Mignolaversity: “Sir Edward Grey: Acheron”

When Mike Mignola both writes and draws a comic, you know you’re in for something special. In the case of “Sir Edward Grey: Acheron,” this is a title for readers that love to explore every corner of the Hellboy Universe, and it’s immensely rewarding.

Written and illustrated by Mike Mignola
Colored by Dave Stewart
Lettered by Clem Robins
Hellboy is gone, and the B.P.R.D. managed to fight off the monsters on earth long enough for humanity to just barely escape underground, but Edward Grey must return to Hell to confront a familiar foe and finish what needs to be done to truly save the world.
Continuing after B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know ended in 2019, this one-shot is written and drawn completely by Mignola with colorist Dave Stewart, featuring a cover by Mignola and Stewart and a variant cover by longtime Hellboy universe artist Ben Stenbeck.

Mark Tweedale: We’ve got David Harper of SKTCHD (one of the founding Mignolaversity writers) joining me as a guest reviewer this time. Given “Sir Edward Grey: Acheron” is Mike Mignola’s first full comic both writing and drawing since the end of “Hellboy in Hell,” it seemed fitting to make our review a little special too. David, welcome back!

It took Mike Mignola twenty-five years to get from “Hellboy: Seed of Destruction” to the end of “B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know—Ragna Rok,” which brought Hellboy’s long saga to an end. However, even at the end, Mignola was already hinting at stories beyond ‘Ragna Rok’ in his afterword:

Sure the earth just burned, started over, and is now a frog-world, but there are a zillion stories still to tell about the good old days, when humans were still running (or thought they were running) the place. And even a couple of things we are thinking of that continue to take us into the future. It might be a little late in the game to say we are just getting started, but at least I can assure you we are far from finished.

Since then, we’ve seen a significant shift in the Hellboy Universe. Most of the stories now are relatively stand-alone and new-reader friendly. And I think this perhaps colored my expectations going into this issue, because my immediate thought was, “It’s only a one-shot, so it’s probably not going to dive into the deep lore.”

My god, did I ever get that wrong. This is probably one of the most lore-heavy issues in the Hellboy Universe. There’s a little bit of handholding, but for the most part it’s trusting the reader to find their own footing.

David Harper: I have to admit, when I first agreed to tackle this with you, I thought it’d be easy street, as well. Then you sent me the comic, and then you told me it would be a good idea to reread eight different comics, and then I thought, “Maybe Mark is just being a completionist because that’s how he rolls with the Mignolaverse,” and then finally I started reading this issue and realized. . . I should probably reread those comics. This is terrible sentence structure, but it’s deliberate because dang this comic should come with a warning about what’s to come. I sort of feel like you were the exact target market for this comic?

Mark: That’s a fair assessment. “Acheron” is totally my jam, to the point that there were moments in the comic that literally gave me goosebumps, but I’m also aware it is targeted at a very specific niche.

David: It’s definitely a one-shot that rewards familiarity with specifics. I’d almost suggest including your recommended pre-reads with this review. All this said, I will say, I did enjoy this even though I’m a basic boy compared to you. There’s a pervasive sadness and duty to Edward Grey that’s always appealed to me as a reader, and clearly to Mignola as a storyteller, and this feels like the beat before his finale. The building of his final duty, if you will, before he leans into where his destiny lies. The importance of the story would translate regardless of your personal history with the stories, even if you’d have Mignola-esque question marks displayed over your head as you consider the reasons why if you have little background.

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I’m curious, though. I know you’re a person who believes in a version of comics that’s open to everyone. This is obviously not that, with the story being about as exclusive to new readers as even the densest Marvel or DC read. Does that bother you, or is this story so deep into its path that it deserves to end how it needs to end, both for its characters and creator?

Mark: Back when Mignola first announced “Hellboy in Hell” he was talking about it being his retirement book, a place where he could tell whatever stories he wanted for the rest of his life. There were things Hellboy still had to do in Hell, tie up some loose ends, but after that, he could wander into whatever stories he happened upon in Hell. . . This wasn’t entirely true though. Mignola’s long known what Hellboy’s ending would be, and what Ragna Rok would mean for his universe. It was the ending for Hellboy’s journey.

“Acheron” is an indulgence for readers that took that journey. Not everything has to be for everyone. “Acheron” isn’t new-reader friendly, but I think there’s a point with any tale, where you have to stop catering to new readers and get on with telling your ending. And after the ending is definitely well beyond that point. I think Mignola was telling the truth when he said Hell was the perfect place to tell whatever kind of stories he wants for as long as he wants, it’s just they were never going to be with Hellboy.

