Witchfinder, Vol. 3: The Mysteries of Unland

Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder

by Kim Newman, Mike Mignola, Maura McHugh

Sir Edward Grey is sent to Hallam to investigate the death of a Crown-appointed official, but once he is there he hears rumors of the mysterious Unland—the wetlands around the town—and the creatures that inhabit it. Grey’s skepticism vanishes when he encounters the monsters of Unland, and he realizes that Hallam is a place of secrets. Collects Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland #1–#5.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Comic Book, Mystery, Graphic Novels Comics

152 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 28, 2015

About the author

Note: This author also writes under the pseudonym of Jack Yeovil.
An expert on horror and sci-fi cinema (his books of film criticism include Nightmare Movies and Millennium Movies), Kim Newman's novels draw promiscuously on the tropes of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. He is complexly and irreverently referential; the Dracula sequence--Anno Dracula, The Bloody Red Baron and Dracula,Cha Cha Cha--not only portrays an alternate world in which the Count conquers Victorian Britain for a while, is the mastermind behind Germany's air aces in World War One and survives into a jetset 1950s of paparazzi and La Dolce Vita, but does so with endless throwaway references that range from Kipling to James Bond, from Edgar Allen Poe to Patricia Highsmith.
In horror novels such as Bad Dreams and Jago, reality turns out to be endlessly subverted by the powerfully malign. His pseudonymous novels, as Jack Yeovil, play elegant games with genre cliche--perhaps the best of these is the sword-and-sorcery novel Drachenfels which takes the prescribed formulae of the games company to whose bible it was written and make them over entirely into a Kim Newman novel.
Life's Lottery, his most mainstream novel, consists of multiple choice fragments which enable readers to choose the hero's fate and take him into horror, crime and sf storylines or into mundane reality.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sir Edward Grey gets sent to a town set in a marshland in England to investigate some strange murders involving electricity. I like how it involves one of those all-powerful elixirs of the time period and where the ingredients come from. It all has a very Lovecraftian vibe to it. Tyler Crook's art is made for this type of story.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first new Witchfinder book in some time and it sees Mike Mignola step back as Kim Newman and Maura McHugh take over the writing - and unfortunately produce the only dismal volume in the series so far.

Set in 1881, Sir Edward Grey is enlisted by the Crown to investigate the murder of one of its servants in Hallam, rural Somerset. The victim was drowned in a tub containing the town’s only produce, Poole’s Elixir, and had mysterious electrical burns on his skin. Off goes Sir Edward to solve the case!

The murder mystery of this book is fine in that everything sort of makes sense (except for why did all the kids have all-black eyeballs?), though it’s not very exciting to read as it plays out slowly and unremarkably. Without getting into spoilers, the motives of the murderer turn out to be very glib and unsatisfying - quite why they need to do what they want to do is never really explained - while the formation of the town itself is also a poorly constructed origin.

The worst part by far is Newman/McHugh’s treatment of Sir Edward’s character. He comes off as incredibly bland; a dour, two dimensional pseudo-detective that never comfortably fits into this story. It’s been a few years since I read the first two books but I don’t remember him being this unimpressive in Mignola’s hands.

Worse still is how passive he is throughout until, by the end, he’s little more than a hopeless observer to events playing out. Really, Sir Edward could have been left out entirely and this whole story would have been unaffected, resolving itself in the same way - that’s how worthless his inclusion in this book is!

I did like how Newman/McHugh created a local dialect for the townsfolk and Newman used his extensive Victorian knowledge (he’s the author of the Anno Dracula books) to bring a genuine sense of the times to the script. Hallam did seem like it could’ve been a real place in Somerset county. And I did appreciate how the ending isn’t quite so pat as it could’ve been (with a bizarre cameo from a familiar face in the last panel for some reason!).

Tyler Crook’s artwork is quite nice even if I’m still unconvinced his style befits the horror genre, and I liked the tribute to Victorian pulp art. Dave Stewart’s colours look amazing as always and brilliantly change with the different eras.

I like this series but Kim Newman and Maura McHugh are no kind of replacement for Mike Mignola. The third Witchfinder volume is a weak and forgettable addition to an otherwise great title.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third (and, at the time of writing this, most recent) volume of Witchfinder has a complete change of creative team.

