Abe Sapien, Vol. 6: A Darkness So Great

Abe Sapien

by Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Max Fiumara (illustratior)

Abe Sapien stands accused of bringing about the end of the human race. He hits the devastated Gulf Coast, where the infestation of monsters began and a volcano leveled Houston, driving out most of the population. Taking refuge with a Mexican death cult in a strangely preserved south Texas town, Abe stands to lose what little he has left, where demons dwell and the dead walk. Abe Sapien Volume 6 collects Abe Sapien #18-22.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Comic Book, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 2015

About the author

Mike Mignola was born September 16, 1960 in Berkeley, California and grew up in nearby Oakland. His fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age (he doesn't remember why) and reading Dracula at age 13 introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore from which he has never recovered.

In 1982, hoping to find a way to draw monsters for a living, he moved to New York City and began working for Marvel Comics, first as a (very terrible) inker and then as an artist on comics like Rocket Raccoon, Alpha Flight and The Hulk. By the late 80s he had begun to develop his signature style (thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black) and moved onto higher profile commercial projects like Cosmic Odyssey (1988) and Gotham by Gaslight (1989) for DC Comics, and the not-so-commercial Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (1990) for Marvel. In 1992, he drew the comic book adaptation of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Topps Comics.

In 1993, Mike moved to Dark Horse comics and created Hellboy, a half-demon occult detective who may or may not be the Beast of the Apocalypse. While the first story line (Seed of Destruction, 1994) was co-written by John Byrne, Mike has continued writing the series himself. There are, at this moment, 13 Hellboy graphic novel collections (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien and Witchfinder), three anthologies of prose stories, several novels, two animated films and two live-action films staring Ron Perlman. Hellboy has earned numerous comic industry awards and is published in a great many countries.

Mike also created the award-winning comic book The Amazing Screw-on Head and has co-written two novels (Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire and Joe Golem and the Drowning City) with best-selling author Christopher Golden.

Mike worked (very briefly) with Francis Ford Coppola on his film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer on the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). He lives somewhere in Southern California with his wife, daughter, a lot of books and a cat.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abe and Grace hook up with another group of human survivors and this one seems to click... for Grace, anyway. Needless to say, all is not as it seems and Abe is soon facing off against some seriously bad voodoo...

I have to admit that, while objectively there isn't really any downswing in quality here, I'm getting a little tired of Abe's 'wandering the Earth' schtick. I'm hungry for something to come along that really shakes things up for my favourite fish man...

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing the adventure in the gulf coast- a vague feeling of safety while the world crumbles around them all. Some good character work- broken up by different characters from the post apocalyptic world who have all convened in the last hope town but of course there’s a voodoo cult there up to no good. A decent story but less interesting than some other pieces I’ve read- certainly building up.

[Iva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Окремий плюс за використання в сюжеті Вуду і Таро.
Мінуси за хріновий та не вмотивований розрив зв'язків із Птср-матір'ю і надто прямоліний посил "ніяк не втечеш".

[Wing Kee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series much like Abe is spinning it's wheels.

There is a lot of good found here in the book, a lot of good character work, but the overall plot of teh series so far has been pretty much about Abe trying to avoid finding the truth and just running away. This I hope is the last chapter of him wandering and finally getting some answers.

World: The art is good, it's stylized and looks different from the main BPRD and HB series which I like. It's it's own thing and I like that, giving Abe and his series an identity. The world building aspect here this time around is mostly found in the character development. There are bits and pieces here for the town that they visit, but overall the world building found here is to support it's story.

Story: I like the idea of having each issue focus on a different character in the Cult. We've been with them for a bit now and having some insight into them is good. This is one part about this series that I really appreciate, the focus on character development. That being said, the pacing and scripting is a bit janky and disorienting. I'm starting to very much see what happens to a Mignola story is when Arcudi is not around, it's good but there are certain jumps and pacing styles that show up for a Mignola book that sometimes makes it a choppy read. I liked the end of the arc, as it finally, I hope, knocks Abe out of the endless wandering he's done since this series began, it's powerful and I liked it.

Characters: Focusing on each character was a smart thing giving us a glimpse of their character and what drives them. With the story stalled at what it is, focusing on characters is the next best thing. I especially loved the Grace and Abe issues as this relationship was one I'm invested in. Her journey and Abe's both have something similar and different making it a nice pairing. Both are hiding things and eventually one wakes up and faces the past. It's good. The characters are the best thing about this story.

