Abe Sapien: The Drowning and Other Stories
Ratings7
Average rating3.6
A century ago, paranormal investigator Edward Gray fought and destroyed a powerful warlock off the coast of the island of Saint-Sébastien. In the early 1980s, the B.P.R.D.'s newest agent was sent to retrieve the warlock's remains. But Abe Sapien is ill prepared for the dark forces that block his way. Written by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, and featuring the haunting art of Jason Shawn Alexander (Damn Nation, The Secret, The Escapists), Abe Sapien: The Drowning is the story of Hellboy and B.P.R.D. mainstay Abe Sapien's first solo adventure. * "... this haunting trade by Mike Mignola and Jason Shawn Alexander will leave you gasping for air." -Wizard *
Tags
Series
Series
0 released books#1-10, 18, 25, 33, 37, 40 in Abe Sapien (Reading Order)
Abe Sapien (Reading Order) is a 0-book series first released in 2004 .
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
Setting: An island n the Bay of Biscay, early 1980's but isolated so feels even earlier.
Character: Main characters are Abe Sapien, a witch (of sorts), her son, and demons. Abe is well presented here, the witch has understandable motivations, her son is sympathetic, and demons are creepy.
Language: Other than some “magic language” words, language is straightforward and doesn't get in the way.
Plot: It the old ancient evil reborn by investigators looking for something unrelated mixed with a “first time acting on his own” agent story. Good stuff.
Art: Muted colors, heavy on the black shadows, not photorealistic and the line is heavy by intent. Suits the mood.
Summary: Enjoyable story and gives background to the Abe Sapien character form the Hellboy Universe. Normally this type of book isn't a starting point for entry into something as big as Hellboy but I did find fun entertainment in the light Cthulu vein.
In 1884 plant occult detective en special agent to Queen Victoria Edward Grey een dolk in het lijk van de Nederlandse warlock Epke Vrooman. Niet zomaar een dolk, natuurlijk: een Lipu-dolk, gemaakt in een Tibetaans klooster, speciaal om demonen te verslaan.
Dat gebeurde op een schip, waarvan de bemanning eigenlijk ook al dood was, en uiteindelijk vergaat het schip ergens voor Saint Sébastien, en zinkt alles, lijk van Vrooman incluis, tot op de bodem van de zee.
In 1981 krijgt Abe Sapien met twee collega's de opdracht lijk en dolk op te duiken.
En dan gaan de collega's dood tijdens de duik, en blijkt zowat heel Saint Sébastien dood te zijn, en zit het spel op de wagen.
Heb ik eigenlijk al iets in de Hellboy-en-aanverwanten gelezen dat ik niet goed vond? Ik dénk het niet. Deze vijfdeler uit 2008, met de eerste officiële solo-missie van Abe Sapien, doorbreekt het patroon niet: fijne comic, fijn geschreven, proper getekend, zoals gewoonlijk hier en daar puzzelstukken over het grotere B.P.R.D.-verhaal – geen klachten.
Abe's first solo adventure reveals him as a guy (fish-guy? alien-guy?) with a whole slew of demons to face. Some of those demons are his own misgivings about his abilities, and some of those demons are mean little soul-sucking creatures created by an ancient devil who is about to be awakened from his watery resting place.Great pacing - Mignola works frame-by-frame with his illustrators, and his eye for cinema and mood really shows, no matter who is doing the drawing. Always interesting to see how different artists conceptualize these characters who I love so well.A possible spoiler side-note: does anyone but me think that these strange glowing butterfly pod of the sea visions that Abe has been having of late (e.g. [b:B.P.R.D. Volume 3: Plague of Frogs 356345 B.P.R.D. Volume 3 Plague of Frogs Mike Mignola http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zg1doEhWL.SL75.jpg 67874]) mean he's some kind of prehistoric supernatural sea creature, or is this an extra terrestrial life form kind of a situation, here?
