This month’s “Abe Sapien” poses a lot of questions and, unfortunately, doesn’t answer many of them in a satisfying manner.
Written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie
Illustrated by Sebastian FiumaraAbe dives into a fight between carnivorous monsters crawling out of the desert sand and the fortified militia that’s walled Phoenix off from the rest of the world.
* Abe vs. the Mayan apocalypse!
David: Brian, we’re back with a review of the latest issue of Abe Sapien, which finds Mike Mignola, Scott Allie and Sebastian Fiumara (plus Dave Stewart and some Max Fiumara inks) continuing the story of Abe on the run near the border of Mexico. What did you think of this issue, and its continuation of this arc?
Brian: This issue, more so than any of the others we’ve covered so far, left me a little cold. Granted, there was some stuff I really enjoyed here, but this is the issue where I felt the structure of the series really failed it. What did you think?
David: Well, to be honest it didn’t feel a lot different than the rest of them, but I’ve had the cold feeling for a bit. This issue was a bit wayward, and it’s by design, but it still feels wayward. We have Abe driving around with Rey and Elena for some unknown purpose, them getting attacked, running into the militia that protects Phoenix and…that’s about it. I’m not really sure exactly why Abe’s journey has taken him here besides the next issue will likely introduce him into the world of shape-shifting were creatures ala Daimio, but besides some teases to the Sixth World, some tangential connections to Liz, and a little bit of curiosity as to what is going on in Phoenix, not much is grabbing me here.
Well, besides the phenomenal Sebastian Fiumara art, of course. Holy crap that guy is good! What did you think of him in this issue? Did it elevate the material at all for you?
Brian: Oh, Fiumara is a treat – I was describing his work to the guys from Robots From Tomorrow over the weekend, and I said that I loved it because his world is very rooted in reality, and then he throws these crazy monsters/images in there, and the juxtaposition between the normalcy and the insanity is where his genius and true talent lies. I can think of no one better to do this book than Sebastian Fiumara.
I love me a travelogue story – roadtrips are some of my favorite things in the world, and thus far this book has been a lot of fun for me. But what I realized when reading this issue is that Abe is a character who works best when paired with others – he is a great relational character. Abe in the B.P.R.D. worked really well, in part, because the character is such a compassionate and interesting guy. And here, we see him developing what is some sort of bond with Elena and Rey, only to take them off the table before the arc ends.
And so, I don’t know how excited I am about getting a book full of starts and stops, especially for this character in particular. Does that make sense?
David: Well, technically the arc isn’t over and Elena is still alive and well(ish), so I imagine this next issue will deal more with her world and her grief and how Abe interacts with that. Or at the very least the aspect where he goes searching for answers about the god Rey and Elena spoke of will continue.
And I love traveling as well, and travelogues tend to be my jam. However, the problem with this is even travelogues normally have an end in sight. You know its a journey where there will be an end someday, where they’ll go back to the life that existed before that journey. In this very issue, Abe admits he probably won’t go back to the Bureau and that he doesn’t even really know where he’s going. That’s the type of thing that I have a hard time getting behind. There’s no narrative tension for me, even if we do get insights into affected parts of the world and to the people who make up their population.
Continued belowBrian: Arc not over yet? What part of “2 of 2” was unclear, sir?
David: Well, to be fair, I meant what was going on in the arc, and I almost never look at credit pages like that. The next issue follows Abe to go find the gods that he and Rey and Elena were talking about. And if the next issue doesn’t deal at all with Elena, I’m going to retroactively downgrade this book even more. The fact that it just ends in a bloodbath that has no follow-up disappoints me greatly.
I’m kind of in a bad place with this book right now, to be honest.
Brian: I have a question about Elena’s fate. We see Abe walking away from her, and the gun is prominently in the foreground, but we don’t see her. Are we to presume that she used that gun on herself? If not, why would Abe abandon her? That ending was not very clear to me.
David: I believe, and I don’t have the comic in front of me so I can’t confirm, that the last panel shows her crying over Rey’s dead body. If they gave us two issues of her badass, B.P.R.D. potential and then had her kill herself, I’d drop this book and never read it again. So I hope you’re not right.
Brian: The last time we see her, she is kneeling in the road, presumably mourning Rey. But again, I ask you, after just defeating giant monsters, why would Abe just leave her there? It really doesn’t make sense to me.
David: Well, we don’t know he just leaves her there. That’s why I felt like this was part two of three. We know the next issue continues the story of her gods. I have to imagine Elena is her guide, or at least I certainly hope so.
Brian: I think your point about the finite story is a valid one, but there is something else at play here.
I don’t know, David. I want to be enjoying this more than I am. And just last month, I was really feeling it.
David: As you know, I wasn’t, but my issue with this book is it needs to be more than the pretty travelogue of Abe Sapien to draw me. There are tasty morsels dropped throughout, but never something I can truly bite into. I need me some substance Brian. I need some definite direction. Until then, it’s kind of hard for me to really connect with this book, especially considering how Abe is more of a watcher than a driver of action.
Brian: Ultimately, this book is made by truly capable creators, and I’m pretty sure they can, and will, turn this ship around, but right now, this simply isn’t up to the Mignolaverse standards.
This gets a 6.0 from me – what about you, David?
David: I’m giving it a 5.0. Great art, but ultimately I don’t really feel anything for the story, and it is frustrating for me that the arc just ends there. This book does have a lot of potential, and we’ve scratched the surface quite often. I’m hoping this next issue which is being sold as a brand new jumping on point is something that gets us on track.
Update: David: Brian, as someone in the comments pointed out, Elena apparently turned into a goat. Does that change how you feel about the comic at all?
Brian: When looking at the issue with that knowledge, it is easier to see, but it still is unclear.
Look, we’re not the smartest guys in the world, but we are people who read this book month in and month out, and we try to suss out all the information we can. Do we miss stuff? Surely. That said, if we miss it, how many others are missing it as well?
It makes me understand the ending a little more, but I still have my issues with this issue. How about you?
David: Knowing that she turned into a goat did clear up the end a bit, but given its positioning – after the page turn – it’s pretty obvious why it was unclear initially. I probably should have been able to make the connection, but I didn’t. I think that’s partially on the storytelling, and partially on me. It does make it seem extra strange that Abe just rolls out though. “Oh neat, the girl I’ve been hanging with just turned into a goat. Time to walk away, I guess.”
Continued belowBrian: It is always easy to say you “should” have seen/gotten something. Watch Jeopardy with someone else and you’ll hear a ton of “oh, I should’ve known that!” type cries. You can’t unlearn what you’ve just heard, and so it seems obvious now. But between us we had a minimum of 4 reads and missed that. You can beat yourself up all you want, but the ending is unclear and confusing, even now (for the reasons you stated above).
David: Oh, I’m certainly not beating myself up. It opens up other problems for me, but it is pretty amazing that such an important story beat was unclear to us. Adds to the frustration a bit. Does that change your grade at all? Mine stays the same.
Brian: As does mine.
