifact have snuck onto the train, so Hellboy's services are needed. The archeologist is Anastasia Bransfield. She's young and cute (wears a Yankees baseball cap even though she's British). Hellboy is smitten with her. She likes a life of adventure, so hanging out with Hellboy is fun. She is smitten too. Rather than return to B.P.R.D. headquarters, Hellboy takes some leave to help Anastasia in her investigations into ancient mystical folklore which of course turns out to be true.

The adventures are fun with the usual interesting magical mythology. The second story, where they go to Turkey and have to fight supernatural puppets, is especially inventive and fun. The art has the typical Hellboy style which I enjoy very much. The romance is not particularly convincing but I went with it just like with the magic and mythology.

Recommended for Hellboy fans.

Book Review: B.P.R.D. Omnibus Vol. 5 by M. Mignola et al.

B.P.R.D. Omnibus Volume 5 story by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by Guy Davis, Tyler Crook, and Duncan Fegredo, colors by Dave Stewart, and letters by Clem Robins

The start of the Hell on Earth saga begins with this volume.

New World--With the U.N. takeover of the B.P.R.D., the agents are running thin. Global coverage is hard to maintain as problems break out all over. Abe gets a lead on where Ben Daimio is, which leads into a backwoods encounter with a disheartening resolution. If that wasn't bad enough, the agents at the Bureau are starting to get on each others' nerves. Johan suspects Panya of personal intrigues. Devon suspect Abe of being the next creature of the apocalypse. It's an unhappy start to the new storyline.

Seattle--Seattle is wiped out by a big demon, though this story is just a conversation between a B.P.R.D. agent and a local cop. They discuss whether this new war can be won or not and what they should do about it. It's a nice bit of human interest and all too brief.

Gods--Survivors from the Houston volcano are following a teen-age girl named Fenix. She has some sort of precognitive ability that's enabled her and people following her to avoid disaster. As the B.P.R.D. catches up to their group, a lot of bad things happen. Kate tries to force Abe and Devon to patch up their differences, though both are very reluctant to move on. In the field, they still are very cool to each other, until Abe gets shot up at one of the monster hunts.

Monsters--Liz Sherman has settled in a trailer park where she hopes to live a quiet life. The locals don't make that possible when they start dabbling in the occult, forcing Liz back toward her "secret agent" life, though she's a long way from the B.P.R.D. Meanwhile, Abe's condition gets worse, as does the world-wide supernatural disasters. While it's nice to know what's happening with Liz, it's not happy news.

Russia--Kate goes to meet with the Russian equivalent of the B.P.R.D., an agency named the SSS or Special Sciences Service. Following the typical Russian stereotype, they are both secretive and invasive. They know a lot more about the B.P.R.D. than they initially admit too and have plans that they do not reveal until the very last moment. Their manipulativeness pays off in some unexpected ways, making for an intriguing story.

An Unmarked Grave--Kate goes to England to follow up on clues to where Hellboy might have wound up. She finds out very little, other than that impending sense of doom is only getting worse and worse. This was quite a downer, even with its very brief page count.

The book ends with a sketchbook of ideas and visual drafts of the various characters and creatures.

Overall, the plot and tone are too bleak to be fun to read. While the characters keep fighting the good fight, the hope of success, either short-term or long-term, has dwindled so much. Having read the ending of the Abe Sapien storyline, I know the bad place they will wind up and just don't have the heart to keep watching the trainwreck.

Mildly recommended, though I probably won't read more of this storyline.

Book Review: B.P.R.D. Omnibus Vol. 4 by M. Mignola et al.

B.P.R.D. Omnibus Volume 4 written by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and Guy Davis, art by Dave Stewart and Clem Robins

More adventures with the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense!

1. The Warning--Abe has been trying to find Ben Daimio though bigger issues pull him away. Liz Sherman gets kidnapped by the mysterious stranger that has been haunting her, causing a lot of problems for the Bureau and for the world at large. The whole team heads to Germany where they make some very unhappy discoveries. The plague of frogs is not quite over as new players start stirring up trouble and the bleak fate of the world (i.e. the victory of the frogs) looms again. The story is a little choppy and seems more like a transition from one narrative to another, larger narrative. This is one of those plots that need to be read in context to understand what is going on.

2. The Black Goddess--The team pulls out all the stops to rescue Liz from Memnan Saa/Martin Gilfryd, a sorcerer who has been alive since the 1860s. He fought with Lobster Johnson, so Kate interviews the last member of Johnson's gang as Johann and Abe search through Johnson's old headquarters for clues. Their information leads them to a snowy Asian mountain where Memnan Saa is preparing for the war to come. The story ends with a narrative cliffhanger as an old character is reintroduced.

