Writers: Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Scott Allie / Pencillers: Jason Shawn Alexander, Peter Snejbjerg, James Harren, Patric Reynolds, Michael Avon Oeming, Juan Ferreyra, Kevin Nowlan, Alise Gluškova, Santiago Caruso, Guy Davis, Mark Nelson, Colour Artists: Dave Stewart, Nowlan, Juan Ferreyra, Eduardo Ferreyra, Alise Gluškova, / Letterers: Clem Robbins, Nowlan Collects: Abe Sapien: The Drowning, The Devil Does Not Jest, Lost Lives and Other Stories / Dark Horse Comics / TP
Review by Paul Dunne
23rd November 2023 (Released 2nd August 2023)
The Pitch: In the early 1980s, new B.P.R.D. agent Abe Sapien was set to retrieve the corpse of a powerful warlock off the coast of France. Abe quickly finds himself in a battle with a century-old evil in the form of demonic monks. Mike Mignola and Jason Shawn Alexander's premiere Abe solo series sets the stage for a collection of tales tracing Abe's times both as an agent of the B.P.R.D. and delving into his long-hidden origins. A haunted lake, South American vampires, and a mad scientist seeking out man's missing link are chronicled here!
When it comes to Mike Mignola's Masterwork Hellboy and the associated series such as B.P. R.D., the only character that comes close to capturing the reader's imagination so often and so completely as much as Big Red is Abe Sapien. Abe is an interesting compliment to Hellboy. Like Anung Un Rama, he is a creature that walks and talks like a man, yet is of uncertain origins and more importantly, whose destiny is unknown and may not be in his own webbed hands. But Abe is not just present in the Hellboy mythos as a touchstone for its lead character. Indeed, since his first appearance back in the 90s, Abe has moved into the central position, along with Liz Sherman, taking his place as the lead of the series. Abe has his own way of doing things, as this collection highlights. We begin with Abe's first real mission for the B.P. R.D., an incredibly haunting and - not for the only time in this collection – incredibly atmospheric tale taking the newly minted agent to a European island and facing something ancient that has its origins in the depths of the ocean. Wisely, Mignola, and the other writers on these stories keep Abe's journey thematically true by keeping him coastal throughout the collection. The Drowning is helped immensely by having Jason Shawn Alexander draw the comic. Whereas Mignola gets atmosphere from blacks and negative space punctuated by bursts of pop colour, Alexander's pencils drip mood by creating a murky, smoky vision that you can breathe in. The Drowning also sets out the stall for Abe's compassion, which although it is a trait shared by Hellboy, is more readily apparent in Sapien. Empathy is the enemy? Here it's the way in.
Other differences are illustrated perfectly. Although HB was originally billed as 'The World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator' it's Abe who actually displays the better investigatory skills. He probes. He observes. He asks. And it's that questioning that becomes key to Abe's journey. He's gotta know. About the people and situations he's investigating, about the history of the B.P.R.D., about himself. Whereas Hellboy's destiny may be set in that stone right hand of doom, Abe's future and more especially his past are uncharted waters. At least when most of these stories take place, he doesn't know who he is yet. The history of the BPRD, its connections to Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra are also Abe's history, something that this collection hints at (but is more fully fleshed out in some of the other BPRD volumes. One of the things you can really enjoy about a series like this is the fact that, although there's action, the creative teams know when to just slow down and drop in elements that will be used later, such as with 'Witchcraft and Demonology', which brings in Gustav Strobl. The art on this – it's stunning, painterly, fine artwork by Santiago Caruso, the kind you don't often see in comics now, but was rife in the black and white work you'd see coming out of the UK in the late seventies and early 80s. It's gorgeous stuff. But the art isn't the only pleasure running through the book.
In pretty much every story, Abe's relationship with his fellow B.P.R.D. Agents in examined. What's revealed is Abe's humanity and willingness to put his life on the line for his fellow agents. And the effect his generosity has on those agents. It's impossible to see how anyone could regard Abe as anything other than human. Hellboy may have granted honorary human status, but Abe puts most compassionate humans to shame. And that humanity is tempered with cool, detached intelligence and logic, making Abe a kind of web-fingered Sherlock Holmes.
The writing in this volume is strong, with Mignola, Arcudi, and others keeping the themes and action gelling well and moving the stories along at a perfect pace. On the art front, besides the aforementioned Alexander and Caruso, you get the talents of Guy Davis, James Harren, Peter Snejbjerg, and Kevin Nowlan. Dave Stewart is on colouring duties. As the Hellboy Universe's go-to colourist, he's created the palette that everyone follows. What's fascinating is the changing shifts in artistic tone he keeps up with throughout the entire volume. He adds to the dark, brooding atmosphere that pervades these stories. Clem Robbins, who more than anyone is responsible for the sound of the B.P.R.D., navigates the changing voices and accents of the characters, whilst keeping the recurring ones consistent and clear. If you've only met Abe in the pages of Hellboy, then get this and get to know him. You won't regret it.
Abe Sapien: The Drowning and Other Stories is available at your local comic shop now. Read our review of Hellboy: Secrets of The Universe here.
