“The Mysteries of Unland” draws to a close all too soon.
Written by Kim Newman and Maura McHugh
Illustrated by Tyler Crook
Colors by Dave Stewart
Lettering by Clem RobinsSir Edward Grey digs deeper into the shocking truth about Unland even as the city drowns in the rising waters. With the help of a mysterious woman, Grey faces raging waters and the eel assassins that have haunted his every step!
At the end of the last issue Unland was beginning to rise again and Anna had been revealed to be the Mere. This wasn’t exactly a surprising development (I’d been pretty certain Anna was the Mere since midway through the second issue), but it didn’t really need to be either, not when the waters were rising in Unland again. This book becomes large scale very quickly.
Last issue we were introduced to Ada Morse (or rather reintroduced. She appeared briefly in the second issue). She was a character that immediately endeared herself to me, especially as she teased Sir Edward. That playful approach to a character that is stereotypically the wise (and boring) carrier of exposition was very much appreciated. This issue seals the deal. Ada is awesome. An old old lady with nerves of steel. It’s such a shame she had so little time with her. She’s easily my favourite in this story, especially when she confronted the eel.
This issue isn’t without its flaws though. Anna’s ultimate ending is functional. It serves a particular story purpose, but it gets there too quickly. I was really feeling the page constraints here. This is a very full issue, and it could have used a few more pages to let some moments breathe. It doesn’t really get a chance to wind down after the climactic showdown.
That said, that’s not as much of a problem as it would be normally. This one comes with a hell of a stinger. A story that seemed to relatively disconnected from the larger Mignolaverse turned out to have a number of interesting connections. And to talk about that, I’m going to have to veer into…
…spoiler territory.
Mona’s egg is at the centre of this conflict. It controls the waters of Unland and changes the person that bears it… and is it just me, or does it seem remarkably similar to the one Langdon Caul found that turned him into Abe Sapien? If someone had performed a similar ceremony on Mona’s egg, would the spirit of Mona enter someone and change them as the egg Caul found had done? Or is the similarity just in my imagination?
And then there’s that stinger with Abe. It was set in November 2006, so this it’s after Roger died, possibly set after “B.P.R.D.: Garden of Souls,” though it could be before… (the timeline is tricky). The stinger was really cool though. Issue 1 spent quite a bit of time introducing Hallam. It set the mood and teased the mystery, but here it serves another purpose when we see all these locations again in 2006, polluted, broken, and rundown, and Poole’s Elixir has become Poole’s Pop, a subsidiary of Zinco… I’m thinking this is likely teasing an upcoming Abe Sapien flashback story. Hopefully we won’t be left wondering about that for too long.
As I said above, Anna being the villain was something I saw a long way off, (the scene with the Mere talking to the eels in the second issue really was too much of a giveaway) but she wasn’t completely without her surprises. The changes Mona’s egg have had on her were interesting to say the least. The reveal of all those braces was a nicely creepy moment, and it helped sell the wibbly limbs, which I think without this moment with the braces could have come off as too cartoon-ish instead of an unnatural distortion.
As for Sir Edward’s ending, as abrupt as it was, I found his choice to leave Hallam as it was an interesting one. Ada is a witch, and the people of Unland clearly practice magic, but he’s lets that slide. This shows how much his experiences in “Lost and Gone Forever” have changed him. He’s willing to judge these people based on their character, not just write them off as soon as he learns they’re dabbling with magic.
Continued belowIt’s an important beat for the character. That and his choice to trust Ada and Walker to keep Anna in line. However, this was a moment in particular that felt too rushed. I don’t mind the ultimate decision they arrive at, I just wish there had been the space to show this decision happen more naturally. It really was too abrupt. Honestly, this issue could have used some extra pages. It gets away with it a little though because the Abe Sapien stinger still has the feeling of winding down, but Sir Edward’s choices here were made too easily.
My biggest issues throughout the series have been with the pacing. It seems there was some struggle with the 22-page installment format. Now that it’s finished, I definitely feel like this is a story that reads significantly better in a single sitting.
OK, spoilers over.
I’m very sorry to see this minseries end. Witchfinder stories come along so rarely, and this one has been my favourite so far. This book is unique in the Mignolaverse. There really is nothing else like it. Kim Newman and Maura McHugh gave this series a very distinctive voice that felt both authentic and also very playful. They clearly had fun with the dialogue and I in turn had fun reading it. Sir Edward’s world felt more British than it ever has before. I can’t stop praising Tyler Crook. He made this book his own right from page one, and continued to impress and surprise all the way through. The flashbacks in the fog in issue 4 are still my favourite bits though. Just imagine what he and Dave Stewart could do with the foggy streets of London… Yes, I am very sorry this miniseries has ended indeed. I hope this team will return for more Witchfinder… and soon.
Final Verdict: 8.
