#The Mysteries of Unland

[onedismay]

1 hour (+10 min.......) painting study of Altaaya, my favorite unlandable planet in Mass Effect. Reference screenshot on the right with codex included. Wonder what happened to her... She's so mysterious.

[eddycurrents]

Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland - "Beware the Ape”

Words: Mike Mignola | Art: Ben Stenbeck | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in Dark Horse Presents #36 | May 2014

Collected in Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder - Volume 3: The Mysteries of Unland

Plot Summary:

Grey investigates a beating that took place at a gentlemen’s club and comes across a simian suspect.

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination is solely in reference to the chapter itself and is not indicative of anything within the issue or collections.)

pg. 1 - I always like the design of the British, and often French, residences. And, of course, Grey’s suspect is a kind of foppish aristocrat.

pg. 2 - This interrogation is hilarious. Especially as he points out the cane.

pg. 4 - It’s always the ape worshipping an elder god, right? This art from Stenbeck and Stewart is great.

pg. 5 - Quite interesting that the ape can speak that Hyperborean language. Makes you wonder if this is more of a possession than an infection.

pg. 7 - The horse growing tentacles is disturbing.

pg. 8 - I want to say that the ape’s fate is a reference to Murders in the Rue Morgue.

Final Thoughts:

I almost missed this one because it comes after the sketchbook segment in The Mysteries of Unland collection, which would have been a shame because this is a very fun little story. It’s great to see Ben Stenbeck’s art on pretty much anything, all the better when he gets to deal with some Lovecraftian madness. I like the idea of Grey gaining a kind of reputation for being “trouble” just because he’s taking care of these monsters ravaging Queen and country.

d. emerson eddy is a monkey’s uncle.

[lobst3rjohnson-blog]

Covers to the "Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder" series.

[thelasteveningonearth]

As a rule of thumb (or little finger), the signet ring is worn by the sons who no longer have estates. The ones who feel they should have one, but make do with selling other people's estates for Foxtons. The unlanded gentry who, thanks to a feckless forefather or a greedy taxman or just a caprice of primogeniture, have ended up with nada. Perhaps because of that, signet rings don't have an entirely wholesome reputation. 'Never trust a man who wears one,' says a plain-speaking Yorkshirewoman. 'Men who wear signet rings are better in bed,' observes one international woman of mystery.

Mathew Bell on (dreaded) signet rings. 

[stevefoxe]

Everything I Read in 2016

For the third year in a row, I logged every novel, short story collection, poetry compilation, graphic novel, and collected edition of monthly comics I read, excluding individual monthly comics (on which I continued to fall catastrophically behind) and anything I read (and reread, and reread again) for my day job. My only big change? A lot of these books were read on my iPad Mini. And a good number were for my gay book club (you can guess which ones). 

If you don’t yet keep track of your reading, you should start in 2017. It’s your best bet for hitting a reading goal, and for folks like me who read a ton, it’s a nice way to recall books that otherwise departed your memory.

For the tl;dr crowd, here are my Top 13 for the year, in the order in which I read them:

On Writing, Stephen King

Binti, Nnedi Okorafor

The Girls, Emma Cline

I Am a Hero Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, Kengo Hanazawa

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Saenz

The Hero: Book Two, David Rubín

Night Sky With Exit Wounds, Ocean Vuong

Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders (I read an ARC)

A Choir of Ill Children, Tom Piccirilli

Habitat, Simon Roy

Prez Vol. 1, Mark Russell, Ben Caldwell, Domo Stanton

Bones of the Coast, edited by Shannon Campbell, Jeff Ellis, Kathleen Jacques

(New X-Men Omnibus was a re-read, or it would be up here.)

The rest is below the jump!

I don’t really feel like dumping on anything this year. I definitely got burnt out on comic anthologies, and I hated A Little Life, but the good outweighs the bad. Below is the full list, divided by month, followed by a few statistics and an evaluation of my 2016 reading goals as established last January. 