3. King of Fear--Kate and Johann work to resolve the Lobster Johnson situation as Abe and the rest of the crew work wind up fighting the titular King of Fear, who turns out to be The Black Flame. The Black Flame has been living underground for years and is working with the frog people and the Hyperboreans to get ready for the next step in evolution, something the rest of the world, and certainly the B.P.R.D., probably doesn't want to happen. The story is exciting with a lot going on and many portents of doom. Having read most of the stuff that comes after, it's both disheartening and impressive to see how early a lot of plans were laid. I enjoyed the development of the characters, especially some minor ones like Devon (a regular human B.P.R.D. agent).

These stories mark the transition from the Plague of Frogs storyline to the Hell on Earth saga. The personal stories of Liz and Abe are the most interesting, though both of them are moving to darker futures. 

Mildly recommended--you have to be a fan of the series to get what's going on.

Book Review: B.P.R.D. Omnibus Volume 3 by M. Mignola et al.

B.P.R.D. Omnibus Volume 3 stories by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi; art by Guy Davis, and Dave Stewart; letters by Clem Robins

Another series of stories featuring the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, the place where Hellboy grew up and worked for years (though he is no longer with them in these stories). These tales naturally come after Volume 1 and Volume 2.

The Universal Machine--With the plague of frogs under control, the team assesses the damage. The biggest loss is the death of Roger the Homunculus, though Johann thinks he is not permanently dead. Kate Corrigan goes in search of an ancient tome that might have some way to bring Roger back, though the small, east European town she travels to has a lot more trouble than she bargained for. Meanwhile, back at HQ, Ben Daimio tells how he came back from the dead, a harrowing tale from the jungles of South America. The other staff tell horror tales from their past too. The overall story has a lot of character development for everyone with an unhappy ending for Roger.

The Garden of Souls--Abe gets another clue to the shrouded history of Everett Langdon Caul, his previous identity. He receives a strange message with a map to an Indonesian island. He and Daimio go there but find little in the city. Then Abe is approached by a little girl who gives him information about a secret island where Caul's former associates are waiting for his return. Abe takes an old boat provided, leaving Daimio in the dark about where he's gone. Daimio does some investigating on his end (because there's a bigger conspiracy taking place) as Abe sees the scientific horrors and ambitions of his old occult buddies. The story does a good job maintaining excitement and intrigue as the plot moves forward. A new recurring character is introduced, expanding an already rich cast. Abe's past is also very interesting, making the world of the B.P.R.D. larger and richer.

Killing Ground--Part of the transfer from Connecticut to Colorado for the B.P.R.D. headquarters is moving a prisoner. In a previous story, they had captured a Wendigo, a Canadian creature that takes the soul of its latest victim as its own. The soul has some control for a while but eventually the monster completely takes over. That's happened with this creature. Daimio has a weird fascination with the creature, so when it breaks out and starts killing, he has a lot of trouble (as does the rest of the Bureau). It's another melancholic tale that provides a lot of interesting moments and yet another sad ending, this time for Daimio.

The stories are becoming more personal, fleshing out the characters that have been introduced to the story. The developments with Abe Sapien, Kate Corrigan, and Ben Daimio are the most interesting. These volumes are a bit more pessimistic than the Hellboy stories. Hellboy struggles to overcome his fate of bringing about the end of the world. The B.P.R.D. struggles too but there seems to be less hope of success. The gore is very strong in this series, so it is definitely not for little kids.

Recommended.

Book Review: Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham by M. Mignola et al.

Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham written by Mike Mignola and Richard Pace, pencilled by Troy Nixey, inked by Dennis Janke, and colored by Dave Stewart

In this Elseworlds tale, Batman is transported to a Lovecraftian 1920 where Gotham is just as corrupt as any other Gotham, but with Eldritch horrors above and below. The story starts in Antarctica, where Bruce Wayne is on a rescue mission for Oswald Cobblepot's polar exploration. Cobblepot's boat is frozen in a bay. Not far inland, an ice cave has one or two survivors, including a transformed Cobblebot (into a penguin-like humanoid, naturally). An elder creature is frozen in the ice and they are trying to release it. Wayne decides to seal the cave, taking Cobblepot's associate who still seems savable. They go back to Gotham where the associate (who is given an ice suit much like Mister Freeze) is babbling about "The Thing That Is Coming." As Bruce Wayne/Batman investigates, he discovers a lot of unpleasant history, including the underground city that was populated by lizard men millennia ago. There's a lot more physical and moral corruptions that happen before the horrific conclusion of the story.

