Comic Review: The Chimera Brigade Book One

    Regular readers will know that I love the pulps, and a lot of pulp inspired stuff.  Movies like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Raiders of the Lost Ark; comics like The Rocketeer and Hellboy; and of course adaptations of the originals, like Doc Savage, The Shadow, and the like.  I also enjoy a good referential, alternate history story, like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  So, The Chimera Brigade is right up my alley.   Set in an alternate 1938, where Europe was profoundly changed by the arrival of what seem to be superheroes and villains after the Great War.  Across the Continent, forces are gathering, spies are spying, and trouble is brewing.

    Though the book in no way feels like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, that is the most obvious reference when comparing it to something else.  But instead of characters out of Victorian adventure novels, it features a different array of references (from Zamyatin’s We to Orwell’s Big Brother to Meyrink’s Golem), and a very different plot.  I like the setting a lot and am very curious where the plot is going to take the various characters that have been introduced.  The art isn’t amazing, but it’s not bad.  Though not as good, in my opinion, it often reminds me of Mignola’s work on Hellboy.

    Doing a quick bit of research, I found that this is the first of six volumes.  I’m glad that it’s a story that has been completed.  But not I’ve got to wait for it to get translated from the French and published Stateside, which sadly, might take a while.  Because it is only the first of six volumes, this serves primarily as an introduction to the world and to the players, with only hints at the overall story.  It has my attention; hopefully it can hold on to it for however long it takes to get the whole thing out.

The Chimera Brigade: Book One
Authors: Serge Lehman & Fabrice Colin
Artist: Gess
Publisher: Titan Comics
ISBN: 978-1-782-76099-3

-Matthew J. Constantine

Comic Reviews: Abe Sapien Volumes 1 & 2

The Drowning

    The first volume of Abe Sapien tells the story of his first mission without Hellboy.  Generally speaking, it feels like a Hellboy story, just with Abe put in Red’s place.  I like the premise, and there are a lot of good scenes.  What I don’t like is Abe.  It’s weird, but my recent reading of B.P.R.D. and now reading this, I find myself enjoying Abe less and less.  I don’t know if Mignola isn’t sure what to do with him, or if he is sure, and it’s just not something I respond to.  Like Liz Sherman, Abe has become a sort of listless, self-doubting, sad-sack.  And this first solo (well, he’s got several red-shirt agents along with him…for a few pages) adventure does little to lend him much gravitas.

    As I said, I really do like the premise of the story.  An island which had been a leper colony and the center of a supernatural event, was rededicated to worship of the Sea.  Then something awful happened, and something was buried.  Abe and crew don’t exactly cause the problem, but their arrival sets some stuff in motion, and as often happens in these stories, the proverbial crap hits the fan.  There are more connections drawn to the Hyperboria, Atlantis, and Lemuria, some deep history and some weird magic.  And I really like Jason Shaw Alexander’s artwork.  But, at the end of the day, like in B.P.R.D., Abe is seeming more and more like a shadowy afterthought of Hellboy, like a vessel for unused story ideas that were meant for our doomed hero, but would no longer work for him.

The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories

    The second volume feels even more like classic Hellboy, being a bunch of short stories that feature various unrelated events.  That said, it feels like Abe has a bit more personality here.  The Haunted Boy and The Abyssal Plain showcase Abe’s very different, more thoughtful approach to weird events.  The Devil Does Not Jest sets up something really cool, but doesn’t pay off, which was too bad.  Pretty much everything up until the finale was cool.  I wonder if it’ll have any kind of follow-up in future Abe books, or in B.P.R.D.

    The art is a mixed bag, as this is an anthology.  But it’s all passable, at least.  However, I still can’t figure out if I actually like Abe anymore.  He’s such a potentially interesting character, but like several plotlines on Lost, the more you find out, the less interesting he becomes.  There were so many ways to take the character, and it seems like they’ve found most of the bad ones.  As much as I love Hellboy and B.P.R.D., it frustrates me that what was one of my favorite characters feels lost to me, now.  Like I can’t connect to him or to what he’s doing.