[A note on comics: I feel guilty that I’ve left off colorists and inkers, as they contribute so much to a book, but I defaulted to cover credits while logging my reading and don’t have most of these books on-hand to fix it now.]

January

The Amazing World of Gumball: Fairy Tale Trouble, Megan Brennan, Katy Farina, Jeremy Lawson

Adventure Time: Masked Mayhem, Kate Leth, Bridget Underwood, Drew Green, Vaughn Pinpin, Meredith McClaren

Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland, Kim Newman, Maura McHugh, Tyler Crook

On Writing, Stephen King

Binti, Nnedi Okorafor

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, edited by John Joseph Adams & Joe Hill

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, Kai Ashante Wilson

February

Planet Hulk, Sam Humphries & Marc Laming

Future Imperfect, Peter David & Greg Land

Hail Hydra, Rick Remender & Roland Boschi

House of M, Dennis Hopeless & Marco Failla

Marvel Zombies, Si Spurrier & Kev Walker

Old Man Logan, Brian Michael Bendis & Andrea Sorrentino

The Girls, Emma Cline

The Gilded Razor, Sam Lansky

March

Civil War, Charles Soule & Leinil Francis Yu

New X-Men Omnibus, Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Phil Jimenez, Ethan Van Sciver, Igor Kordey, Marc Silvestri, Keron Grant, Chris Bachalo, John Paul Leon, Bill Sienkiewicz, Leinil Francis Yu

The Eye of the Cat, Elejandro Jodorowsky & Moebius

All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders

Beyond Anthology, edited by Sfé Monster & Taneka Scott

A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara

Balloon Pop Outlaw Black, Patricia Lockwood

April

 I Am a Hero Vol. 1, Kengo Hanazawa

The Nameless City Vol. 1, Faith Erin Hicks

Ody-C Vol. 1, Matt Fraction & Christian Ward

Lovecraft Country, Matt Ruff

Husk, Rachel Autumn Deering

New World: An Anthology of Sci-Fi & Fantasy, edited by C. Spike Trotman

Chainmail Bikini: An Anthology of Women Gamers, edited by Hazel Newlevant

Broken Frontier, edited by Frederik Hautain & Tyler Chin-Tanner

Love in All Forms: The Big Book of Growing Up Queer, edited by Serafina Dwyer

Wonder Woman: Earth One Vol. 1, Grant Morrison & Yanick Paquette

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Saenz

The Hero: Book Two, David Rubín

The Girl With All the Gifts, M. R. Carey

Regular Show: Noir Means Noir, Buddy, Rachel Connor, Robert Luckett, Wook Jin Clark

Night Air, Ben Sears

Revenger: Children of the Damned, Charles Forsman

Magic for Beginners, Kelly Link

May

Dark Engine Vol. 1, Ryan Burton & John Bivens

Disney Kingdoms: Seekers of the Weird, Brandon Seifert, Karl Moline, Filipe Andrade

The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, Aimee Bender

Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire

Mr. Splitfoot, Samantha Hunt

Fire Shut Up in My Bones, Charles M. Blow

Revival Vol. 1, Tim Seeley & Mike Norton

The Fireman, Joe Hill

Colder: Toss the Bones, Paul Tobin & Juan Ferreyra

The Fly: Outbreak, Brandon Seifert & Menton3

Faker, Mike Carey & Jock

What If? Infinity, Joshua Williamson, Mike Henderson, Riley Rossmo, Mike Norton, Jason Copeland, Goran Sudžuka

June

Hawkeye vs. Deadpool, Gerry Duggan, Matteo Lolli, Jacopo Camagni

Outcast Vol. 3, Robert Kirkman & Paul Azaceta

Lady Killer Vol. 1, Joelle Jones & Jamie S. Rich

The Fiction, Curt Pires & David Rubín

The Amazing World of Gumball Vol. 2, Frank Gibson, Tyson Hesse, Paulina Ganucheau

