Arcudi, Zonjic, and the Lobster are back and boy do they make one hell of a comic.
Written by Mike Mignola and John ArcudiCover by Tonci Zonjic
Illustrated by Tonci Zonjic
Lettered by Clem RobinsThe New York Harbor Patrol are in over their heads when a ghostly pirate ship appears on the Hudson River, and the Lobster’s hunt for a major mob boss may have something to do with it…
I always love a new “Lobster Johnson” story drawn by Tonci Zonjic. It is always an absolute pleasure. But this one was even more so than usual.
The thing is almost all the Hellboy Universe series that had a consistent art team have come to an end. There’s no more “Hellboy” and “Hellboy in Hell” from Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo; no “Abe Sapien” from the Fiumara brothers; and “B.P.R.D.” is currently on a break—though admittedly even when it wasn’t, the “Hell on Earth” cycle never really settled on an artist to define it. Meanwhile “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.” has a new artist every arc.
“Lobster Johnson” shifts artists pretty regularly too, but it tends to give one-shot stories to the guest artists while Tonci Zonjic does the larger arcs. In fact, he’s been drawing this series since 2012’s “The Burning Hand,” and when an artist works on a series that long, they develop an understanding of the comic’s world and characters that a new artist simply can’t match. The character work from a single ongoing artist gets really specific. Zonjic is intimately acquainted with the interior lives of “Lobster Johnson’s” characters and it shows in every panel.
There’s a scene early in this issue with two characters talking in a diner. It’s not a big, showy scene, but it’s the sort of scene that’s deeply enriched by having a long-term artist at the helm. Zonjic’s able to pull from his six and a half years of drawing these characters to do really subtle and nuanced stuff. There’s familiarity with the characters, and how much or how little they let their emotions show. If this scene hadn’t been drawn by Zonjic, it would have lost a considerable emotional punch.
And John Arcudi understands this too, because he keeps saving these moments for Zonjic’s arcs. Yeah, I’m really glad the “Lobster Johnson” team is still together.
Well, sort of. Something’s changed. This time around Dave Stewart is not the colorist. When Dave Stewart doesn’t color a Mignola title, I can’t help but be hyper aware of it. There just seems to be something a little off. And yet, that was not my experience reading this title. Zonjic’s coloring his own work here, and while I wouldn’t call the transition seamless (there is a definite shift), it was utterly harmonious. Zonjic and Stewart seem to be share sensibilities toward color, and yet they’re different enough that Zonjic never appears to be mimicking Stewart. He’s doing his own coloring, but speaking the same language.
In fact the differences add a real spark to the issue. The pirate ghost sequence especially demonstrates the power Zonjic’s colors bring to the page. This doesn’t come as a surprise though. Zonjic’s been coloring his own covers for some time now, and they are always in tune with the interior pages.
Meanwhile, John Arcudi’s script is an absolute blast. In the opening sequence, he repurposes a flashback scene that originally appeared in 2009’s “B.P.R.D.: The Black Goddess” told by an elderly Harry McTell.
Oftentimes when a story revisits a moment from a previous story, there’s a tendency to weaken that original scene, but this does precisely the opposite. It strengthens it. There’s something about seeing a young Harry telling the same story, showing a part of his character that never faded even into old age. It just made me love Harry even more.
Wald and Isog are back in “The Pirate’s Ghost” too. This pair were introduced back in “Lobster Johnson: The Burning Hand” and haven’t come up against the Lobster since, and yet they’ve still hung around the fringes, learning more about the Lobster and his origins. They even managed to acquire the hand of El Bogavante the pirate.
Continued belowVillains tend to follow a very similar trajectory in “Lobster Johnson”: they commit a crime, then the Lobster shows up, and things do not go well for the villains. They’re always in over their head where the Lobster is concerned. But Ward and Isog are something else. It seems they know more than anyone about what the Lobster truly is… including us readers. And I’ve no doubt it’s information they’ll put to use.
Plus Isog’s always been a bit of an enigma. He seems to have some familiarity with the supernatural. After all, he knew exactly how to find the Black Flame when he needed him, and that was far from common knowledge, especially in 1932. No doubt he could have taken over Wald’s operation at any time, and yet for some reasons he’s content to step back and let Wald feel like he’s in change. But the guy’s got his own agenda too, and it’s one he doesn’t mind waiting years to put into effect. That sort of confidence is worrying.
Arcudi also threw a nice little teaser in this issue (mild spoilers here). Those readers out there that know their Lobster lore, know that while the Lobster was primarily active in New York City from 1932 to 1938, he also showed up in Chicago at some point… something we’ve never actually seen in the comics yet. So when a character name-dropped Chicago, I couldn’t help but grin. Whatever Arcudi’s got in mind, I’m there. I can’t help but hope he crosses paths with the Knights of the Silver Star though.
In short, I had a blast with this issue. “The Pirate’s Ghost” is simply a grand adventure story expertly told. The stuff with the pirates made me feel like a little kid again, reading Sir Francis Haddock’s battle with Red Rackham in “The Secret of the Unicorn” (though with admittedly more blood). It seems my favorite “Lobster Johnson” often remind me of something from my childhood, just like “Metal Monsters of Midtown” summoned up memories of watching the Fleicher cartoon “The Mechanical Monsters.”
I enjoyed “The Pirate’s Ghost” so much, I immediately read it again.
Final verdict: 9. This is “Lobster Johnson” at its best.