We’re in such a strange place now. How many stories do you know of that continue after their ending? And I don’t mean in that “reboot it” or “stretch this thing out for more money” kind of way, but in a way where it becomes the weirdest and most uncommercial version of itself. It’s Mignola’s playground, optimized to tell those wandering stories he loves so much. In Hell, nothing is physical, so there’s a shapeshifting quality to everything. Even time itself is flexible in Hell, as we discovered in “Hellboy in Hell” #5, which had a pretzeled timeline with the events of 1819 occurring parallel to Hellboy’s time in Hell in the early 21st century. The environment is almost completely malleable, able to be fashioned into whatever shape Mignola needs for the story he wants to tell.

The territory he’s exploring now uses storytelling devices for those intimately acquainted with his work. Even the way he orients the reader in the space tells us the kind of audience “Acheron” is intended for. He simply references a panel in “Hellboy in Hell” #4 and that’s it.

Left: Panel from “Hellboy in Hell” #4
Right: Panel from page one of “Acheron”

David: Oh my god, I didn’t notice that. But of course you noticed it. I agree, though. At this point, this is Mignola’s sandbox to do whatever he wants. It always was to a degree, but it owed the longform narrative a conclusion. Now that this has been delivered, he’s free to do whatever he wants. And this is a fascinating place to go with it, because it is in some ways Mignola at his most abstract and self-referential.

I do think it’s worth noting that, despite my astonishment over how much of a deep cut machine this issue is, I did quite like it. I honestly think I would have enjoyed it regardless of catching up, as I tend to enjoy the Mignolaverse at least in part because it’s such a sprawling monster that my memory fades and I just have to give into the strangeness. This issue was that, but with Edward Grey as a tour guide through our collective memories of this story and world. Even without the details being perfectly fresh in my mind, I think the beats that were meant to hit (i.e., Edward Grey’s change of address!) would still have done so, if only because Mignola is such a good storyteller.

Mark: I’m going to drop a major spoiler warning here. I want to dig into this issue properly! Purely in terms of structure, I’m rather in awe of how this issue works. It is essentially one long conversation, with a few blows exchanged now and then. On the surface that may sound dull, but in execution it was riveting. I think a big part of that is in the way a conversation can play out in Hell. It’s not a physical space, so the content of the conversation almost seems to sculpt reality around it. Eligos changes shape and size and color, his hammer becomes a chain, and the horns growing from his eye sockets lengthen and twist. It invites non-literal readings of the scene. Eligos’s horns can be read as his own blindness to reality; his form shifting to a golem-like being, reflecting how he is like clay being reshaped by Pluto’s will.

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David: That’s kind of what you get from Mignola, right? Even when it’s a story designed to be a bit more inclusive than this one, you always get depth from the visuals. I do want to talk about those in particular. This comic has been described as the first he’s written and drawn since “Hellboy in Hell” ended five years ago—even though I’d argue his rather extensive part in “B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know” #15 certainly qualifies—and I genuinely believe his art has shifted a lot, even if it obviously still looks like Mignola. There has always been a simplicity to his work, but I feel as if he’s leaned even further in that direction, resulting in work that morphs with the ease you just spoke to. It’s incredibly striking, albeit in a vaguely different way, especially with Stewart’s colors elevating it.

Mark: Oh, I agree, and every time he leans further that direction, I like his art more. That’s just where my tastes lie. And Stewart’s coloring is inseparable from the art. It’s handling so many fundamental story elements, that if this was made as a black and white book, pages would have to be laid out in a fundamentally different way to communicate the story. Sir Edward’s power is represented in lavender, Eligos’s in lime greens, Rasputin and the Abyss in murky greens, Vril and the Watchers in orange, and Acheron in red.

And it’s that red that’s the most important. When Sir Edward taps into the power of the Acheron river, the dead heart in his chest comes to life and from that its power bleeds into him until he’s entirely red. The moment of transformation needs color to work. And this was the moment that gave me goosebumps—when the fight is over, and the red has drained away from the environment, but Sir Edward himself is still red.

I didn’t fully comprehend what had happened yet, but I felt the emotional magnitude of it. I’ve heard it said before that color in comics operates like music in films, and that was totally the case here. Personally, I think “Acheron” is some of the best work Stewart’s ever done. And considering he’s won more than a third of all Best Coloring Eisners ever awarded, that’s a damn high bar.

David: I still think they should just name that award after Dave Stewart and save everyone some time. It’s his to lose, and he rarely does.

One important aspect we haven’t discussed is the ending and what that means for the whole endeavor going forward. Ol’ Eddie has one final task to take on before he joins the rest of the Rivers in Hell, and that’s something we’re going to see in “Koschei the Deathless in Hell.” Now, this is a curious place to end this story for me, if only because it’s a one-shot so clearly defined to effectively give Edward Grey his coda. But his role extends past “Hellboy” into “Koschei the Deathless,” so it’s almost his pre-conclusion. I don’t know how I feel about that.

