Abe Sapien: The Devil Does Not Jest pt. 1 - Review and Spoilers

I'll give this review more of a preamble than this story gets. If you are familiar with Abe Sapien, BPRD, or anything else Hellboy- related, you should enjoy this issue. And the more immersed in it you are, the more you'll like it. However, if you go into this not even knowing why Abe's got gills, you might be a little at sea. There is no recap, no introduction. Thankfully, all the details the story requires are- courtesy of John Arcudi and, as expected, Mike Mignola- woven skillfully enough throughout that even new readers can extrapolate what they need to know without the benefit of a recap page.

Rather, upon opening the book, we see the end- and what we might well believe is the end of our favorite semiaquatic supernatural sleuth if it didn't say "1 of 2" conveniently on the cover. The remainder tells in flashback how our hero got into this perilous predicament and introduces us to the Van Laers, a family with a very- shall we say- fishy history. My only quibble (and it isn't really a complaint) is that- at twenty two pages, most of which have no more than two sentences of dialogue or narration- the book is pretty light reading by my standards. Then again, I tend to prefer comic book writing that's more substantial and literary (you could say wordier) than just the plot and layout. I like it best when the comics I read invite me to linger over the words on the paper as well as the pencils, inks, and colors.

That being said, though I finished this book in probably a third of the time it takes me to read other favorite comics with similar page counts, the pencils, inks, and colors kept me engaged for two  reareadings- at the very least. The pencils and inks by James Harren run the gamut from pretty loose to excruciatingly detailed, but always when appropriate. The fight scenes which made up most of the book rose to the occasion. The colors by Dave Stewart  convey the mood of each panel perfectly, sometimes taking on an almost painterly look that I found distinctive and refreshing. I absolutely love how the cover by Dave Johnson evokes the best of old movie posters. But the main reason I will be reading the next issue is the first page, both the book's beginning and its cliffhanger ending. I have to see how Abe gets out of this!

Web Comic Wednesday

Well, I ventured into my friendly neighborood comic book retailer today not expecting anything unusual, and sure enough, I got what I didn't expect. Granted, there was nothing new in my pull box, and the one title I wanted to check out that wasn't on my pull list sold out before I got to the store. I kind of expected that. I did have an entertaining conversation with the staff and a couple of the other patrons about Captain America, the DC relaunch, conventions, and RPG's. I definitely expected that. Quality time with fellow fans is most of the fun of visiting the LCS, after all. But I found some unexpected freebies on the counter, including a coupon for a Dark Horse retailer exclusive. I snapped that up, logged in and entered the code, and got a nice look at B.P.R.D. Casualties. I say "nice look," because while I found the art quite dynamic and enthralling, I could kind of get the gist of what took place, and I always love to see what more of what Mike Mignola and company can come up with, I had difficulty actually reading the comic. Apparently figuring out how to toggle and zoom on individual panels in just the right way is a somewhat complicated art. Who knows. Maybe it's just my computer, though.

Now urban fantasy is (my admiration for SpoCon guest Patricia Briggs notwithstanding) a genre that has yet to grow on this more old school horror fan, but Blake Chen's Twilight Lady (which I saw fit to mention here before), may just do it or me. Excellent, engaging characterizations all around, some comic relief always when appropriate, and yes, some very good, strong scares  maintained my interest throughout. Przemyslaw Dedelis and Sean Burres maintain a fairly consistently high quality of art and help maintain that creepy atmosphere I find so appealing and appropriate for the subject matter. The site is also very user-friendly and easy to read, with archived pages and short stories easily accessible to people who would want to read more than just the latest update. And you will very likely want to read more. I sure did.