Arcadia, Alex Paknadel & Eric Scott Pfeiffer

Black Market, Frank J. Barbiere & Victor Santos

Dream Thief Vol. 2, Jai Nitz, Greg Smallwood, Todd Galusha

Contest of Champions Vol.1, Al Ewing & Paco Medina

The Infinity Gauntlet, Dustin Weaver & Gerry Duggan

The Amulet, Michael McDowell

The Dark Half, Stephen King

The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Steve Moncuse & Art Adams

Steven Universe: Too Cool for School, Ian Jones-Quartey, Jeremy Sorese, Asia Kendrick-Horton, Rachel Dukes, Josceline Fenton

Bob’s Burgers: Medium Rare, overseen by Loren Bouchard

Bob’s Burgers: Well Done, overseen by Loren Bouchard

Zombie, Joyce Carol Oates

Kare-Kare Komiks, Andrew Drilon

Night Sky With Exit Wounds, Ocean Vuong

The Witcher: House of Glass, Paul Tobin & Joe Querio

X-Men: No More Humans, Mike Carey & Salvador Larroca

Cold Moon Over Babylon, Michael McDowell

July

Black Hand Comics, Wes Craig

Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, Paul Tremblay

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth: The Devil’s Wings, John Arcudi, Mike Mignola, Lawrence Campbell, Joe Querio, Tyler Crook

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth: Flesh & Stone, John Arcudi, Mike Mignola, James Harren

Abe Sapien: Sacred Places, Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Sebastian Fiumara, Max Fiumara

Abe Sapien: A Darkness So Great, Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Sebastian Fuimara, Max Fiumara

Hellboy & the B.P.R.D. 1952, Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Alex Maleev

Lobster Johnson: Get the Lobster!, Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Tonči Zonjić

Green River Killer: A True Detective Story, Jeff Jensen & Jonathan Case

The Witcher: Fox Children, Paul Tobin & Joe Querio

Children of the Night, John Blackburn

Frankenstein Underground, Mike Mignola & Ben Stenbeck

My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Grady Hendrix

August

The Well, Jack Cady

Angel Catbird Vol. 1, Margaret Atwood & Johnnie Christmas

Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders

September

Fellside, M. R. Carey

The Twilight Children, Gilbert Hernandez & Darwyn Cooke

Veil, Greg Rucka & Toni Fejzula

Negative Space, Ryan K. Lindsey & Owen Geini

Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight Vol. 1, Alex De Campi, Chris Peterson, Simon Fraser

Bitch Planet Vol. 1, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Valentine De Landro, Robert Wilson IV

Ody-C Vol. 2, Matt Fraction & Christian Ward

Tampa, Alissa Nutting

Clive Barker’s A-Z of Horror, compiled by Stephen Jones

The Missing, Sarah Langan

Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight Vol. 2, Alex De Campi, Federica Manfredi, Gary Erskine

Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight Vol. 3, Alex De Campi, R.M. Guera, Chris Peterson

Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight Vol. 4, Alex De Campi, Mulele Jarvis, John Lucas

Audition, Ryu Murakami

Mr. Arashi’s Amazing Freak Show, Suehiro Maruo

In the Miso Soup, Ryu Murakami

October

Ghosts, Raina Telgemeier

Anya’s Ghost, Vera Brosgol

One Week in the Library, W. Maxwell Prince & John Amor

A Choir of Ill Children, Tom Piccirilli

The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter

I Am a Hero Vol. 2, Kengo Hanazawa

The Beauty Vol. 1, Jeremy Haun & Jason A. Hurley

The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo Vol. 1, Drew Weing

November

Gerald’s Game, Stephen King

Call Me By Your Name, André Aciman

Invisible Republic Vol. 1, Gabriel Hardman & Corinne Bechko

Roche Limit Vol. 1, Michael Moreci & Vic Malhorta

What Belongs to You, Garth Greenwell

Roche Limit Vol. 2, Michael Moreci & Kyle Charles

Roche Limit Vol. 3, Michael Moreci & Kyle Charles

One-Punch Man Vol. 9, ONE & Yusuke Murata

One-Punch Man Vol. 10, ONE & Yusuke Murata

Habitat, Simon Roy

December

Beowulf, Santiago García & David Rubín

The Oath, edited by Audrey Redpath

Star Wars: Tales From the Far, Far Away, Michael Moreci, Tim Daniel, Ryan Cady, Phillip Sevy, etc.