There was no way I was going to miss Tyler Crook's artwork on this book; it's not his best stuff but it's still fantastic.

The new writers, Kim Newman and Maura McHugh, have come up with a love letter to Lovecraft here; they might as well have called the town this story takes place in 'British Innsmouth' and have done with it. I'm not complaining; I loves me a good Lovecraft homage (if I didn't, I probably wouldn't have much truck with any of the BPRD/Hellboy books) and this was a good Lovecraft homage.

It's a creepy tale and a heck of a lot of fun... and I totally didn't see that ending/epilogue coming but it made me grin from ear to ear.

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witchfinder with a totally new creative team.
This whole story feels like an homage to the Lovecraftian mythology, and it is done very well. Although some plot points are predictable, I think the book is still intriguing enough to keep the readers interested.

[Wing Kee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more like it!

Yeah, the last arc was kind of a let down, I did like the North American folk tale angle and I did like the story, but the art and the lack of ties to the greater story took me out of it. This new arc, is back in England and I'm hoping it dives deeper into Witchfinders story and builds upon the Mignolaverse.

World: This world is gorgeous. The art this time around is great, this is the art style that I like and I loved the colors that accompanied the artwork. It made Unland unnatural and a character of its own. The world building this time around is both good but not as good as arc 1. Sure, the Unland story is great, the villain and the history interesting, there is even a call back the the prophecy of arc, and the final page is amazing. However, I am waiting for the stuff promised in arc 1, I'll guess I have to wait.

Story: Wow much better paced and executed than the last arc. There is some wonderful storytelling here and the main mystery is interesting and the setting different. I liked how I was surprised. Sure my it did follow some expected beats with the story, but there were aspects of it that still surprised me. The art also made the story much more interesting as it was both realistic and odd. Good stuff.

Characters: There is a little bit more character development in terms of Grey, but most of it was spent on developing this tale. The tale itself is fun and interesting making the characters that were introduced people you would want to know more about. The world building and the characters tied together wonderfully. As I've said, I'm still waiting for the greater arc, but this arc in itself was very interesting.

A good arc making me want to read for Witchhunter. The setting and the art style made for a fun read and a wonderful part of the Mignolaverse.

Onward to the next book!

[Iva · Rating 4 out of 5]

"УРА!" підв’язці до глобального сюжету та "УРА!" акварельному стильному малюнку, що дуже пасує цій серії. Втім, не дуже "ура" слабенько ілюстрованим екшн-сценам та злитому всього на дві сторінки неепічному фіналу, що, враховуючи повну відсутність інтриги, засмучує.

[Ill D · Rating 3 out of 5]

The weakest of the series.

A good character that has been progressively degraded by unfocused plots, weak character development, and a sheer lack of clarity.

I hope the authors of this work never make another comic in their lives.

[Václav · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4,6 of 5 for Lovecraftian thrill from the pen of Mike Mignola (not really, but for the idea’s sake…), the pencil of Tyler Crook and Dave Steward’s brush. Could you name a better team for this? I bet you couldn’t!)
Mignolaverse always was influenced by ideas of H.P. Lovecraft. But with third Witchfinder, we travel directly to the „Innsmouth“ theme. The city, swamps and moors around it have very Louisiana/New Orleans feeling with hints of New England. But it’s located some England countryside called Unland. The atmosphere is great, it’s dark, creepy with constant looking over the shoulder for hidden dangers and perfect „Lovecraftian“ feeling. The story is crafted very well (I can fell that Newman and McHugh's bit step back in „originality department“ and the untangling of the story is bit chaotic/confusing), Crook’s art perfectly drawn with colouring in mind and subsequent Steward’s watercolours colouring is just perfect. I believe Mike’s supervision or „mentoring“ made the difference in the story itself, but I’m happy that his Crook’s suggestion concerning art won over Mignola’s (judging by the bonus pages about art designs). On the other side, Mignola is kind of heavy with reworking Lovecraftian themes so I guess the story completely in his hands would be better crafted and composed, but it would be less Lovecraftian and it wouldn’t feel that fresh in the context of Mignolaverse. So I’m happy with the result as it is. The art, the atmosphere of the story, I loved all of that. And I did enjoy these comics very much.

[RG · Rating 2 out of 5]

Murder horror weird lovecraftian vibes but ultimately not as good as Mignola.

