Abe Sapien #6 – Review

Mike Mignola, Scott Allie (Writers), Sebastian Fiumara (Artist), Dave Stewart (Colorist)

The Story: Walking in Arizona, Abe encounters some more citizens and have a friendly and rather educative talk with them.

The Review: How I missed you, Abe Sapien, during the month of September. In a month filled with villainy, your rather fascinating take on the end of the world and how humanity copes with the unknown and the dangerous was sorely missed. However, now that the previous story arc is finished and that the regular writing team is back, are the themes and the story brought back in full force or is there perhaps something lacking?

It’s a rather nice thing to see that it is still the very same book, bringing back the very strengths that made it good to begin with. In this issue, we get to see Abe in Arizona as he meet other characters who are dealing with the end of the world in their own way. It may be a bit formulaic considering that the two previous arcs did begin in the same way, yet Mignola and Allie adds a lot of depths not only to the main character, but also to the Mignolaverse in the process.

The first thing they do is try to incorporate some of the Mayan mythology in the story, explaining it to the readers as well as Abe Sapien. As the explanation goes on, there is an actual possibility that the myth may be true, considering how the Mignolaverse works, which makes it even more fascinating. The ambiguity between myth and reality that is written in the scene with Abe and Elena add quite a lot of depth to this newer character, but also to the grand story that both Allie and Mignola are creating. Adding historical and mythical facts to his universe is something that Mike Mignola is very good at doing and it is great to see him do so flawlessly in this other story of his.

What’s even better though is the dialogue. The casual manner things are discussed really do put the humanity of the various characters to the forefront without hurting the story one bit. How the characters interact in a very personal manner in instances that are pretty regular, like with alcohol or when eating doesn’t diminish one bit the supernatural feeling or the horror of some of the moments here. One tiny weakness, though, is the fact that many characters speak Spanish during the issue. It does add to the characters themselves and it makes a whole lot of sense story wise, yet those who aren’t fluent in this language could get frustrated a bit with this choice in the dialogue.

Another weakness of the issue, although it is overshadowed with the character work would be the actual plot progression. Those expecting action, horror or something rather huge to happen could very well be disappointed, as this is an issue focusing on the character interactions and mythology. There are things that do happen, but this is an introduction issue to the newest arc, with all the plot and action setting it need so that every elements are put in place. Simply put, the focus is on the larger themes and the characters rather than anything else.

Something that could be counted as both a weakness and a strength, though, is how Allie and Mignola rely on knowledge of the many B.P.R.D mini-series that were previously released. Fans of the Mignolaverse could very well be pleased to see references to Ben Daimio and how Abe perceives the B.P.R.D. nowadays, yet those who haven’t read anything prior may be confused a bit. It’s handled in a manner that doesn’t hurt the story flow and the writers do try to make it implicit and easy to understand, yet there isn’t anything explicitly told about the events that are referenced.

Despite this potential weakness, there is something that really shine here and it’s Sebastian Fiumara on art. His backgrounds and panel composition concentrate much more on the ambience, with a sense of depth that is particularly great to see. His characters also manage to impress, as he is able to combine precise lines with sketchy details to create a style that make the humans and the monsters rather good-looking on the pages. The characters are expressive, the monsters ominous-looking and it looks great. Where he gets special points, though, is with Abe Sapien, as Fiumara really renders the very best version of the character to date. His Abe is expressive, evocative, combining the monstrous look with impossibly human-looking expressions and mannerism. Just for Abe, Fiumara could get some recognition.

The other artistic part, the colorization, is handled by Dave Stewart, who proves why he received so many Eisner awards for his work in this issue. His mixture of several cold colors along with his minimal touch of warm colors here and there do help the post-apocalyptic setting the script try to convey in most scenes. It does also bring a contrast with the few pages where he does the exact opposite, with few cold colors and a major presence from warm ones. The focus on color temperature really do bring forward the ambience that Fiumara is great at, which makes Stewart a rather good collaborator.

The Conclusion: Those looking for big action or creepy horror may be disappointed, but the human focus along with the great dialogue, mythology and the wonderful art from both Fiumara and Stewart makes this read satisfying nonetheless. A particularly great addition to the Mignolaverse.

Grade: B+

Hugo Robberts Larivière