Creative Staff:
Story: Mike Mignola and Scott Allie
Art: Max Fiumara
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Clem Robins
What They Say:
Abe tries to find out what’s haunting the young woman he’s traveling with, while his own past catches up to him. Abe goes underwater for answers, but a crazed witch claims to hold the answers they both need.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Abe Sapien continues his journey towards Texas and away from the B.P.R.D. On his journey he saved a young woman named Grace, who now travels with him. Both of them are running away from their pasts and their fears, but they handle it in different ways. Abe tries to talk to her about it, partially because he wants to understand where she came from so he can help her get past her trauma, but also because he needs somebody to talk to, to help him figure out how and why he changed and what it might mean. Deep in his heart he fears that he is the monster everyone else believes he is.
Grace, on the other hand, constantly shuts him out and keeps him at arm’s length. Although she seems grateful for his company (she certainly shuns the offer of company from anybody else), it’s either because she genuinely feels connected to the fishman, or because she needs his strength to keep her safe in this dangerous post-apocalyptic America. More than likely she doesn’t know herself, but it makes her appear cold and manipulative and Abe appear as a fool.
Overall this is another solid issue in the series, but it feels like the story is spinning its wheels a bit. The majority of the issue deals with Abe and Grace walking towards Texas, scavenging for food and water and avoiding other people. The rest features dual dream journeys taken by both characters where they are confronted with the questions they both fear to ask: where are you going? What are you running from?
The dream sequences make for the strongest sections both narratively and visually as Fiumara gets to cut loose a bit and play with perspective, angle, and size to emphasize the emotion of the particular scenes. Stewart’s colors compliment the line work beautifully. There’s a certain dull, washed out color scheme to the regular world that seeps into the dream world, but is broken in places by the wonderful use of yellows and greens in Grace and Abe’s dreams.
However, the story doesn’t quite match the quality of the art as nothing is really resolved in this issue. Although Grace and Abe go through a transformative moment, neither appears to be transformed. They wake up and appear to be the same as they were before they dreamed. To be fair, Abe might have changed or at least become more resolved, but his opportunity to express that is cut off by Grace who shuts him out, illustrating how the dream hasn’t changed her.
This lack of resolution makes this a somewhat unfulfilling comic—one that needs to rely on the mystery of the situation, the degree to which the setting is compelling, and our preexisting affection for the characters to make it work. Luckily, all of those elements are strong and do help make up for the areas where the plot sags. Once again the art is excellent and the way that this ruined country is depicted is visually compelling, and the tidbits of new information we learn about this world add greater depth and mystery, which are quite enjoyable. If there were a greater sense of narrative propulsion and development, then this would be a great issue rather than just a pretty good one.
In Summary:
While Abe Sapien continues to be an interesting comic about one of my favorite B.P.R.D. characters, the story seems to be spinning its wheels right now. The art, the mystery laced into the plot, the world building (or rebuilding, if you will) along with the character make this enjoyable to read, but there’s very little sense of propulsion driven by the plot and characters and no sense of change. There is always the possibility that the changes that should have occurred in this issue will play out in the next, which is always the problem with reviewing single issues, but I can only judge this comic based on its own merit and how it compares to the issues that came before it, and while I enjoyed it, I also feel like it could have been stronger. Mildly recommended.
Grade: C+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse
Release Date: July 9th, 2014
MSRP: $3.50