The story melds the Batman mythology with the Cthulhu mythology. Some fits are natural, like Cobblepot's transformation or Harvey Dent being half-infected with horror. The arctic scene and the subterranean ancient culture are typical Lovecraft. I enjoyed that creative part. But most of it felt off. Batman's dialogue is a lot more blue-collar, more like he's Hellboy than the Dark Knight. The fights are less believable since Batman does not have any appropriate tricks or gadgets to deal with Lovecraftian monsters and horrors. Talia and Ra's al Ghul feature prominently but are too far from their original characters to be satisfying. Herbert West and Poison Ivy have brief cameos than seem more like fan-service than legitimate characters. 

Not recommended--this combination is a great idea but I found the execution lacking.

Book Review: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Return of Effie Kolb and Others by M. Mignola et al.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Return of Effie Kolb and Others stories by Mike Mignola, art by Zach Howard, Matt Smith, Tiernen Trevallion, and Adam Hughes, and colors by Dave Stewart and Adam Hughes

I love me some Hellboy, so why not read another collection of recent(ly published) adventures?

The Return of Effie Kolb--Facing a monster from The Crooked Man story, Hellboy heads back to Appalachia in 1967 to visit his old friend Tommy. He's found a young girl who thinks she's a witch. She can see things that come true in the future. She sees trouble, bad trouble, up the mountain. She and Hellboy head off into the woods and have a harrowing adventure. I enjoyed this sort-of sequel. The ending left some other possibilities open, so that's intriguing too.

Long Night at Goloski Station--Hellboy is summoned to a remote Siberian train station by the promise of information. When he gets there, he finds a hunter who has killed the contact. The contact was a werewolf out for revenge since Hellboy shot Baba Yaga's eye out. A lot of Russian supernatural creatures have their sights on Hellboy. The hunter regales Hellboy with his own history when a trio of evil folk show up, clearly wanting to take down Hellboy. This story is another odd bit of folklore that Mignola is so good at crafting.

Her Fatal Hour--The daughter of another old friend summons Hellboy magically to help her get out of a marriage she does not want. The old friend was a crone who helped Hellboy fight the Beast of Vargu, so there's a supernatural element to the problem. Hellboy helps out in his usual style.

The Sending--A remote estate library in England has been ransacked by supernatural means, drawing the attention of the B.P.R.D. Hellboy and a bookish old guy come to find out what happened. The butler provides an interesting twist that leads to a clever confrontation. The usual action and resolution ensues.

The Seven Wives Club--Hellboy is out in the field with B.P.R.D. Agent Pauline Raskin. A young woman with a penchant for visiting haunted houses is accused of murder. She went to a house with a cute boy (the murdered person). The house was formerly owned by a Lothario who had seven wives, all in different houses in the city. He gathered them all at the house one night, burned the room they were locked in, and hanged himself. The B.P.R.D. is in to find out if the young woman was the victim of ghostly influence. The story gets weirder and more complex as it unravels, ending with the typical action and winsomeness.

The collection has a lot of interesting stories, including some sequels to previous one-shot tales. I enjoyed it a lot. Mignola's writing is very creative. The artists do a fine job presenting Hellboy in their own styles.

Recommended, highly for Hellboy fans.

Book Review: Abe Sapien Vol. 9 by M. Mignola et al.

Abe Sapien Volume 9: Lost Lives and Other Stories written by Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, and John Arcudi, art by Michael Avon Oeming, Juan Ferreyra, Kevin Nowlan, Alise Gluskova, Santiago Caruso, Mark Nelson, and Dave Stewart

Another volume of stories about Abe Sapien, an agent for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense! Here's a story-by-story rundown...

The Land of the Dead--Abe Sapien goes to investigate some lost divers in Mexico. They discovered a cave that mirrors the myths of the Mayan afterlife. The cave is partially flooded. Four divers went down but only one came back. Abe swims down and finds some abominable creatures to fight. The story is an interesting blend of mythology and horror. It suits Abe's skills as a "fish man" but still has the dark and foreboding underworld. The art is from Mignola and has his signature dark and eerie style.