The story is janky and spinning it's wheels, but I hope that this end will mark a change in the series' direction.

Onward to the next book!

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the fantastic art the story didn't grip me as much as previous ones, you could see where it was headed and that made the journey less enjoyable. There were also too many supporting characters who seemed pointless and didn't add anything apart from confusing me as to who was who. This volume isn't particularly bad but it seemed to be lacking something.

[Joshua Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

"your god has forsaken you"

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been a while since I last read an AS volume, but I don't recall previous installations moving quite this slow.

[Baal Of · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story told from multiple viewpoints, that ends with some nicely gory scenes. I like the fact that Abe keeps getting kicked out from wherever it seems he might be settling.

[Siona Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much much much better. Dayana I think is the most interesting character (Abe aside of course) in this entire series. I hope we see more of her.

[Koen Claeys · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title should be "a comic so boring".

[Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abe, Grace, Dayana and the rest of the Santa Muerte cult arrive at Burnham, Texas. A town mysteriously spared from the disasters walking all around them. Except for Abe, everyone is counting their blessings. There is a minor breakthrough as Grace tells Abe some things about her past. As things progress we learn more about the barter economy in Burnham. Things are given, but not free. An "away" mission goes terribly wrong, the team is only saved because Dayana has more power than most think. The traitor in their midst is in league with other forces.

In the aftermath of the 2 deaths, the veil of tranquility surrounding the haven that is Burnham is ripped away. The child, Megan, overprotected by overzealous adults runs out to be alone. Abe goes after her and their conversation is the most interesting in a long time, especially the metaphors expressed while Megan did a tarot reading for Abe. We don't really find out much more about the villain Arbogast, unlike the past 3 issues where we get deep dives into the point of view characters.

There's a huge final confrontation / battle between the Arbogast, the Voodoo Priest, the wildly ineffective Christian Priest, Dayana witch of the Mexican dead, Abe and some useless bystander cannon fodder characters. It does not end well. Grace is messed up beyond all recognition. If I had been the rest, I would have ditched her and all her baggage, and kept going with Abe since he's way more useful in this post apocalyptic world .

[Wren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is like probably my favourite Abe Sapien book so far, if only b/c I love Dayana and think she's a great character. It's also nice to see a little magic coming up again, and the demon's speech at the end was kind of interesting. The art in this one is also really great. Unfortunately it's still only 3 stars overall b/c the endless meandering arc of Abe wandering the world uselessly asking himself the same questions is by this point so tired and boring. On top of that, all of these interchangable random normal people Abe keeps meeting and interacting w/ are hard to follow or care about, and there's so many of them in this book. It was surprising and really nice to see a trans character in this one, although it was also a very weird choice since she's in it for all of like three fucking panels. A lot of the characters are like that. There's actually some really cool stuff in this series but it's enough to sustain like maybe two trades. Instead, it's bulked out w/ repetition and a million different generic "small towns w/ dark secrets." That's probably why I like this one the best, honestly: it's the only one that really feels very different from the others.

[Jake Blaha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful art which does a lot of the heavy lifting for this series. I’ve kind of lost faith in Scott Allie as a writer, though. Trade after trade, the Abe books are full of pointless and ambivalent dialogue that seems intended for nothing other than taking up space. As far as character development goes, Abe has been stuck in an insecure denial stasis for about 5 volumes now and it is abysmally boring to read yet another conversation with some character that’s just going to be killed off in three pages anyway about how he’s not sure if he should go back to Rhode Island or not. The choice to include a demon based on Mignola’s sketches is honestly what bumped this volume up from a 2 to a 3. I hope Allie can turn it around for the Fiumaras’ sake because it’s criminal that their phenomenal artwork is tied to such mediocre scripts.

[Brannigan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m done with this series. It keeps promising one thing while just repeating the same thing. Abe Sapien deserves better than this. As the intellectual of the team he could have had a psychological thriller with some substance to it. Instead they keep treating him like another Hellboy even going so far as beefing up his physique. They missed their chance at doing some out standing mental horror and even going deeper into the roots instead of just the same old beating up the monster horror that they do a better job at with other characters.

[Jake Kilroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here, we get answers about a small, safe town in the middle of nowhere in the middle of what may be the end of the world—and looming, growing questions for Abe. The conversation between Abe and Megan is sharp and real, with each trying to convince the other of where the world's at and what, why, and how it matters. The gap comes somewhere between age, somewhere between human and nonhuman/once-human. There is a curse upon the world, indeed, but there is still connection; it just takes a great deal more.