Having never read “Koschei the Deathless”—which I am certain you’d recommend I do immediately—and having read this issue as an ending for the character, Edward Grey’s fate once again being impossible to define on his own is disappointing to a degree. I’m sure in 2022 when I read “Koschei the Deathless in Hell” and realize the grander plan behind this, I’ll kick myself for suggesting Mignola wasn’t on point here. But I can’t help but feel a little saddened by Grey’s eternal duty to others taking the lead when he was perhaps finally met by a fate that fit him.

It’s interesting how after so long of continuing stories in this world, now I’m just looking for conclusions. That’s probably less a Mignola fault than one of my own. But I’d say it was a bit of a disappointment given the shape of this narrative.

Mark: Without the context of having read “Koshchei the Deathless,” that last bit must’ve seemed like a sharp sideways turn. Narratively, “Koshchei the Deathless” is the bridge from the end of “Hellboy in Hell” to “B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know.” The reveal that “Koshchei the Deathless in Hell” was coming in 2022 was hardly a surprise to me, but more of an “Ah, of course.” So, yeah, I guess I should add that to the “read before Acheron” list. You don’t need to read it first, but if you have, you probably would’ve had a sense that maybe Koshchei was on a collision course with Pluto.

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I will say, I didn’t see Sir Edward’s fate as being impossible to define on his own though. And I think it’s bigger than just duty too. When he was twelve, went after a werewolf and nearly got himself killed in the process—it wasn’t his duty, but he shouldered it nonetheless. Certainly as Queen Victoria’s witchfinder in the 1880s, he had a duty, but it was one he ultimately turned away from when he realised the Queen would put her own needs above those less fortunate. And time and time again that choice caused him suffering—he was dragged into Hell, made immortal, and torn apart. He tried to spare Hellboy suffering by taking it upon himself to find Rasputin, which led to him having to choose between accepting failure or doing the unthinkable.

And chose the unthinkable. And he still failed. And he suffered immensely for that.

Sir Edward never had to do any of these things. At any point he could have let things go, and undone the work for which he had suffered. And over time, his works achieved greater and greater things, until he became a major player in making the world a better place, in transforming Hell, in saving the spirit of humankind. But Pluto could undo all that, so Sir Edward chooses to live with the pain of his memory a little longer, until his life’s work is secure.

He’s no longer a man. He has become Acheron, the river of suffering and woe. Putting aside his own needs to choose more suffering isn’t him being denied the chance to define his own fate—it’s affirming a choice he has made time and time again, the very choice that forged him into Acheron. It’s him affirming who he is at his most primal level.

David: Well, dang. You are much better at this comic than I am. Or maybe I’m just a lot more selfish than you? One of the two. I like that perspective a lot, and definitely think you’re correct (and will be adding “Koschei the Deathless” to my reading list).

I think you had one more topic to broach before we move on to the verdict. Want to jump into that?

Mark: “Acheron” really is the sort of comic that I could go on and on about, but I’ll spare you that. We should probably move onto grading. “Acheron” fundamentally changes Sir Edward Grey. It’s the kind of change that in other comics would get an entire miniseries so that the readership understands this is an important thing. But in the Hellboy Universe, a monumental change can occur in a one-shot. That it’s drawn by Mike Mignola himself is what stresses its importance. This book provoked a strong emotional response, and I keep thinking about it and appreciating it more over time (plus I’m exactly the kind of reader this book is written for), so I’m giving it a 9.5. And I have to reiterate, a big part of that is due to Stewart’s fantastic color work.

David: I’m woefully out of practice when it comes to giving single issues grades in this way. But putting my thinking cap on, and considering the pluses and minuses I laid out before, I feel like an 8.0 is my answer. It’s a very good comic, but it’s also one that comes with an extreme learning curve to it for a one-shot. As impressed as I am by some of the technical elements and as much as Sir Edward’s experiences within have weighed on me afterwards, it’s the rare story that blends greatness in isolation and utter inscrutability without the surrounding architecture. That makes it a strange one to rate, but an 8 feels like a good middle ground between what it is and its standing in the larger Hellboy Universe story.

Mark: That’s why this issue really needed two distinct points of view. And it was great to have you come on as a guest reviewer. If I had to read this alone and keep my thoughts to myself until the issue was out, there’s a very real possibility I may have gone mad.

Final Verdict: 8.75 – There’s a lot to appreciate here, but there’s a steep learning curve if you aren’t deep into the Hellboy Universe. Mignola’s dreamlike storytelling lets the reader go with the flow even if they aren’t necessarily getting everything, and Stewart’s colors make the central conflicts and power exchanges extremely clear, but “Sir Edward Grey: Acheron” functions on a whole other level if you’re familiar with the specifics.

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