Abe Sapien: The Drowning
Author: Mike Mignola
Artist: Jason Shawn Alexander
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
ISBN: 978-1-59582-185-0

Abe Sapien: The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories
Authors: Mike Mignola & John Arcudi
Artists: Patrick Reynolds, etc.
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
ISBN: 978-1-59582-925-2

-Matthew J. Constantine

Comic Reviews: B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth 1, 2, & 3

New World

    The Plague of Frogs is over…Right?  Everything must be OK, then.  Everything should be getting back to normal, huh?  Of course not.  The Frogs were the beginning, but there’s a whole heck of a lot more trouble on its way.  It is, as the title suggests, a new world.  Humans are adaptable, and they’re gonna have to do some serious adapting.

    This volume sees the return of some old friends, and hints at new dangers on the horizon.  The B.P.R.D. team, now having to deal with being folded into the UN, is still haunted by the loss of Hellboy from their ranks.  Without his spirit at their head, they’ve never quite worked as well.  Abe has become sullen, Liz has wandered off again, Kate is stretched to her limit, Johann is more and more secretive and weird.  The cracks in the team are like the cracks in reality, letting vile darkness creep into the world.

Gods and Monsters

    Monsters are crawling out of the ground, people are loosing their minds, and out of Texas comes a profit, leading the lost and displaced away from danger.  What’s her deal?  Well, someone seems to know, and we get a history lesson in pre-human civilization, and hints of what is to come.  And then there’s Liz’s adventures in trailer park living.  Bad, bad business.

    There is an art shift half way through this volume, with Tyler Crook taking over from Guy Davis.  He does a pretty good job of not making the shift too distracting, and while not as distinct a style as Davis’s, I think it’s perhaps a bit easier on the eyes.  For all the horror contained in this book, it feels like a relatively restful intake of breath, before it all goes down.

Russia

    And so, in this volume, it all starts to go down hill fast.  When Kate takes a trip to Russia, we see that things haven’t been going too well there, either.  The world is breaking down, the rules are being forgotten, and people are learning to live with a lot of things.  A lot of pretty awful things.

    It feels like with the trip to Russia, the new conflict in a post Frog war world is revealed.  Pieces are being put on the board, and the first moves are made.  Kate is forced to finally accept that Hellboy is gone, and what’s up with Abe this time?  No wonder Abe and Hellboy were such good friends.  Both have greatness written in their destiny.  Both want to do good, to be good, to fight for good.  Yet both built for cataclysmic evil.  That’s got to weigh on a person, be they a fish man or a demon.

    The first three volumes of Hell on Earth are steeped in the cosmic dread one expects from Mike Mignola’s world.  For all the fun and excitement of Hellboy and Abe’s pulp flavored adventures, there has always been an underlying doom of growing, rolling, unstoppable horror, and in B.P.R.D., that horror is bursting out of its prison, hungry and wild.  Can the broken and battered investigators and agents of the Bureau save humanity?  Can they at least buy us a few more sunrises?  It’s looking less and less likely.

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: New World
Authors: Mike Mignola & John Arcudi
Artist: Guy Davis
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
ISBN: 978-1-59582-707-4

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Gods and Monsters
Authors: Mike Mignola & John Arcudi
Artists: Guy Davis & Tyler Crook
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
ISBN: 978-1-59582-822-4

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Russia
Authors: Mike Mignola & John Arcudi
Artists: Tyler Crook & Dave Stewart
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
ISBN: 978-1-59582-946-7

-Matt

Dork Art: The Mignolaverse (+ AVP) in 2014!

The other day, Dark Horse Comics editor Scott Allie spoke with Bloody Disgusting about their horrific plans for 2014.  In the article you'll read about the new Prometheus, Grindhouse, and Strain comics.  Not to mention the ever expanding Alien vs Predator saga.  Frankly, the coolest aspect about that Battle Royal is the above cover by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.  I don't think I've ever seen him tackle those icons before (at least not together), but these beasts are absolutely perfect for Mignola's newly  refined style.  The man is just getting better with age.  Also, he talks a little about the next Hellboy in Hell arc titled "The Death Card," as well as the epic "Reign of the Black Flame" about to devastate the BPRD ongoing.  Things are not going well for the last humans of Earth.  Again, if you are not reading this series then you are missing out on the single greatest Apocalypse story ever fashioned in any medium.  The below covers for next year's BPRD issues 115-119 showcase the history of the franchise from folks like Mignola, Richard Corbin, and Kevin Nowlan.