Prelude to Bruise, Saeed Jones

Grief is the Thing With Feathers, Max Porter

Tomie Deluxe Edition, Junji Ito

Krampus!, Brian Jones & Dean Kotz

Fantasy Sports Vol. 2, Sam Bosma

The Beauty Vol. 2, Jeremy Haun, Jason A. Hurley, Mike Huddleston, Brett Weldele, Stephen Green

Prez Vol. 1, Mark Russell, Ben Caldwell, Domo Stanton

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe, Ryan Q. North & Erica Henderson

Love is Love, edited by Marc Andreyko

Joe Golem Vol. 1, Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Patric Reynolds

Baltimore: Cult of the Red King, Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Peter Bergting

Abe Sapien: The Burning Fire, Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Max Fiumara, Sebastian Fiumara, Tyler Crook

Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire, Neil Gaiman & Shane Oakley

Bones of the Coast, edited by Shannon Campbell, Jeff Ellis, Kathleen Jacques

Total: 

140 Books (up from 128 in 2015 and 87 in 2014)

Breakdown:

39 Novels or short story collections (down from 43 in 2015 and 44 in 2014)

98 Graphic novels/collected editions of comics (up from 84 in 2015 and a measly 42 in 2014)

3 Books of poetry (triple the 2015 and 2014 counts!)

About 35 Books written or edited by female authors (up from 20 in 2015 and 16 in 2014; note that I’m only counting writers and editors, not artists, and I’m counting books, not unique authors)

Roughly 19 books by (known-to-be) non-white authors (down from 30 last year but up from 9 in 2014...but both this year and last were inflated by multiple entries from manga creators)

...and at least 16 books written or edited by queer and trans authors. 

So...any suggestions for 2017?

[cultfaction]

Preview- Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder Omnibus Vol. 1

Preview- Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder Omnibus Vol. 1

The collected adventures of England’s greatest occult investigator!

When the man called the Witchfinder becomes an agent of the Queen, he is led from the sparkling echelons of Victorian London to its dark underbelly, through the American West, and to explore the mysteries of Unland!

Throughout his adventures, he’ll face occult conspiracies, rampaging monsters, and London’s most infamous secret…

[smashpages]

Smash Pages Q&A: Kim Newman on ‘Anno Dracula 1895: Seven Days in Mayhem’

Kim Newman is a beloved and acclaimed cult writer. Comics fans may only know him for his 2015 miniseries Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland, but prose fans know him for his dozens of books which include Professor Moriarty – The Hound of the D’Urbervilles, The Night Mayor, and the Diogenes Club series. Perhaps his best known works are the series Anno Dracula. The 1992 novel is something of a what if – what if Dracula defeated Van Helsing. The resulting novel – and the sequels – mixed real life figures and literary characters in a way that is much more common today than it was when the novel first came out.

The new miniseries from Titan Comics, Anno Dracula 1895: Seven Days in Mayhem, is written by Newman and illustrated by Paul McCaffrey. The comic, which wraps up this week, is a direct sequel to the novel Anno Dracula – and a prequel to the second book in the series Bloody Red Baron, which takes place in World War I. Like the novels this one mixes real and fictional worlds. Newman was kind enough to talk about the miniseries, his novels, and everything from Philip Jose Farmer to possible comics crossovers he’s eager to write.

Read more

[davidreadthat]

9/9/18

Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland, by Kim Newman and Maura McHugh and Tyler Crook, 2014.

[mothman219]

*Swerve*

[sally-shears]

Favorites from the exchange between Sir Edward Grey and Mrs. Poole from the 3rd part of Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland. Art by Tyler Crook.