Witchcraft & Demonology--Abe Sapien is wrapping up a night briefing Professor Bruttenholm at his apartment. As the Professor goes to bed, Abe comes across a tome written by Gustav Strobl called Witchcraft and Demonology. Bruttenholm dismisses Strobl and his work as fake, though the B.P.R.D. did confiscate all the copies printed in the 1950s. When Bruttenholm leaves, another person shows up and tells Strobl's story, that he was a Satanist in the 1800s who was reincarnated in World War I, when he wrote the book to pay back Satan for returning him to life. The story gets weirder and more disturbing as it goes along. This was a little too seriously occultish for me to enjoy.

The Ogopogo--A dead body on a Canadian lake draws Hellboy and Abe to investigate. The lake is famous since it's the home of Ogopogo, a sea serpent that the old natives used to worship and make non-human sacrifices to. The locals are happy to make a little money off tourists. A dead body is not so great for business, much less if the monster of the lake is guilty. Not all the locals are happy for the outside interference. The story is an interesting "monster of the week" yarn.

Subconscious--Abe writes a letter to Hellboy after Hellboy gives him advice to try to fit in with the other B.P.R.D. agents. Abe struggles with changing himself to suit others or being more honest about himself or finding some other place where it will be easier to fit in. The story is short and poignant.

Lost Lives--Abe is having a hard time after finding out he was a Civil War scientist named Everett Langdon Caul who was transformed into a fish man and stored in the basement of a Washington, D.C., hospital. He's doing the research part of the Bureau's mission. Field agents Roger the Homunculus and Agent Vaughn try to talk him into going back into the field. Abe is becoming more detached from other people, which is not a good thing as the story shows. It ends with a good bit of creepy horror but does not resolve Abe's situation.

Icthyo Sapien--The more monstrous version of Abe reflects on his previous life as Caul, leading to a story from Caul's adventures in England with the Oannes Club. The club is something of an ocean cult and is looking for pre-human ancestors, leading to a specimen not unlike the current Abe. It's a weird story that doesn't so much fill in holes of Abe's past as it gives more atmosphere and shows Caul's growing obsession with subterranean creatures.

This set of stories is interesting, but mostly for Hellboy/B.P.R.D. fans. Abe is an interesting character with a very different story arc from Hellboy.

Recommended for Hellboy fans.

Book Review: Abe Sapien Dark and Terrible Volume 1 by M. Mignola et al.

Abe Sapien Dark and Terrible Volume 1 story by Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, and John Arcudi, art by Sebastian Fiumara and Max Fiumara, colors by Dave Stewart, and letters by Clem Robins

Abe Sapien has woken from his coma in the middle of the B.P. R.D. Hell on Earth storyline. He's less human-looking than before and has left the Bureau. The United States (and indeed, the rest of the world) has turned into an apocalyptic landscape. Abe wanders around trying to understand more about himself and his role in what's going on, if any. He goes to the Salton Sea where a water-themed elder god arose and to Rosario, Texas, where he took the bullet that put him in the coma. Meanwhile, Gustav Strobl is also wandering the United States looking for answers about Abe's role, though he clear has sinister motives and is upset that he does not have the mystical control that he once had before. He only takes up a quarter of the narrative, most of the focus is on Abe.

The story is very bleak. Abe has given up on the Bureau and the bigger mission of saving the world. He does help people along the way. But the aid is fairly minimal and some people are beyond help. Abe is not very successful in finding information though he is starting to remember his life as Langdon Caul. Caul lived during the American Civil War and transformed into Abe when he found some underwater relic. I found the stories hard to read (this volume is about 400 pages) with the ongoing dismal tone and the lack of progress on any front.

Not recommended.

Book Review: Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land by M. Mignola et al.

Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land story by Mike Mignola and Thomas Sniegoski, art by Craig Rousseau, and colors by Dave Stewart

Adolescent Hellboy travels with his father figure Professor Trevor Bruttenholm to South America where they will investigate a recently discovered Incan underground city. On the way, their plane crashes in the ocean when a fellow passenger, a religious zealot, tries to kill Hellboy since he is the spawn of the Devil. Hellboy and the Professor escape on a raft to a mysterious island where they are befriended by a jungle woman who turns out to be the real-life pulp hero Scarlett Santiago. She's also marooned on the island, fighting dinosaurs and hanging out with an intelligent simian tribe (though they don't speak English). The zealot also washes up on the island where the local baddies taken him to a temple and use his blood to revive their vampire queen. She quite naturally wants more blood to become more powerful. Hellboy's blood is extra special and she really wants it. Action ensues.