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just when it seemed this volume was going to be better than the last. The comic essentially repeats the previous story again. Sometimes that can be good, but in this case the last story was so bad I almost did not make it to the end. Abe is trying to find/do something, and people he meets abuse his trust and say he is just scared and running. Telling Abe "He needs to go home" but not which home. I don't know this is just filler to make some money on the Hellboy name and it shows.

[Bill Coffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abe Sapien’s journey for understanding the end of the world takes him and his fellow survivors to a small town on the Texas Gulf Coast where there appears to be a sense of safety. But a grim secret swells in this place, and not all of Abe’s companions care to learn what it is.

One gets the idea that this book has nowhere to go but into deeper darkness, and while it is all well told, it is not an easy or light read. But still, one worth experiencing.

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

The purpose of Abe's journey still is vague, however, he has traveled far enough that we have seen something that might be just as important: the people who are making it through the apocalyptic world. It is interesting to see who is left by chance or by skill. We get a glimpse of what it takes to survive when every day is a new trauma. There is plenty of monster-punching--including three pages starring a giant black flying beast--but the story's power lies in the quiet conversations.

[Benjamin Ervin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn's the height of the Sapien spin-off series (obviously that's the drowning) but it scratches the itch for some Sapien content. It's not the story I wanted, but the story I need to help my favorite fish man grow as a character. For long time Hellboy fans it's a must read.

[Kael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writing: 2
Art: 3

[Orrin Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I seem to have forgotten to review this back when I actually read it, so this is a little late in coming. The new Abe Sapien series has been some of the consistently best stuff coming out of the Mignolaverse right now, thanks in part to its 90s TV-series feel and in no small part to the Fiumaras whose artwork is always great and really defines this series in much the same way that Guy Davis defined the early B.P.R.D. stuff. This is a good volume, tying off some loose ends from previous volumes while also sending the story off in a slightly different direction. Plus, there's a great design for a demon toward the end (and on the cover).

Not everything works--there are lots of supporting characters in this series, and often it seems like they aren't really given enough screen time to make their storylines really feel satisfying--but a lot more works than doesn't.

[Matthew Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another pretty good volume of BPRD-adjacent stories, with Abe having more trouble connecting with people and figuring out what he wants to do with his life. I do like the way this series gives a ground-level look at the devastated world of the series, featuring people just struggling to survive among all the monster attacks, demonic possessions, crazy cults, and general chaos. I'm still not sure what's going on with Abe, but his story seems like it might be moving forward after a few volumes of him just kind of wandering. The main BPRD series is still where it's at, but this series is a good one to read in between volumes to keep the horrors of post-apocalyptic existence at the front of the mind.

[Thomas Maluck · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I think Abe's uncertain, semi-guilty survival march with disaster refugees is one of the strongest arcs of his solo series, with many beautiful slices of narrative dispersed among the refugee population. A lot of this trade completes things set up in book five, so anyone who was hard on that one needs to read all the payoff here. This is not all horror and demon attacks, though they do invade the story once all the people are properly situated and their voices explored.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

How is it that, in a world where literally anything can now happen, we've encountered the same zombie shtick in two consecutive trades? Why is this book so boring and narrow in scope? Why has so much time and effort gone into telling this particular "story"? Thankfully, this is the last trade that my local library had so the completionist in me can finally let this comic go. So long Abe. I feel like I hardly knew you after reading 6 volumes of a comic ostensibly about you.

[Adan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abe Sapien seems to be meandering a bit. There is still some solid characterization work here with the extended cast, but Abe himself doesn't know what to do, and by extension it feels like the creative team doesn't know what to do either. It's still better than most things, and I'm looking forward to Abe finding a direction soon.

[Erik Carl son · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are at the point in Abe's journey where all the sights look the same and we swear we've seen this all before.
As Hellboy's universe comes to a halt, I feel this may be a rest stop - the writing is still great and the art spectacular - but we've been here and we know the score.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Abe. I was worried what with all the projects Mignola is involved but he oversees it and the other people running with the story do a great job. I feel disappointed every time I finish reading another volume.

[Canavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

✭✭✭

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great arc, each issue focusing slightly on a different character. All of the place setting in the arc before this finally pays off, and some things come to an end.

[Panda Laveur · Rating 4 out of 5]

C'est toujours un plaisir de retrouver Abe Sapien dans sa quête d'identité et sa lutte contre les forces surnaturelles !