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Jump into an eerie Victorian-style mystery with an off-kilter, charming twist in the next knockout collaboration from Mike Mignola and Warwick Johnson-Cadwell!

Monster hunters extraordinaire Professor Meinhardt, Mr. Knox, and Ms. Van Sloan have teamed up to slay spooks and investigate the uncanny before, but now they'll tackle a question that's haunted them for What happened to their friend and vampire slayer extraordinaire, James Falconspeare?

Rendered in Johnson-Cadwell's signature loose, expressive style, and with gorgeous cover from Mignola and colorist Dave Stewart, this hardcover will be a treat for fans of Mr. Higgins Comes Home and Our Encounters with Evil as well as folks new to the world Johnson-Cadwell and Mignola have created.

56 pages, Hardcover

Published January 25, 2022

4 people are currently reading
174 people want to read

About the author

Mike Mignola

1,865 books2,533 followers
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.

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5 stars
46 (12%)
4 stars
141 (37%)
3 stars
134 (35%)
2 stars
45 (11%)
1 star
12 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
Profile Image for Chad.
10.4k reviews1,060 followers
January 28, 2022
A decent vampire story marred by overly busy, rudimentary art. The comic looks like my 10-year old nephew drew it. By the way, other than the cover, Mike Mignola had nothing to do with this. Three stars for the story, one star for the art.
Profile Image for Alexander Peterhans.
Author 2 books301 followers
September 10, 2021


A charming little Victorian horror story. Of course, illustrator and now author Warwick Johnson-Cadwell has worked together with Mike Mignola before, and it would be sheer madness to not compare Johnson-Cadwell's art to Mignola's, albeit in a positive way.



The story is tightly paced, and may even feel short to some - I personally didn't have that problem. I like a quick-in-and-quick-out story, now and then.

The writing is funny, the art is fun. It doesn't really go anywhere that deep or interesting, but that's fine by me.

3.5 stars




(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
Profile Image for Drew Canole.
3,181 reviews44 followers
January 6, 2026
This is another fun vampire hunter story much like the other ones. It's fun enough! I think this series introduced too many side characters when it could have focused more on the main duo. This one in particular is more about Falconspeare than the duo.
Profile Image for Tom.
94 reviews8 followers
January 15, 2022
I adore these graphic novels with Warwick Johnson-Caldwell! They’re fast, quirky supernatural tales with a fun cast of characters.
Profile Image for Jiro Dreams of Suchy.
1,372 reviews9 followers
March 26, 2025
The Hellboy universe has so many adjacent stories that fit into the world but usually only leave a little more- not exactly mandatory reading but the world is so fun I don’t mind.

This character (who I don’t recall seeing before) is a bit of a Sherlock Holmes detective on the hunt for a vampire. He finds one and then goes back to kill the human who he thought was some sort of evil spirit but was actually just a really bad person. While doing so, falconspeare himself becomes a vampire.

Decent story, quick read.
Profile Image for Marc Pastor.
Author 18 books454 followers
November 23, 2022
Una nova aventura d'aquest caçador de vampirs polanskià que passa als marges de l'univers Hellboy i que és molt més fresc, divertit i enlluernador que la majoria de productes que surten de la fàbrica Mignola.
Ja només a nivell visual és un delit, i argumentalment és tan senzill que s'agraeix com un got d'aigua en ple estiu.
Hi estic del tot rendit.
Profile Image for Etain.
489 reviews1 follower
August 7, 2023
I actually really liked this one but it took a while to really get going. Way too long for such a straightforward story. It would have been greatly improved with more complicated framing story or a subplot or literally just being shorter (perhaps with a backup story to accompany it)
Profile Image for OmniBen.
1,388 reviews47 followers
November 13, 2022
(Zero spoiler review)
What amateurish, forgettable dross this is. Thank goodness it was a loan from the local library, cause god help me if I'd parted with any of my hard earned on this one. Why Mike Mignola's name is on this I'll never know. Scratch that, I know exactly why its on this. To lure in people into thinking they are getting something by Mignola, when in fact, they are getting a book written and drawn by someone who would have to improve their craft dramatically to be bad. I take no enjoyment out of being so harsh, but this really is unacceptably poor. How Dark Horse saw fit to release this, much less in hardcover is anyone's guess.
The art was terrible, the story was terrible. The characters were barely one dimensional cardboard cut-outs. The only saving grace of this was its miniscule length, which at least meant the pain only lasted a short while.
It's been a long time since I've given a book one star, although I really can't bring myself to give it anything more. Nothing to see here, move along. 1/5


