Title: Abe Sapien: The Drowning and Other Stories
Authors: Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and Scott Allie
Series: Abe Sapien #1-2, 9
Pages: 448
This is a collection of stories from Abe’s times as an agent with the BRPD and his hunt for his origins. This edition contains the stories: The Drowning, Casualties, the Haunted Boy, The Land of the Dead, Witchcraft & Demonology, The Abyssal Plain, The Devil Does Not Jest, The Ogopogo, Subconscious, Lost Lives and Icthyo Sapian.
As a fan of the Hellboy series I knew I wanted to continue reading Magnola’s work. I jumped into this series first because Abe was one of my favorite characters from the Hellboy series. These are self contained stories, like in the Hellboy series, that take place before and after the Hellboy comics. As someone who has not read any of the BRPD series, I had no problems with following the stories. A few of these stories do discuss major events that happen in the BRPD series but it didn’t impact that specific story because they are self contained. Once I read BRPD I am sure those references will be understood but for now they didn’t bother me.
I really enjoyed these stories from Abe’s POV because while he is different physically like Hellboy, he acts completely different. Abe doesn’t remember his past and struggles to be ‘human’ and relatable like Hellboy can. Abe is just a great character that has some great character development with each story.
Overall, this was a great collection of stories featuring Abe. I can’t wait to jump into the next book and see what else he has done. Also, I really want to know more about his past now that I have seen a glimpse of it.
Red-Haired Ash Reads 