[Orrin Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

In what may be the first true Mignolaverse book without Mignola's name on the spine (someone correct me if I'm wrong), Kim Newman and Maura McHugh ably take the reigns of one of my favorite Mignolaverse characters for a bizarre and very, very British romp. Tyler Crook, lately of the B.P.R.D. series, is on art duties, and he's well-suited to the material, particularly when giant eels or gory deaths are involved. Though it will be tough for any other Witchfinder trade to reach the dizzying heights of the first volume, this was a welcome return to form after the disappointing (for me at least) second installment.

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

The switch in art styles from the second volume was disappointing at first- the wobbly, stretched out creepiness of this series suddenly clicked with me- it feels like the grogginess and sickness of a hangover. The whole comic is great and it becomes more and more creepy until the dam (tehehe) finally breaks.

The most British story yet. In the words of Craig David, “This makes me proud to be British”

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know that town in Lovecraft’s New England? Yeah, that’s the one, where the townspeople are becoming fish folk. Right. Yeah. Enjoyed that one? You’ll LOVE this story then. Just don’t read it on a storm swept, raining night. Trust me.

[Rory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of damp, sickly English people in this one, and eels, A+ silly Victorian pastiche

[Frederik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mysteries of Unland is that inevitable episode in any series: enjoyable on its own terms and reasonably accessible to new readers, but not on par with the high standards set by previous two volumes in the series.

In the Service of Angels, the first in the Witchfinder series, offered the thrill that comes with introducing what had previously been a peripheral player in the Mignolaverse. Lost and Gone Forever gave us the tension of a story that tested the character’s (Christian) preconceptions of the world. By comparison, The Mysteries of Unland is a straight-up occult mystery that doesn’t substantively advance our insight into either Sir Edward Grey’s character or the trajectory of his life that leads to his transformation into the enigmatic figure of the Hellboy stories. The cast of supporting characters, however, stands out for offering Sir Edward foils against which he can show some personality beyond his single-minded focus on his investigations.

It would be misleading to label the story as Lovecraftian, as it lacks a suitably cosmic and mythological scale of horror. The narrative is better described as local folklore, one of those offbeat cases set in one of those small, eerie, insular villages whose quaintness and odd assortment of characters conceals a bizarre secret – the perfect setting for a Victorian occult detective. Althoughwriters Maura McHugh and Kim Newman’s narrative isn’t as tight as it needs to be, setting up but not following through on its implications (most notably on the town’s production of a curative elixir, but the muddle is broader than that), they do create a unique sense of culture through details such as the townsfolk’s distinct dialect and the tension between the wetland/fishing and dryland/mechanical cultures. Most refreshing of all, and a further refutation of the story as cast from Lovecraft’s mold, is an ending that defies the usual good versus evil confrontation to offer something more diplomatic. It’s a bit disappointing that Sir Edward becomes rather passive by the end – a witness to the plot rather than an influencer per se – but perhaps excusable on account that the story occurs early in his career.

The book is rendered beautifully by Tyler Crook’s vintage style and Dave Stewarts muted colour washes, with a clever diversion into Victorian pulp illustration for an ironic moment in the story. Except for the occasional jarring choice of facial expressions for Sir Edward – in one panel, the normally dour and humourless detective is made to grin (unconvincingly) with the mention of breakfast – the artwork is a masterful display of the gloomy, atmospheric, and gothic. Crook and Stewart’s best trick is to make it all seem so benign, thanks to a soft approach, allowing the story’s horrific moments to burst out in kinetic colour and dispel our sense of comfort.

All-in-all, it’s a deliciously creepy piece of work.

[Benjamin Barham · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read everything from the Hellboy / B.P.R.D. universe. I've loved it all, and while there's been a reasonable fluctuation in quality over the many stories that it encompasses, I feel comfortable saying this is the first story that I actively dislike.

There's a sense of humor here that feels incredibly off pace, and the writing is just kind of a mess. Here we see Grey not as a confident hunter of the Occult, but as the Victorian equivalent of an angsty teenager. Ultimately, the characterization is a poor approximation of what Mignola had already established. The imagined dialect for the once-swamp folk is at best frustrating and at worst totally unreadable. The pacing is poor, and there's a bit too much exposition for my taste.

I think Tyler Crook is a good artist, and the art is nice, but in my opinion doesn't fit with what the tone of the book was tried to aim for.