[eddycurrents]

Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland - Chapter Four

Words: Kim Newman & Maura McHugh | Art: Tyler Crook | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland #4 | September 2014

Collected in Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder - Volume 3: The Mysteries of Unland

Plot Summary:

After getting attacked and mortally wounded by Lawless, Grey is rescued by Ada Morse, who gives him a story on how Hallam died.

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination is solely in reference to the chapter itself and is not indicative of anything within the issue or collections.)

pg. 1 - I find it interesting that Grey would be able to sleep in a hansom cab during a storm. Especially with Lawless seemingly driving it like a bat out of hell.

pg. 2 - This is hilarious.

pg. 4 - Still loving this humour. Especially as Lawless’ eel form comes into view for Grey.

pg. 5-6 - Great weird fight between Grey and Lawless.

pg. 7 - I love this weird shift to Lawless’ appearance. It gives his death a really trippy feeling.

pg. 8 - Horace really doesn’t seem to listen to his wife.

pg. 10 - I like that Horace Poole’s first wife rescued Grey. It’s a great introduction to the character.

pg. 13 - And a basic revelation that Poole’s elixir is more or less a corrupted and polluted version of the old swamp medicines that Ada’s people could concoct. It’s an interesting development of that nature versus industry argument that was kind of introduced in the earlier Blake quote.

pg. 14 - These eelfolk are different. I wonder what they think of frog people.

pg. 15 - Not sure that’s going to work...

pg. 17 - This is horrifying.

pg. 19 - As is the revelation of why Horace founded the town of Hallam and started filling in the swamp. Misplaced vengeance against the eelfolk and an inability to take responsibility for his own actions. It completely changes how you think of the sick old cursed man from last issue.

pg. 20 - Ada can get it.

pg. 22 - More interesting bit about the Morses and the younger Poole’s wife. Finding out what this “pact” is should be interesting next chapter.

Final Thoughts:

The family aspect of this story unfolds nicely, introducing us to Horace Poole’s first wife, and giving a new perspective as to what’s going on in the Poole household. 

d. emerson eddy probably needs a tonic.

[ultra-melonisms]

ComicBuzz interviews Maura McHugh about her exciting new series Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland

My interview with Maura McHugh is now up!

[project-ragna-rok]

Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland #4 of 5 cover by Julián Totino Tedesco

[eddycurrents]

Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland - Chapter Two

Words: Kim Newman & Maura McHugh | Art: Tyler Crook | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland #2 | July 2014

Collected in Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder - Volume 3: The Mysteries of Unland

Plot Summary:

After reporting the “foreign ruffians” who messed him up the previous night, Sir Edward goes on a tour of Poole’s manufacturing facility, where he meets a worker who tells him to meet him later for a private discussion. Then more eels.

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination is solely in reference to the chapter itself and is not indicative of anything within the issue or collections.)

pg. 1 - Grey throwing Lawless’ description of the men who killed the previous government agent back at him is hilarious.

pg. 2 - Kippers for breakfast, and it’s not even St. Swithin’s Day.

pg. 3 - It’s interesting that Grey thinks it weird that a town could be funded by a single industry. You’d think he’d already be familiar with mining, fishing, and whaling communities at this point.

pg. 6 - This is a reference to the William Blake poem, “And did those feet in ancient time”. It was often considered a rebuke of industry in favour of the church.

pg. 9 - There’s something fishy about that boy.

pg. 10 - Also, there’s an eel looking out through that vat.

pg. 12 - I like the cursory detective work we see here from Grey, in recognizing the backwards “a”s.

pg. 13 - This communion between the giant eels, the cop, and “The Mere” is interesting. Making you wonder what’s truly going on.

Also, “Mere” may be a bit archaic now, but it’s basically another word for lake or pool, used to be used by the British. Etymologically it’s tied to “mer” from French and Latin meaning “sea”. 

pg. 15 - Where did Grey get an already punched ticket in the first place? I seem to have missed that. Also, an eel museum is just weird.

pg. 17 - Eel experts, also weird.

pg. 19 - More weirdness. I’m wondering why Fenn felt the need to get to Grey through wearing a diving suit. What was he doing down there?

pg. 21 - More eels. You’d think, though, if he were trying to warn Grey about what’s going on, while names are good and all, it would be better not being vague about things.

pg. 22 - Love this determination.

