By Mignola, Arcudi, Allie, Fiumara & Fiumara
Publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616552848
Lots of comic arcs are short, brief, self-contained stories set within the wider world of that particular character, so this means you get a world-changing/life-changing threat each time and then everything pretty much gets returned to normal by the end of the arc (which rather helps collecting comics into trade-paperbacks too). So it’s a brave thing that Mike Mignola is doing with his Hellboy universe, where Hell has arrived on Earth and there’s not been an end in sight for some time now. The every-day is crumbling as normal lives become impossible in the face of the ongoing threat and although new story arcs are taking place across Hellboy, BPRD and Abe Sapien, the ever-present apocalyptic threat is not getting any better as the months pass.
Meanwhile Abe Sapien himself has been going through his own transformation following being shot in BPRD. He has mutated into something more akin to the creature from the black lagoon, further leaving his humanity behind as he struggles to understand why he is undergoing this change and what purpose does it serve. He needs answers, and that means taking leave of the BPRD, something they themselves object to and, despite their stretched resources, offer pursuit. So Abe must not only contend with armed former allies snapping at his heels but the world beyond the BPRD walls is changing rapidly and is becoming a desperate place. Frightened people see him as no different to the hellish creatures that now plague them and so, caught in the middle, he needs to find his own path.
Whatever Mignola has planned for Abe and the wider world in which Hellboy operates is still unclear, but it is on a scale beyond that which has been seen previously in comics. To alter Abe so radically in appearance but manage to retain his character and your interest in him is quite an accomplishment, something the creators score points on every time Abe encounters and engages with those stuck trying to live with the madness around them. Abe clearly is being setting up for a major future role, but whether that’s to combat Hellboy’s supposed destiny or something else entirely remains to be seen. This exploration of a twisted, shattering world populated by horrific beasts and nightmares made real is compelling for its richness and vision, and Abe has now become much more central to it all. The best of the Abe books so far.
And if you liked that: You should be reading BPRD too
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