--Brad

Baltimore Comic-Con: looking in the rearview mirror

                                                                         

Part 1

The Baltimore Comic-con took place a little over a week ago.  And Dan and Matt and I set up in Artists Alley with our wares – copies of Warrior27, Mainelining, and Reading Watchmen, among a few other things.  So, how did it go?

First – the older I get, the more that fact becomes obvious during these 12-hour drives Dan and I endure to attend these conventions.  (when you live in Maine, going anywhere means you have to drive for a while, but there’s nowhere you can’t get to within five hours, so twelve can come off as a bit ridiculous).  But we love these shows, so it isn’t that big a sacrifice.  I just wish we didn’t have to do the overnight drive immediately after the show ends (and, to be fair, the traffic isn’t as bad when you’re traveling at night, so we got home at 4:30, eleven and a half hours after departing, rather than the standard twelve from Maryland to the heart of Maine).

Second – sales were soft, to say the least.  I saw a lot of dead areas in Artists Alley when I got a chance to trawl down the aisles.  One of those happened to be directly in front of our table.  We sold a few things, made back a little less than half our table fee, but we didn’t do nearly as well as we have, in the past, at the Small Press Expo.  I talked to a number of other creators who had similar things to say.  A couple of really talented artists I know, who have a larger profile than myself and Dan and Matt, were not happy with their sales.  They weren’t going to be able to cover costs, and one of these guys had a book published through a small press publisher earlier this year.  Odd. 

But here’s the thing.  As “indy-friendly” as Baltimore is said to be – and I can’t outright deny that, as I know a couple of other guys in Artists Alley who had good shows – it really is a show for fans of Big-2 comics and their creators.  With retailers at the front of the hall offering longboxes full of Marvel and DC comics, along with books from other, smaller publishers, and writers and artists such as Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Amanda Conner, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Jim Starlin, Frank Cho, Mike Mignola, Art & Franco, Ramona Fradon, Justin Jordan, Rob Venditti, Sean Murphy, et al. available to meet with their fans, this show is heavily geared toward the mainstream comic fan.  And with as much of the market share as is taken up by those two publishers, it makes sense.  That means it’s even harder for the “little guy” to succeed at this show, unless they’re pushing zombies, which does not seem to be a fad that has yet to run out of steam.

The nice thing about doing these shows with Dan, and Matt this year, is the fact that none of us is tied to the table.  We can give each other a breather and allow for opportunities to stretch our legs, maybe do some shopping, peruse the tables of other Artists Alley exhibitors, and do the fan service thing.   Dan and Matt did some of the former, with Dan managing to fill in some more of the dwindling holes in his Batman collection and Matt picking up some cool prints from an artist just down the line from us, while I focused on the latter.  And, to be honest, I was surprised at how easy it was to get to meet some of these creators.  Other than one major exception, which I’ll get to in the next installment, the longest line I got in was for Mark Waid, and that one went very quickly. 

Other creators with whom I spoke included J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, and Kevin Maguire (I got all three to sign my original Justice League collection), Mark Buckingham, who signed two issues from his Miracleman run with Neil Gaiman, Mike Mignola (who only had three people in line when I got there o_O seriously?), Justin Jordan, Tradd Moore, and Rob Venditti (who’s been a great guy to talk to at conventions through the years and super-supportive of my writing), Mark Nelson (who drew an Alien in my collection of the original Dark Horse series), Greg Larocque, and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, who drew a beautiful Wonder Woman sketch in the front of the sketchbook I purchased from him.  I managed to get some of my favorite books signed and was able to thank the creators for what they’ve done, while also getting the opportunity to speak with some newer creators about writing and comics and various other topics.  All the writers and artists, with a glaring exception I will keep to myself, were very approachable and came across as genuinely pleased to meet their fans.  So, from the point of view of a fan, this show was definitely a success. 

But how would I judge it from the point of view of a writer working to “break in,” as it were?  That’s for next time.

-chris

(You can read more from Chris at Warrior 27.)

Comic Review: B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs 4

    Another volume of B.P.R.D. another part of the world irrevocably altered.  Actually two parts this time.  Germany and Indonesia…oh, and California.  Three parts.  A lot is revealed in this final volume of the mega-arc Plague of Frogs.  But of course there is more to come.  I don’t know what happens next, but considering how bad this arc has been, I have to think one called “Hell on Earth” is going to get dark before it gets light…if it ever gets light.