Final Thoughts:

I like the almost traditional monster movie pacing and structure to this story. In the first chapter, we’ve got a relatively unassuming introduction to the problem and the town, with an odd assault by fantastic creatures that go unreported in actual detail. Then a further investigation of one of the primary set pieces that goes off without incident, but supplies an informant with details of the shenanigans going on, who promptly dies. All while something sinister remains just beneath the surface of the story.

Though, I suppose that’s also a Sherlock Holmes mystery style structure as well, which is probably another reason why it works well for Sir Edward Grey here. Slowly unfolding the secrets of the town while increasing that sense of danger from the unknown.

d. emerson eddy is sorry, Ms. Jackson, he is four eels. Never meant to make your daughter cry, he is several fish and not a guy.

[eddycurrents]

Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland - Chapter One

Words: Kim Newman & Maura McHugh | Art: Tyler Crook | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland #1 | June 2014

Collected in Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder - Volume 3: The Mysteries of Unland

Plot Summary:

With a surprise death of one of the Queen’s agents in Hallam, Somerset, Sir Edward Grey is tasked with investigating in order to find the cause of the death and clear the continued use of one of the Queen’s favourite elixirs that is made in the town.

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination is solely in reference to the chapter itself and is not indicative of anything within the issue or collections.)

pg. 1 - I love the approach to colour for the story. From the pages to the characters, there’s a faded sepia-toned wash to everything that helps this feel “old”. It immerses us into a unique visual style to add atmosphere to the story.

pg. 2 - The art of the little animalcules in the gutter of the pages is a nice touch from Tyler Crook. Also like the newspaper ad from Clem Robins. Especially the fact that there looks like there’s four or five different typefaces.

pg. 3 - The build up again of people around Grey is nice. Showing him back in a working environment compared to his journeys alone in the Old America West. 

pg. 5 - Nice ominous warning from the dead.

pg. 7 - The kid with the fully black eyes is very creepy. This is a nice way to further give the impression that something is very, very wrong with Hallam.

pg. 8 - Likewise these angles, the almost Vaseline-like smear on the colours, and dropping of detail. All of it gives the feeling that there’s something weird going on affecting the environment. It’s telling that this is around the Poole’s Elixir plant.

pg. 10 - And it starts to look like a cover-up, given that the local constabulary has already decided on a culprit and allowed the hotel owners to clean up the crime scene. It’s basically rendered Grey’s investigation of the scene moot.

pg. 11-12 - The change in style to a black and white newspaper cartoon for the constable’s thoughts on what occurred for the crime (and changing thoughts at that) is wonderful. Also, hilarious. This is just terrible police work.

pg. 13 - It’s also hilarious that Grey pulls out a better clue as to what’s going on without even trying.

pg. 14 - And that the constable has already made up his mind about Grey based on a penny dreadful.

pg. 15 - The story circling back and continuing on from where we started in the opening, adding a bit to Grey’s communication, is nice.

pg. 16 - Giant eels flying through the air is certainly something different.

pg. 18 - Weird that they can talk, too. Granted, they are giant flying eels, so, yeah. I like that Newman and McHugh also give an explanation for Grey’s athame (though why it’s called an “athane” here is anyone’s guess). It underlines a magickal weapon within Grey’s employ as a tool. Something that would make sense for him to carry. 

pg. 21 - After he’s beaten and bloodied a number of these eels, their threats feel less weighty.

pg. 22 - And have just hardened Grey’s resolve to get to the bottom of it.

Final Thoughts:

This is one of those rare in-canon comics that isn’t written or co-written by Mike Mignola. Instead it’s handled by Kim Newman, author of the wonderful Anno Dracula series of novels, and Irish comics writer and author, Maura McHugh. It gives the story a very different feel, different voice to the characters, and a change largely into how dense some of the dialogue feels. Due to the Victorian speech patterns and vocabulary employed in the story, lengthening the time it takes to read the story, it develops a different kind of atmosphere than what we’ve seen previously, well suiting the time period and the shift in story.