OmniBen.
Profile Image for Matty Dub.
665 reviews8 followers
November 9, 2022
Short but great atmospheric monster story by the best to ever do it in the genre, Mike Mignola! Cadwell-Johnson’s art is stunning and meshes perfectly with the tragic script. This trilogy of tales has been great side-content from the Mignolaverse, I hope the two creators continue to work together!
Profile Image for Adam Stone.
2,062 reviews33 followers
January 13, 2022
It's really unfortunate that this is labeled as "by Mike Mignola" on Goodreads. He's the cover artist. He didn't write this, or do any of the interior work. This book is actually by Warwick Johnson-Cadwell, and he should be the one praised or buried for it.

I found this story pretty bare bones and terrible. Johnson-Cadwell either doesn't understand how perspective works, or he chooses to ignore it. Either way, this looked more like an art student project than professional graphic novel. The story was dull, and it took me longer to read an eight page Chuck Tingle story than it did to fly through this.

If you're looking for a cool mythological story in the style of Mignola, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a fun, monster story, I'd read this in the store before purchasing it (it won't take long). If you loved the first two volumes of this (I don't even remember if I've read them), this might be to your liking. For me, this was a solid No, Thank You.
Profile Image for Luke Shea.
449 reviews4 followers
November 3, 2022
A delightful little confection. Read it in one sitting with my morning coffee. Johnson-cadwell's art is such a joy. And the plot, while light and hammer-pastichey, is surprisingly compelling, with a great little gem of important truth at its heart. A real charmer.
Profile Image for Maciej.
439 reviews18 followers
June 16, 2024
"Falconspeare" to kolejna odsłona przygód nieustraszonych łowców potworów - profesora J.T. Meinhardta, pana Knoxa i pani Van Sloan. Tym razem bohaterowie muszą rozwiązać zagadkę zniknięcia swojego przyjaciela i zabójcy wampirów, Jamesa Falconspeare'a. Komiks, osadzony w mrocznym i tajemniczym wiktoriańskim klimacie, dostarcza czytelnikom pełną napięcia i emocji opowieść, która zręcznie łączy elementy grozy i humoru.

Fabuła rozpoczyna się od tajemniczej korespondencji, którą otrzymują bohaterowie, co skłania ich do ponownego zjednoczenia się i wyruszenia na poszukiwania Falconspeare'a. Ich podróż pełna jest niebezpieczeństw, spotkań z upiornymi stworzeniami i zaskakujących zwrotów akcji. Komiks wyróżnia się na tle innych tego typu historii nie tylko dzięki intrygującej fabule, ale także dzięki unikalnej kresce Warwicka Johnson-Cadwella, która nadaje opowieści specyficznego, groteskowego uroku.

Jednym z największych atutów "Falconspeare" jest umiejętne balansowanie między horrorem a humorem. Bohaterowie, mimo swoich komicznych i momentami nieudolnych działań, są sympatyczni i z łatwością zyskują sympatię czytelnika. Tajemnica związana z zniknięciem Falconspeare'a oraz jego przeszłością jest przedstawiona w sposób, który stopniowo buduje napięcie, aż do zaskakującego finału.

Warwick Johnson-Cadwell ponownie zachwyca swoją kreską, która, choć może wydawać się zbyt karykaturalna i surowa, doskonale oddaje klimat opowieści. Rysunki, pełne dynamicznych i ekspresyjnych kadrów, idealnie współgrają z tonem opowieści, tworząc spójną i estetycznie interesującą całość.