    So, this time around, the team is trying to figure out what’s going on with that dream/ghost Liz keeps seeing.  And like me, they’re trying to figure out why Lobster Johnson would hijack Johann’s ectoplasm and shoot it.  On the trail of this Memnan Saa, they also begin to unravel the secret of a sad and unloved occultist from the 1800s who orbited in the same social circles as the team’s new mummy member, Panya.  The quest takes them to Asia, where a member of the team is snatched.  Then to German, where they discover that the Frog threat isn’t as contained as believed and that it has become much more complicated.  And then to the frozen wastes of the Russian-Chinese border.  There is a return of an old enemy and that of an old friend…sort of.  And though I hardly think his tale is done, there is a kind of peace found for the Lobster.

    Abe and Liz go through absolute hell over the course of the volume.  Like Hellboy, Abe has never been comfortable with command, and it is weighing very heavily on him.  Both learn a great deal about themselves, and their place in the cosmic play that is unfolding.  These beings (heroes and villains) seem to be like gravity wells, attracted to each other and causing all sorts of damage as they pass, and massive destruction when the collide.  Even with the best intentions, Liz is a tremendously catastrophic force.  And if Abe found himself uncomfortable with command before, what fate seems to have in store for him will not be improving his outlook.  With Hellboy out of the picture, these two are coming into their own, and it may just spell the end of the world.  And through it all, there’s Kate.  Good, sane, steady Kate.  With all the flash and noise of these weird people it’s easy not to notice Kate, but without her, everything would be falling apart (not just lots of things but everything).

    Though this volume ends a story arc, it is not the end of the story.  And in a way, the Plague of Frogs is all just setting the stage for what comes next.  And by the end of this volume, you’ll have seen a few glimpses into what that may be.  And it’s not good.  Things have changed for our heroes.  Their lives are in constant upheaval, their losses profound and their gains sometimes fleeting.  But they press on, battling against the tidal waves of cosmic horror.  B.P.R.D. is a great series that takes its emotional cue from Lovecraft.  These brave men and women are not fighting for good or justice.  They may not even be fighting to win.  They’re doing everything they can to stop an unstoppable force, to delay it, to give the Earth just one more day of light.  The wave is coming.  And the only thing between us and the end is a team of weirdos who may themselves be the keys to our ultimate destruction.

B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs 4
Authors: Mike Mignola & John Arcudi
Artists: Guy Davis & Dave Stewart
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
ISBN: 978-1-59582-974-0

-Matt

Dork Art: Mike Mignola's Midnight Circus

Just popping in with some cool news revealed at C2E2.  In the current continuum Hellboy might be stumbling around Hell, but that doesn't mean we can't get another amazing Original Graphic Novel during the downtime between issues.  After illustrating the epic trilogy that sent HB into the abyss (Darkness Calls, The Wild Hunt, and The Storm & The Fury), Duncan Fegredo returns to the Mignolaverse with a flashback tale depicting kid Hellboy's flight from his Military Base homestead to the freedom of the circus.  A perfectly cliche American notion for young Hellboy to explore.

Comic Book Resources has a quick interview with Mignola in which he claims inspiration from both Ray Bradbury & Pinocchio.  As well as cramming in "almost everything I find hideous and disturbing about circuses."  The young Hellboy shorts hold a special kinda sway over HB fanatics.  Stories like "Pancakes," the more recent 1948, and even Eric Powell's weird tale "Midnight Cowboy" are adorably bittersweet comics and the idea of a longer book focusing on the transition from boy to man is incredibly appealing.  But I better be getting some Mac the Dog too.

--Brad

Dork Art: The Devil's Backbone by Guy Davis

A little while ago Criterion announced the titles of their July releases:  The Life of Oharu, Lord of the Flies, Babbette's Feast, The Ice Storm, and spine # 666 The Devil's Backbone.  Special Features include new & old documentaries, the typical commentary track (no word yet if this is the same one from the previous release), some deleted scenes, & the essay booklet.  But, personally, the most exciting speical feature is Guy Davis' cover art.  I really loved monster-mentor Mike Mignola's cover for the Cronos disc, but this is just an absolute killer piece.  The Devil's Backbone remains my all time favorite ghost story - to the point where I really have no patience for other interpretations.  This style of spook story cannot be done better.  Bold words?  Nah.  Fact.