This series also sees Tyler Crook cut loose, employing a style much more akin to the looser, impressionistic style that we’ve come to know and love in his Harrow County series with Cullen Bunn. With the faded sepia-toned pages and similar colour washes atop the art from Dave Stewart, it really helps set the story apart visually as well. It looks like an aged story, and takes some risks when changing style further in a kind of period comics piece.

d. emerson eddy sometimes feels sepia-toned.

[eddycurrents]

Abe Sapien: The Secret Fire - “The Shadow Over Suwanee”

Words: Mike Mignola & Scott Allie | Art: Sebastián Fiumara, Tyler Crook, & Max Fiumara | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in Abe Sapien #24-26 | July-September 2015

Collected in Abe Sapien - Volume 7: The Secret Fire | Abe Sapien: Dark and Terrible - Volume 2

Plot Summary:

Abe makes it to Suwanee, Florida, where an Ogdru Hem towers over the town and the frogs plague the shoreline. There he reminisces about the good old days and befriends a few townsfolk, while pondering his past and future.

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination is solely in reference to the chapter itself and is not indicative of anything within the issue or collections.)

pg. 1 - Sebastián & Max Fiumara essentially shifting the art style slightly to have solid black shadows and more angular, simple features in order to give these flashbacks the feel of Mike Mignola’s own art is very, very nice. It gives this flashback the added feel of something consistent with that time period in the comics’ publishing history. Plus it just looks awesome.

pg. 2 - Seeing Bruttenholm just before his expedition from Seed of Destruction is bittersweet. We know what’s coming right after this and it gives Abe’s reminiscences a sad tone.

pg. 3 - So is seeing Hellboy, Liz, Abe, and Kate all together. Earlier, “simpler” times. With the end looming in BPRD: Hell on Earth and Hellboy himself dead and in hell, this nostalgia is a killer.

pg. 4-5 - This bit of Abe recounting his journey and kind of driftlessness is interesting. It kind of gives a summary of what’s ideologically got us to this point, without necessarily going into minutiae.

pg. 6/7 - Gorgeous double-page spread here showing us the destruction through Suwanee and the Ogdru Hem that towers above it all. It think it’s a neat little touch that there are golden arches sticking out from the water.

pg. 9 - It’s always interesting when the townsfolk already know of Abe and the Bureau. It kind of shows how information like a government institution dedicated to hunting these monsters would spread like wildfire. No pretending that it doesn’t exist.

pg. 10 - Also, this frog attack seems to justify the gun and the stance they had when Abe initially burst forth from the water.

pg. 12 - This is just gorgeous art from Sebastián & Max Fiumara and Dave Stewart. Half a house is just chilling. And the sadness on Isaac’s face when they’re talking about nobody making it out from the sinkhole that opened up when the Ogdru Hem rose tells an endless story of loss.

pg 13 - I think it’s interesting that this one specifically made frogs. Not hammerheads or those other zombie monster things. It’s like the different Ogdru Hem release different mutations.

pg. 16 - I’m not sure tentacle fish would be very tasty. Would probably disagree with your stomach. And genetic make-up.

pg. 18 - Still a big difference between Abe and the frog people.

pg. 20 - Underwater ghosts haunting their resting place, unable to leave. Quite sad again. I like that the feeling of being lost, of weightlessness underwater, and having no fixed direction for the ghosts is also told through Clem Robins’ placement of the word balloons. They’re all at angles, making it feel weird.

pg. 22 - Abe essentially finding out that Isaac’s wife’s spirit is trapped at the bottom of the sinkhole is more sadness. I also like the slight stylistic shift again here for the photographs. 

pg. 23 - Lloyd seems to be sowing some seeds of doubt when it comes to Abe. This seems to happen a lot and is exactly what Abe was talking about earlier in regards to people consistently trying to connect him to the frogs and the Ogdru Hem.