Przyjemność 3,7/5
Styl: 3,7/5
Historia: 3,5/5

Ocena: 3,63/5
goodreads - 4/5
thestorygraph - 3,75/5
lubimyczytac - 7/10
1,373 reviews5 followers
February 22, 2024
POPKulturowy Kociołek:

Minęło piętnaście lat od momentu ostatniego spotkania nieustraszonych łowców potworów z ich przyjacielem Jamesem Falconspeare’em. Nagle pewnego dnia otrzymują oni od niego tajemniczą korespondencję, która rozbudza ich ciekawość i niepokój. Profesor Meinhardt, pan Knox i pani Van Sloan postanawiają więc wyruszyć na nową wyprawę, aby tym razem odkryć, co stało się z Falconspeare. Tajemnica ta skrywa jednak przed bohaterami wiele niebezpieczeństw, do których zdołali on już przywyknąć. Wszystko to powiązane jest z pewnym naprawdę groźnym wampirem.

Album jest trzecią wspólną przygodą wymienionych bohaterów. Nie ma jednak bezwzględnej konieczności znania wcześniejszych odsłon i po komiks może sięgnąć każdy. Za scenariusz rysunki i kolory w pełni odpowiada tu Warwick Johnson-Cadwell, który bardzo sprawnie oddaje jednak ducha dzieł Mignoli, co powinno zostać docenione przez fanów tego twórcy.

Każdy, kto zdecyduje się sięgnąć po ten tytuł, musi być jednak gotowy na dosyć krótką dawkę horrorowych wrażeń, opartą na pewnych sprawdzonych schematach. W żaden sposób nie umniejsza to jednak jakości pozycji, która nadal jest niezwykle intrygująca. Autor bardzo rzeczowo prezentuje czytelnikowi prowadzone śledztwo, odkrywając stopniowo co stało za zniknięciem Falconspeare’a i co robił on przez tyle lat. Treść ta jest ciekawa, ale bezsprzecznie największą wartością dodaną tytułu są zaprezentowane tu drobne intrygi mające ogromny wpływ na scenariusz i jego jakość (prowadzące również do kilku mocniejszych zwrotów akcji)...

https://popkulturowykociolek.pl/falco...
Profile Image for Joseph R..
1,265 reviews19 followers
May 5, 2022
A set of four Victorian-era monster hunters have had a lot of success over the years dispatching vampires and other supernatural threats. Eventually, they went their own ways. This story brings three back together when they get mysterious notes from their fourth member, James Falconspeare. They follow the clues to that grey region where Europe and Asia meet by the Black Sea. Once they find their lost member, Falconspeare tells a grim story and has an unorthodox request for them.

These are some of the same characters from Mr. Higgins Comes Home. The art is less engaging and does not play up the elements of horror very well. The big twist in the story I found very unsatisfying as a moral choice by Falconspeare. His choice was hard to agree with or find sympathetic and left me not caring about any of the characters. The story is also very short and feels padded out with pages of rough draft art at the beginning and end of the book that seem like they are there to make it have a higher page count. I'm glad I read this as a borrowed digital comic book, because I would have felt overcharged if I had bought it.

Not recommended.
Profile Image for Katelin Smith.
135 reviews1 follower
May 16, 2022

I've read Mignola and Johnson-Cadwell's Our Encounters with Evil: Adventures of Professor J.T. Meinhardt and His Assistant Mr. Knox earlier this year, and while this series isn't your typical flashy monster hunter series, I was still happy to see the cast return in another adventure. While the stakes are high, as it usually is with monster hunting, the pace never feels rushed or manic, making it an easy read to settle down before bed or if you want a light read.

Profile Image for Andy Karlson.
107 reviews4 followers
March 5, 2025
I'm trying to rate books based on how well it seems they accomplish what they set out do do, not only if I personally enjoy them or not. Falconspeare would get five stars either way. It tells a tight vampire yarn around sketchily-drawn but sturdily built characters, and finds some emotional resonance and moral heft along the way.

