By Chuck Suffel
Writer: Mike Mignola, John Arcudi (@artofmmignola) Artist: Tonci Zonjic (@tozozozo) Colorist: Dave Stewart (@Dragonmnky) Cover Artist: Dave Johnson (@Devilpig666)
From the Dark Horse site:
“When a tribe of phantom Indians start scalping policemen, Hellboy‘s crime-fighting hero Lobster Johnson and his allies arrive to take on these foes and their gangster cronies!”
TASTE JUSTICE!
You heard it right comic book fans, Lobster Johnson is back! For the uninitiated Lobster Johnson is a vigilante crime fighter who operated in New York in the 1930’s. He fought both criminal and paranormal threats with a small band of allies from his secret base in the city’s sewers. We first meet him in the pages of Hellboy years after his death when he appears as a ghost (spirit?) to come to the aid of Hellboy and Roger.
Now granted it’s only a five issue mini but when it comes to “The Lobster” I’ll take what I can get. And what we get is pretty great, taking place in February of 1932 this prohibition/depression era book hits all the right notes. Tonic Zonjic’s art is dead on, the clothes, cars and buildings look great. There’s at least one classic movie actor cameo (which I can’t believe was unintentional). Dave Stewart’s colors show the muted, drab qualities of the depression with out being depressing (couldn’t help it, sorry) while still having life and moments of true beauty. I truly hope Mike Mignola and John Arcudi had as much fun writing the dialogue as I had reading it, they use some of the lingo of the day without getting bogged down by it.
Speaking of the writing, I’d like to talk a bit about the story but it’s really difficult with out getting all spoilery. As I said it’s 1932, the city is New York City and something just ain’t right. Indian ghosts running the streets? Scalping police officers? Be prepared for; ghosts, mobsters, hitmen, reporters, thugs, oh and a great cliffhanger ending that had me trying to turn to a next page that wasn’t there! I call this story an Occult Hard-Boiled Horror Mystery Thriller. In other words another great offering from Mignola and the Hellboy crew!
Follow Chuck on Twitter @Chuck_Suffel