--Brad

Comic Reviews: Hellboy: The Bride of Hell & More

The Bride of Hell

    Another collection of short stories that flip back and forth through Hellboy’s life and career as a monster hunter with the B.P.R.D., this one leans more toward the Creepy/Eerie type of horror stories and weird tales.  Several artists guest, though it’s heavy on Richard Corbin.

    The first story, Hellboy in Mexico, or A Drunken Blur, is just fun.  Hellboy ends up in Mexico because of some…problems, and teams up with three Luchador on a holy mission from Mary.  They have a blast, drinking and partying and taking out evil.  But things can’t last like that forever, and like so often happens with Hellboy, there is a kind of sad, melancholy ending.  Next up is Double Feature of Evil, two short stories that feel very much like something out of Tales from the Crypt.  A creepy murder house with flashes of Poe.  And a looser from the gift shop who can’t take no for an answer.  “It’s never a good idea to piss off a god with an alligator head.”

    The Sleeping and the Dead is really beautiful, with heaping doses of that Hammer Horror vibe.  Vampires and ghosts and a creepy old British mansion in the 60s.  Like so many of these stories, Hellboy walks into a situation that is really, profoundly sad.  Sure, there’s the horror of the monsters, but there’s the sadness of the fractured and used up people at the heart of the evil.  A self loathing brother, a sweet girl turned into a nightmare beast, a mummified cat.  That old story.

    The title story, The Bride of Hell is interesting.  Another odd look at deep history, religion, the nature of evil, and the other side of the coin.  More of that ugly-beautiful art of Richard Corbin.  And another monster that ends up being more sad than terrifying.  His story is actually kind of fascinating.  While The Whittier Legacy is more humorous (though still a bit sad), and heaped with Lovecraftian danger.  And it’s actually drawn by Mignola, for USA Today’s website of all things.  And then there’s Buster Oakley Gets His Wish.  …What the hell is wrong with Mike Mignola?!  “You don’t usually see cows with arms --and underpants.”  True, Hellboy.  True.  I guess when Hellboy gets involved with cattle mutilation in Nebraska, it’s gonna get weird.  Real weird.

The Storm and the Fury

    This is the third part of the Mike Mignola/Duncan Fegredo collaboration and marks the end of many things.  Not only does it finish the story started in Darkness Calls (in truth, started much earlier than that), but it takes the world of Hellboy to places it can’t really come back from.

    Fegredo is well in command of the art by this point, and Mignola is burning bridges left and right.  However, there’s not a lot I can say about this book that wouldn’t involve unconscionable spoilers.  What I’ll say is this, if you’re a Hellboy fan, and you’ve not been keeping up to date, you’ve pretty much got to read this final three book arc.

    Mignola has taken the character to new places, changed things a great deal, and reminded us readers that there is no status quo in Hellboy’s universe.  There are connections to history and mythology, to pulps and fairy tales.  And through it all, a deep melancholy.  I’m very curious to find out where things go from here.

House of the Living Dead

    A direct sequel to the Hellboy in Mexico, this story is inspired by the ridiculous, but kind of awesome House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula.  It also reminds me of some of those awful Mexican horror films from the 60s.  Not the ones with the wrestlers, like Santos.  But the really awful ones.

    The art is full on Corben, with all the ugly-pretty you can handle.  It’s gross, but beautiful in a weird way.  His women are all fleshy and weird.  His men even weirder.  And his Hellboy is kind of skinny and droopy looking.  But somehow it works for this sad little tale.

Hellboy: The Bride of Hell and Others
Author: Mike Mignola
Artists: Richard Corben, Kevin Nowlan, etc.
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
ISBN: 978-1-59582-740-1

Hellboy: The Storm and the Fury
Author: Mike Mignola
Artist: Duncan Fegredo
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
ISBN: 978-1-59582-827-9

Hellboy: House of the Living Dead
Author Mike Mignola
Artist: Richard Corben
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
ISBN: 978-1-59582-757-9

-Matt