Mignola steps away and lo, others really aren't up to the task. If this were not part of the Mignolaverse, it would be a perfectly acceptable series. But as it IS... it's a huge disappointment and really kind of embarrassing. I liked the Witchfinder series prior to this. Sit down Kim Newman.

The best part of the trade is the 8 page Witchfinder short that Mignola did write that's included in the back.

Oh, and will the Abe Sapien appearance go anywhere? Probably, as Mignola doesn't throw around appearances like that for no good reason, and as long as he's behind the pen, it'll probably be pretty cool too. However, in hindsight I feel like this whole story was just set-up for those last 4 frames.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelously creepy. Have to say this weird little tale really transported me to another world as if I were immersed in a 360 degree film. It's something along the lines of Lovecraft's Dunwitch tale but honestly I have to say Kim Newman has outclassed Lovecraft by several levels of frights and smarts. The elegant artworks doesn't hurt either. A superior example of Gothic Horror in modern comic form. Highly Recommended. No knowledge of prior volumes is necessary either.

[Larakaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came for the cover by Mignola and stayed for the plot and interesting art style. If you are grossed out by eels you might not want to read this, it's full of eels. The part I liked most about this one was the police man's theory who commited the murder and how it was drawn in this completely different and old school newspaper style.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hero as passive as a dead eel.

[Phoebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Arthur Conan Doyle meets H P Lovecraft story suffers from the limitations of its medium and the unlikability of its protagonist.

Sir Edward Grey, a supernatural investigator on the payroll of the crown, is summoned to an industrialized town sat on a former marsh to investigate a murder. What follows is a story that lightly touches over man's encroachment on nature and the rich's encroachment on the working class, but doesn't seem to have the room to make a thoughtful statement on either. This is often a problem with comics which have pre-determined lengths in ways novels usually don't. Not only that, but the comic apparently wants us to root against nature and/or the oppressed townsmen at times, using the classic trick of making a character with a legitimate grievance the villain by having them go too far in the name of their cause.

Another major problem with the comic is that Sir Edward Grey isn't very likeable. He's cold and arrogant and unsentimental. That's not necessarily a problem...If you had a more relatable Watson-like character to balance out the haughtiness of Grey, or to bring out a more human side to him. In this comic at least, he doesn't have that. He's a surly, stiff upper-lipped Victorian man, and that's that.

Overall, the artwork is very good, and the story is legitimately creepy and tense in places. But the story is held back by its medium and its main character.

(Side-note: there's a a mini-comic at the end that is just inexplicable. "Beware the Ape" is a few pages long, and involves Grey investigating a man who he thinks stole an ancient magical artefact. However, it was actually stolen by his evil pet monkey. Grey chases the monkey, the monkey bites a horse and the horse has green tentacles suddenly burst from its stomach (it's no less weird in context), and then the monkey escapes. The last panel reads "The monkey escaped to France, where it killed a rich widow and was hanged". Well, alright then).

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Mignola's comic book universe based around Hellboy and the BPRD is a fine and amazing thing, but this is an unusually distinctive entry that stands out a bit. 1881, and Sir Edward Grey, England's official Witchfinder, is dispatched to the town of Hallam to investigate the odd death of a Crown official. At first disgruntled at what he perceives to be a mundane murder mystery, he soon finds himself attacked by giant eels, and so starts to feel right at home. Hallam is the source of a popular health tonic, a model industrial town reclaimed from the marshes. naturally there are all sorts of evil goings-on going on, secrets and mysteries and monsters for Grey to explore unravel and fight.

It all has the feel of a wonderfully British period gothic Hammer horror. There's a terrific and loving attention to detail, with glimpses of life in a town dredged from ancient marshes and propelled to a glorious and progressive future by a reforming baron of industry. The cylinders of instructive music played to the workers in the factory, the penny dreadful version of the constable's suspicions, the touches of local dialect, successfully used without mocking or demeaning the speaker and effortlessly touching on tensions between class and education, and eels, lots and lots of eels. It also has a rather bleak sting at the end, a vision of the glorious future everyone's heading towards, and tying in with later evens in the Mignolaverese too, I think.

A splendidly entertaining read that can be enjoyed without much reference to other titles in series, but why deny yourself the pleasure? It's a lot of fun, even if this is a particularly rich and satisfying example.