"Sketchily-drawn but sturdily built" does well to describe WJC's brilliant art, as well as his story here. I'm reminded of the famous (apocryphal?) Dolly Parton quote, "it takes a lot of money to look this cheap." I thought it was evident how much skill it takes to draw in such a loose style and still depict consistent characters navigating apprehensible spaces, but I see from some other reviewers that I was mistaken. Your loss, chumps!
Profile Image for April Gray.
1,389 reviews9 followers
January 26, 2022
This was a fun, if light, Victorian horror story. A trio of supernatural creature hunters team up to investigate what happened to an old friend, another hunter, who hasn't been heard from for many years. When they find him, he has quite a tale to tell...
While it ended pretty much how I thought it would (this isn't deep and complex), but it was spooky and mysterious-ish getting there; it was entertaining. The art suits the story, kinda creepy/spooky, but a bit funny too. An amusing, quick read.
Profile Image for Dakota Morgan.
3,417 reviews53 followers
August 17, 2022
Barely even a trifle, but not a bad one at that. Our heroes from Mr. Higgins Comes Home and Our Encounters with Evil learn that an old pal, Falconspeare, might be in danger. Turns out Falconspeare has uncovered a nasty evil and he's got a story to tell.

And...that's about it. Falconspeare is dark and occasionally amusing (and the unnatural art kinda works for me), but it doesn't sparkle with oddity like the previous entries in the series.
Profile Image for Aly Summers.
11 reviews
April 1, 2022
When I first opened this book it gave me instructions on how to open comic panels… which I was not expecting! It’s actually a comic. Sort of witty, about a group of intrepid vampire hunters who go in search of their friend Falconspeare when he sends a mysterious and vague communication to them. It’s about a man who becomes a monster to slay a monster. Kind of cliché, but with a unique art style.
Profile Image for Richard.
821 reviews14 followers
April 27, 2023
A bit bare bones, perhaps, but it's a decent story and I don't mind the art style. Some folks seem upset that Mike Mignola is credited as the author for this when he didn't write it and that's fair. Frankly, this feels like a one shot Mignola would have written, so I really think it's mostly a shame the author is not properly credited.
Profile Image for Linda.
1,025 reviews13 followers
October 5, 2024
A story of a group fighting against the dark monster in our world. It reminded me of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The art had a modern edge, but was effective in telling the story. The group is called out by one of their own members to a mysterious Easter European country where there are rumors of a "Biter". I did not expect the final twist and it was good one!
Profile Image for Mikael.
187 reviews8 followers
February 23, 2022
This is not the Mignola I’m used to. It is a great example of why one should not buy books from internet based only on the cover and the fact that you’ve read the authors previous works. Illustrations are in fact so not to my liking I could hardly bring myself to finish reading the story.
Profile Image for Patrick.
Author 6 books40 followers
March 3, 2022
Interesting and quick graphic novel that has a unique story line. I enjoyed the art and story line. Great for those who like vampires, Victorian gothic, graphic novels. Very quick read but very fun read.
Profile Image for John.
1,261 reviews29 followers
June 22, 2022
Needs more Mignola. Altogether too brief. I am getting used to Warwick Johnson-Cadwell's art, but the story was very truncated. This is the sort of thing Lord Baltimore would have spent 125 pages doing.
Profile Image for Cail Judy.
459 reviews37 followers
June 27, 2022
I dig Johnson-Cadwell’s art-style, it’s loose and fun compared to the rest of the Mignolaverse. The story was pretty thin here, but I’ll keep reading these as new volumes come out, they have a certain charm.
Profile Image for Ryan Miller.
1,703 reviews7 followers
June 28, 2022
Maybe it was the brevity, or the semi-cartoonish art, or something, but I didn’t care about any of these vampire/night creature hunters. So the big reveal at the end was a yawner, rather than a horror. Perhaps I should have read other titles first.
Profile Image for Justin Labelle.
549 reviews23 followers
July 8, 2023
A very cute, but slightly awkwardly sequenced comic.
One or two panels seem to be missing from the action as it developed.
The final payoff makes it all worthwhile but definitely not the strongest of episodes in the Mignola Canon.
Still worth a gander.
Profile Image for Peter.
514 reviews2 followers
August 31, 2023
Surprisingly good and coherent from start to finish. Quite enjoyable and well-paced.

I didn't know it was part of a series, so that's my own problem.

I personally found the artwork interesting, but ultimately quite bad.
Profile Image for Astor Dee.
3 reviews36 followers
December 2, 2024
tight fun story beautifully illustrated

Mignola and WJC doing what they do best together. Style of words match the style of the visual narrative so well. Put me there with them. Thanks guys!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews

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