The story is a fun homage to the old movie serials. An action scene is always just a page or two away. The environment is lovingly rendered in much brighter colors than is typical for a Hellboy comic. This is more action adventure than brooding horror. Hellboy is young and idealistic, hoping to see mummies at the Incan city and reciting Scarlett's backstory as the pulp hero Sky Devil. She's a fun character too, I wouldn't mind seeing a spin-off series of her adventures, like the Witchfinder series or Lobster Johnson.

Highly recommended--a fun time in a lost world setting.

Book Review: Lobster Johnson Vol. 5 by M. Mignola et al.

Lobster Johnson Volume 5: Metal Monsters of Midtown and The Pirate's Ghost written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by Tonci Zonjic and Dave Stewart

In the first half of this book, Lobster Johnson is up against the titular "Metal Monsters of Midtown." Three robots attack a bank but don't steal anything. The police can't even put a dent in them; the Lobster is only slightly more successful with a grenade launcher. His real success comes as he and his associates investigate three missing Zinco Corp. employees. All three were working in Jersey on armored battle suits but they have not been to work in a while. The main engineer's wife provides enough information to turn the tide of battle. The story has the classic pulp adventure feel, like the old 1930s and 1940s serial adventures at the movies.

The second half is "The Pirate's Ghost." Crime boss Wald wants the Lobster dead and has hired the criminal schemer Isog, a Peter-Lorre-style henchman if ever there was one. Isog has an elaborate plan to lure the Lobster out of the city by kidnapping Cindy, a report who is the girlfriend of Harry, one of the Lobster's henchmen. Things are moving along but Wald is going crazy, seeing a pirate compadre (i.e. the titular ghost) who gives him all sorts of bad advice. The story drifts around a bit in an unsatisfying way. The real heart of story is the relationship between Harry and the reporter. She has an offer to move to Chicago to advance her career but Harry feels obligated to stay in New York to help the Lobster. 

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Hellboy Universe: The Secret Histories by M. Mignola et al.

Hellboy Universe: The Secret Histories written by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and Chris Roberson; art by Christopher Mitten, Jason LaTour, Laurence Campbell, and Paul Grist; colors by Dave Stewart and Bill Crabtree

This hardback volume contains several storylines that were previously published as individual comics and later as graphic novels. They are set in the Hellboy universe but deal with side characters. Most are new to me.

Rasputin: The Voice of the Dragon--I had read this before, and even reviewed it on a previous post. What I wrote last time still holds: 

The mad monk Rasputin (who made such a mess of the Russian royal family's life in the lead-up to the 1917 Revolution) is back from the dead and joins forces with the Nazis so he can get resources for his projects. He's promised the Nazis to help in their war effort, but they are only a means to his own ends. In this story, Rasputin seeks to raise one of the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra, an occult group very active during the Victorian era but brought to heal by Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder, around the turn of the twentieth century. The Brotherhood was devoted to the Ogdru Jahad, the Lovecraftian elder gods of the Hellboy universe. Rasputin wants to return the Ogdru Jahad to our dimension. That would be a catastrophe. Luckily Trevor Bruttenholm is working for British Military Intelligence and he puts together various intercepted messages that puts him on Rasputin's trail. Can he figure things out and stop Rasputin in time?

The story is very well plotted. Various elements from different Hellboy stories (including side stories like those of Edward Grey or of the Black Flame) are united without it feeling forced. Enough background is given that new readers won't be lost. The story isn't all exposition, either. There are plenty of moments of horror and action as the two sides find out more about each other and come into conflict.

Recommended.

Sledgehammer 44--The Allies have developed a special suit of armor to fight against the Nazis. On its test run in Normandy, the suit gets damaged in a battle with what seems like the German equivalent. The German is eliminated but the Allied support team, a band of five soldiers, have to take the armor and its pilot back to friendly territory in a wheelbarrow. Pretty soon they are being pursued by other Nazis so escape is not certain. 

The steampunk start of the story quickly morphs into a supernatural mystery as one of the Allies finds out more about the armor as he and the armor-pilot share a near-death experience. The armor tries not to look like Iron-Man Mark I but it's hard not to see similarities. The suit uses "Vril energy" for power, which lets in the supernatural element. The story is interesting but not outstanding.

Mildly recommended.

Sledgehammer 44: Lightning Warfare--The armor's pilot is very uncooperative and uncommunicative as the war proceeds. The armor's handlers (including Trevor Bruttenholm) convince him to go and save a pilot from an experimental airplane that has been captured by the Nazis. When Sledgehammer is brought to the front he has to confront another Nazi menace--the Black Flame! The story is interesting but not as compelling as it could be.