[Pavel Pravda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Byl jsem rozhodnutý v sérii Lovce čarodějnic nepokračovat. První dva díly mě příliš nebavily. Pan Dort mě ale přesvědčil, ať zkusím ještě tuto knihu. A co myslíte? Pecka! Nazvat to nejpovedenějším dílem série by bylo zbytečné. Tohle řadím k nejlepším knihám v Hellboyversu. Maura McHugh a Kim Newman si zde vystřihli parádní lovecraftovský příběh. Sir Edward Grey přijíždí do městečka Hallam, aby vyšetřil záhadnou vraždu. A jak už to tak bývá, nakonec je překvapen, co se z takového podřadného vyšetřování vyklube, ale nikoliv zaskočen. Více nemá cenu prozrazovat, protože tohle je opravdu příběh o vyšetřování a je zábavné postupně odhalovat co se tam ve skutečnosti děje. Nejednou jsem se v knize vracel, abych si ujasnil, co někteří lidé přesně řekli a já si mohl udělat svou teorii a vlastní závěry. Ta atmosféra příběhu je úžasná a příjemně mrazivá.
Hodně dělá kresba Tylera Crooka a také barvy. Tady je to, na co jsem od něj zvyklý, co mám od něj rád a co v sérii Ú. P. V. O. postrádám. Byl jsem hodně překvapený, že je pod barvami podepsaný Dave Stewart. Což o to, Dave to s barvami umí, ale takto jsem ho ještě vybarvovat neviděl. Dave Stewart a akvarel? Skutečnost je ale jiná a je to popsané v bonusech. Tyler Crook dělá ve své kresbě černobílé skvrny akvarelem, které potom Dave Stewart vybarvuje. Funguje to a vypadá to parádně!

P.S. Věděli jste, že když v jeskyni zakřičíte Hallam, tak vám ozvěna odpoví Innsmouth?

[Zare · Rating 4 out of 5]

What starts (to Sir Edward's annoyance) as a minor investigation into Queen's representative demise in a small town in England ends up as a first contact with the humanity's offshoot living with creatures in the local marshes.

Story is very much like it came off the Twilight Zone script or from old horror stories inspired by Lovecraft. Was it good? I found it interesting, very eerie and with that "old" horror feel.

In terms of art this is third volume with third artist working on the comic. Art is interesting, clear lines and very expressive. It is much closer to art in volume# 1 than in volume #2.

In overall, I highly recommend it to all fans of horror and weird/strange tales and of course Hellboy universe.

[Nick Haas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't write reviews almost ever, which goes to show how much I really enjoyed this book. Sir Edward Grey is my first foray into the Mignolaverse. I enjoyed vol.1 but this entry was just fantastic. The atmosphere helped build up the over all mystery in a really neat way. The first half started in, which isn't a criticism it helped build up the mystery and suspense. It also helped rocket the second half which came roaring in with a very satisfying conclusion. The uniqueness of the monsters mythos also made it very intriguing. I personally hadn't read anything with monstrous eels before and they fit right at home with this kind of world. Looking forward to more!

[Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this graphic novel. The art is a notch above most other Hellboy comics, the first 2 pages were beautifully rendered. Panels flowed seamlessly and the story was also awesome. What made it 5 stars was the end section, which seemed more like an epilogue - it contains a cameo by one of our favorite Hellboy characters.

[Gerardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amo le atmosfere di fine Ottocento in cui il novello spirito scientifico si mescola con l'arcaica mitologia superstiziosa popolare: il contrasto crea quella sensazione di mistero che lega il lettore alle pagine.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm running out of enthusiasm for Witchfinder. I liked volume 1, thought vol. 2 was all right, and number 3 is mediocre. Edward Grey is back in Blighty where he belongs, but the story just didn't grab me. The art was also a little off. It's generally ok, but there are a number of bad panels that seem distorted or badly drawn.

[Bill Coffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Witchfinder returns to form with a mystery in the boggy hinterlands of England, which puts the old ways against the encroaching modernity of industry. Not without its flaws, but a solid entry in the Witchfinder catalog.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5
Not as interesting as it could have been.

[Koen Claeys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mysterious tale, not bad.

[Suvi Tartia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Witchfinder. Very Lovecraftian, loved it!