April debuts bring May #2s! “Abe Sapien” is back with a journey through the sour side of humanity, and our crack Mignolaversity team is here to guide you through the dark and terrible journey!
Written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie
Illustrated by Sebastian FiumaraAbe Sapien battles his way through terrible Ogdru Hem and human monsters as the world comes crashing down around him, on his quest to reveal his own role in the end of the world.
Brian: Well David, after such a long time working so feverishly on Abe-related content, the past month has felt like an eternity away from our fishy friend. But here we are, and as much as I enjoyed #1, this issue really hit my Abe sweet spot. What was your overall impression of the issue?
David: You know, for me it was kind of a mixed bag. I like that we’re getting a little more in depth as to what type of direction this book will get – the really ground level feel – and I really enjoyed the open with Panya and Abe hanging out, but the ending kind of threw me for a loop. I understand that people are a little frayed because of what is going on in their world, but hanging their priest because he said some things they disagree with? Seems…excessive. Am I crazy?
Brian: That didn’t read as sensational to me. Look, we’re a nation where days after terrorist attacks, random Middle Easterners get punched in the face for being terrorists. I think it is entirely plausible that a society, stripped of its media, its safety, and all logical sense of hope, would turn insane. Sure, it was a little much, but not all that alarming to me, from a storytelling perspective.
What I enjoyed about it was the aforementioned ground-level feel. Abe has always been such a relatable character, despite being, you know, a fish man. And seeing him try to make peace with not just who he is, but also with the world crumbling around him was a refreshing and fun take on the character. I really enjoyed it.
David: I suppose you’re right, and I may be revealing my idealistic Alaskan nature that people wouldn’t hang priests for their views when the apocalypse comes. But it felt weird. It worked, but it escalated so fast it threw me off. Not a huge burn, but it certainly took me out of the story a bit.
But yeah, I really enjoyed the ground-level feel. I think they did a great job of having this issue lay out the kind of mission statement for the book, and him meeting with Henry, the aforementioned priest, and the way they handle each other was very strong character work. I love the “is Abe a man or something else?” questions, and the way he and Panya talk to each other both really worked and it really made me curious about what Panya’s game is.
Did you read anything into that, by chance?
Brian: Well, I think Panya is a character that has always been gifted to look at the big picture, much to the chagrin of others (like attempting to help Fenix, where many others wanted her gone). And I think that Panya sees that Abe’s purpose is more important in the grand scheme of things than what the Bureau wants from him right now. She is sort of the opposite of a company (wo)man, where she’s doing what’s right for the greater good rather than what is right for the Bureau.
Can you think of another reason why she’d tip off Abe?
David: You know, her motivations to me are sort of like Iosif’s and Varvara’s. Do we know she’s positively motivated? Maybe she knows Abe is the key to pulling things together for the Bureau? And did she really help Fenix? She controlled her visions and made her run off, so do we know she was helping really?
Obviously, there are a lot of questions about her, and while I tend to think she is trying to help Abe and to send him along the right path, it’s always a question of motivation in this book. We know a lot of the goals of characters, but Panya is an interesting one.
Continued belowWe had some more action with Agent Vaughan from “Pickens County Horror” here. Do you think he’s going to continue to be a supporting character? I’m curious as to how long the search team will be featured. If they continue to be, I have to imagine they find Abe in the process and get paired up with him. But we’ll see.
Brian: I think having them separate is actually a really fun angle. Abe is on the run from the Bureau, trying to avoid people judging/killing him, and trying to avoid the Ogdru Hem. He is safe among no one, and having people of various motivations trying to stop him makes the book feel claustrophobic in a very real way. I think bringing Abe together with the search team would diminish that a bit, at least at this point in the game.
As for Panya’s motivations, as we said about the Russians, I think the lines have been drawn: are you on the side of humanity, or the side of the end of humanity. As long as these people want to survive, they are all, for the most part, on the same page now.
David: Yeah, you’re probably right about the search team diminishing it, but I wanted to see your thoughts!
Before we go, we have to talk Sebastian Fiumara. I thought he did a great job and he’s just a killer artist, especially his Abe. Man he draws a mean Abe. Combining his work with Dave Stewart, and the amount of awesome should be criminal.
HOWEVER, there was one panel that threw me. Henry, the priest, jumped down from his little…stage or whatever, and all of a sudden the guy who decks him initially is there. The storytelling is really strange there, and it was really hard to figure out exactly what was happening there. Not sure if that was a script or illustration mix up, but either way, the point A to point B was jarring. What did you think of Seb’s art?
Brian: I agree about that panel, it was a bit confusing.
Outside of that, I thought Sebastian did a fantastic job. His work, as we’ve stated before, falls between realism and surrealism, and there is no character better suited to that mix than Abe. This book has a really classic, almost Silver Age look and feel to it, and with the book being a smaller, less bombastic comic, the tone of the script reflects that, too.
In fact, I’d argue that the Mignolaverse is, right now, sort of walking along the entire history of comics through its main books. “B.P.R.D” is the Modern Age book, full of big ideas and giant, sprawling casts. “Abe” is the Silver Age comic, telling one character’s story through a relatively straight forward trajectory, written by an editor, the pre-eminent position of power during that time. And “Hellboy in Hell” is straight up Golden Age mythology coming from one person’s total control.
David: I’m not sure if that is their intent, but you could make a pretty strong argument that it’s happening inadvertently, I’d say.
Well, we’ve been going for a bit on this one, so unless you have more to say, do you want to get to the grading?
Brian: I just want to state again how awesome Sebastian’s artwork is. Each time I look at the book, I come away with a new favorite panel or an appreciation of something I missed earlier.
As for a grade, we gave last issue an 8.0, and this issue is an upgrade, so I go with a 9 – you?
David: Not to be a contrarian, but there were some storytelling bits that bothered me from both writing and art. Overall, it was good, but there was enough there that I had to downgrade it a bit from last issue. I’ll call it a 7.5 for me.
Brian: I’ll string you up for that, you bastard!
Final Verdict: 8.25 – Buy
