Review: "Witchfinder: Volume 1" by Mike Mignola

I am a big fan of Mike Mignola's Hellboy. Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder: In the Service of Angels: Volume 1 (story by Mike Mignola and art by Ben Stenbeck) is set in the same Hellboy universe (Hellboy, B.P.R.D., Abe Sapien, and, yes, even Lobster Johnson).


RECOMMENDATION: I am now also a big fan of Mike Mignola's Witchfinder. If you are a fan of the Hellboy universe then you will want to add this to your collection. There is a second volume that I will also be adding to my collection.


REVIEW: Sir Edward Grey is Mignola's tribute to the Victorian occult detective. The stories are typical Mignola stories i.e., filled with references to legends, tales, and mythology that are twisted to meet the needs of his story. Grey is a good tribute to the Victorian occult detective. The art feels like Mignola's art without being an exact copy of Mignola's art.

Review: "The Satan Factory" by Thomas E. Sniegoski

Lobster Johnson: The Satan Factory by Thomas E. Sniegoski

Paperback, 203 pages, Dark Horse Books, July 2009.

I was first introduced to Lobster Johnson in the Hellboy graphic novels. I was intrigued enough to buy Lobster Johnson: Volume1: Iron Prometheus and greatly enjoyed it. I stumbled upon this somehow and gave it a try.

Lobster Johnson is an excellent representation of the original pulp heroes. He strikes me as a strong dose of the Shadow with some of the elements of Doc Savage thrown in (specifically, his sidekicks).

RECOMMENDATION: I enjoyed it and do not regret buying it. Unless you too are a big fan of Lobster Johnson and/or pulps, I would recommend reading it a the local library before deciding to buy it.

REVIEW: 

Pros:

The writing was good and very easy to read. The characters were pretty thinly developed; although, this is typical of a pulp story. The story is also a good representation of a pulp plot (although, this one was missing a damsel in distress).

Cons:

Even though I believe that a typical pulp story does not have well-developed characters, I was hoping to get more of the background of Lobster Johnson in the book; but, unfortunately, you do not. You do get a better sense of him as a character but no additional details of his background. The sidekicks were also thinly developed; some did not even have easily applied labels as the aides of Doc Savage did.

"Vi vs. The Boogeyman" Illustrated Novel

I have had this idea for a young adult (YA) book and/or graphic novel for a couple of years. I am not an artist — so the graphic novel is off the table. I do want to work on becoming an artist — so an illustrated novel, it is! I am kicking around the idea of making it into an eBook; especially since Apple has released the tools to create an iBook for free. We shall see ...

Vi vs. The Boogeyman

Vi must become a dreamer again in order to travel to the Dreamlands to rescue her younger sister, Zo, from the Boogeyman.

Characters:

Protagonists:

• Shadow, cat
• Twinkle, stuffed dog with bell's in ears
• Violet (Vi) Strange, 12, oldest of the Strange sisters
• Zoe (Zo) Strange, 8, youngest of the Strange sisters

Antagonists:

• The Boogeyman
• Boggle, minion of the Boogeyman, who looks like a dwarf old man with pointed ears and sharp teeth and carries a bag

Settings:

"Real" World:

• Zo's bedroom
• Vi's bedroom
• Zo's hospital room

Dreamlands:

• Dark Castle, home of the Boogeyman

I actually started to write this as outline for a graphic novel. I really have no experience writing a graphic novel — so this may be way off base.

PAGE#1

PANEL#1 (Full Page)

Zo is asleep in her bed with a boggle standing over her. The boggle is grabbing her dream-spirit and stuffing it into a bag.

PAGE#2

PANEL#1

Shadow jumps on boggle's back.

PANEL#2

Boggle's arm flings Shadow through air.

PANEL#3

Shadow hits wall.

PANEL#4

Last of Zo's dream-spirit stuffed into bag.

PANEL#5

Boggle runs into the closet.

PAGE#3

PANEL#1

Shadow pushes open door to dark closet.

PANEL#2

Closet door frames Dark Castle in distance.

PANEL#3

Twinkle joins Shadow. Closet door frames vanishing view of Dark Castle.

PANEL#4

Rest of toys assemble. Agitated. Questions?!

PAGE#4

PANEL#1

Twinkle shouts, "Quiet!"

PANEL#2

Toys calm down.

Poem

I have been kicking around this poem in my head for many years (!). I thought it might work as a haiku ... not so much, I don't think?  It is four lines and has 14 syllables per line — if that matters? Ah, who cares what type of poem it is!

Leap of Faith

I stood on the brink
     of infinity
     and I blinked
to save my sanity.


— MWH


The next step is put the poem with an illustration. I have an idea of a figure standing on a cliff looking down at a field of stars. That will probably take some work on my part. I have not really done any drawing in years.