Mildly recommended.

The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed--Remember those aliens that showed up in Seed of Destruction and Conqueror Worm? Their unexplained cameos 30 years ago are finally explained in this story. An alien (the titular "Visitor") is sent to Earth to kill Hellboy when he is summoned in December 1944. The alien sees something in the boy, his innocence and his ability to choose his own path, i.e. his humanity. Instead of assassinating, the alien says he will observe Hellboy from a distance to see how he develops. If he does become a danger to humanity, the Visitor will kill him. Hellboy grows more and more human, more and more good. Meanwhile, the Visitor has married a human woman and develops a whole new side of himself as he keeps an eye on Hellboy. The parallel stories help to reinforce each other as well as connect the two cameos in a meaningful and satisfying way.

Recommended.

God Rest Ye Merry--Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. crew take on a sidewalk Santa who has become possessed by a magical amulet. The Visitor happens to be nearby and tips of Professor Bruttenholm about the amulet, getting Hellboy to solve the problem with his wits more than his Right Hand of Doom. It's an entertaining little story.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: B.P.R.D. The Devil You Know Vol. 3 by M. Mignola et al.

B.P.R.D. The Devil You Know Volume 3: Ragna Rok story by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie, art by Christopher Mitten, Laurence Campbell, and Mike Mignola, and colors by Dave Stewart

The big finale is here as Rasputin returns to bring about the destruction of mankind's Earth. Hellboy, Abe Sapien, and Liz Sherman stay behind in what's left of New York City to fight him while the remnants of humanity flee to caves. The hope is to preserve humanity in some way. That all depends on Hellboy--will he fulfill his destiny as the world ender or will he fight against Rasputin? The answer is pretty obvious given the long history of Hellboy (and the even longer history of hero stories). Even so, the story leads to a satisfying conclusion for the characters. I was worried with the last issue that the creators had run out of ideas. What they really have done is run to the end.

Highly recommended for Hellboy fans. It won't be nearly as satisfying for casual readers.

Book Review: Dark Horse Freebies

Dark Horse Comics has made a bunch of comics free to read during the pandemic lockdowns (it's still the spring/summer 2020 lockdown as I write). As with most mixed sets, it's a mixed bag. And since it's now late in the lockdown, fewer titles are available.

Lobster Johnson: Garden of Bones story by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by Stephen Green, and Geof Shaw, and colors by Dave Stewart

1930s pulp hero Lobster Johnson investigates a graveyard (the titular garden of bones) with his assistant Harry, hunting down a cop-killer who has an M.O. very similar to mob enforcer Big Benny Jeunot. The only problem is Benny is supposed to be six feet under and voodoo magic doesn't work on consecrated ground. They do have a run-in with Benny, leading to a small cult of Fimbakonu, which is not voodoo. The cult follows all the voodoo rules, leading Harry to save the day at the end. It's a fun story but pretty short. It's no longer available for free--sorry for the delay!

The Witcher Sampler by a large variety of artists

The Witcher started out in written form but exploded in popularity thanks to the video games and last year's Netflix television series. This collection of stories has Geralt of Rivia meeting various people. One man is all alone, except for his dead wife. The Witcher stays with him for a few days, developing a poignant connection that might save the man from more than supernatural problems. The second story is frustratingly incomplete (perhaps a marketing tool) where Geralt winds up on a ship bound for a mysterious rescue. The story ends as they board the ship. The final section has excerpts from "The World of the Witcher," a sort of encyclopedia of Witcher facts and figures.

I enjoyed the humor and action, though not enough to seek out the comics. Maybe if the library has them...

Choke Gasp! A Selection of Handpicked EC Comics Stories by many artists

EC Comics specialized in horror and the macabre. The TV show Tales from the Crypt was based on the EC comic of the same name. These stories include the tale of a former concentration camp commander who fled to America but whose past finally catches up with him (and rightly so). The next tale is of a butcher during World War II who started selling the good meat on the black market and, at first, sold horse meat to the regular customers. He rather quickly worked his way down the quality scale in order to make a buck. His substitutions finally catch up with him (and rightly so). The third story is about a WWII colonel whose son is a lieutenant under his command. Worse, the son is a coward. The colonel sends his son on a mission with some horrible results. The final tale is a blatant commentary on the stupidity and injustice of racism set in the far future on a planet where gold robots and blue robots live in different parts of town. The story was surprisingly relevant to today.

I found this interesting but not enough to make me search out other EC Comics.