pg. 26 - Haunting. Also, there’s an interesting bit here about why Isaac and Autumn stay in Suwanee, even though the town’s lost so much and Isaac lost his wife. That staying in town, staying in their parents’ old house is kind of an act of defiance, one of survival, saying “I’m still here” so that they don’t lose their home too.

pg. 28 - This little character moment is very nice.

pg. 31 - This is perfect. It’s great to see Tyler Crook provide the artwork for this flashback. A very nice continuation from the end of The Mysteries of Unland in Witchfinder. We wanted to know what happened between Abe and the Mere in that epilogue and here it is.

pg. 34 - That’s...different. The Mona doesn’t seem to like Abe much. Which is kind of weird. You’d think it would recognize him as the supposed father of the new race of man.

pg. 35 - It does give us an opportunity to see more eel action, though.

pg. 37 - Also, there’s a reiteration here that Abe is something else. He’s not a frog person, nor does he seem to fit in with the eelfolk. That gives us a partial answer to what the eelfolk also are, without necessarily being explicit in the telling.

pg. 38 - It’s just a bear. Nice to see normal nature at least trying to survive.

pg. 40 - Also, this petty jealousy of Lloyd over Abe getting close to Autumn is just weird. It seems to give a better perspective as to why he was thinking of Abe as connected to the frog people earlier.

pg. 44 -That can’t be good.

pg. 46 - Another mutant fish. And the gas coming.

pg. 47 - I think it’s kind of foolhardy for Abe to swim directly into the gas, just because Grace’s words haunt him.

pg. 48-50 - Abe fighting with the Ogdru Hem here from within is just neat. Also, the shift to just Max Fiumara doing line art here for Abe’s “hallucination” is interesting.

pg. 51 - Langdon Caul, holding aloft his genesis egg, speaking that Hyperborean language to fight off the Ogdru Hem is weird.

pg. 53 - This seems to hint that Autumn was taken by one of those monsters. Also weird that the ghosts actually seem to be able to communicate here. It’s almost like Abe has entered into some kind of substrate realm where the Ogdru Hem and their infection operate on a different level.

pg. 54 - Poor Isaac.

pg. 55 - Although not explicit, there’s the definitely implication here that Autumn was turned into that frog that Isaac just killed. What with the broken basket and discarded jacket. At the very least she just got eaten.

pg. 56 - The world doesn’t seem so lucky.

pg. 59 - Poor Isaac. No closure on his wife. No closure on his sister. This is just a horrible state for him to be in.

pg. 61 - Even more monsters await. Ominous to see them pick up on the occultist’s path again.

pg. 63 - I like the idea of the shaman operating in areas more than just with Howards and Panya.

pg. 64/65 - Great double-page spread again here giving us a look at what the first men after the Hyperboreans did with the power that they had.

pg. 66 - Nice warning. “Hell would be better than where you’re going” doesn’t fill me with the warm fuzzies.

Final Thoughts: 

There are many times throughout this Abe Sapien series that I’ve been reminded of the Swamp Thing run from Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, John Totleben, and Rick Veitch. The “American Gothic” arc of Alec travelling across America and coming across horrors in particular, but it goes beyond just a similar premise. There has been a continuous tone and atmosphere throughout the Abe Sapien book of that horror laying just beneath the surface of modern America, just waiting to come out in the new world apocalypse. It’s exemplified through the dark and slightly distorted artwork of Sebastián Fiumara, Max Fiumara, Tyler Crook, and Dave Stewart. Here specifically, but also broadly across the series.

Mike Mignola and Scott Allie also give a very light Lovecraft touch here, with “The Shadow Over Suwanee” paying a kind of tribute to “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”. It’s not as overt as many Lovecraft homages, but there’s a nice nod through the ruined town and the frog people. It’s funny, though, that the shadow referenced in the title here is more a literal shadow cast by an Ogdru Hem towering over the town.

d. emerson eddy might be an unspeakable horror.