Abe Sapien #16 Review

Is there any hope for this fish out of water? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dark Horse:

Abe returns to the place where Fenix shot him, and things get worse when a mysterious gas begins to leak from the ground. Pursued by a crew sent to bring him down, he runs into two different apocalypse cults, one of which worships Abe!

Our protagonist has certainly been through a great deal, and that fact becomes more relevant as his potential future comes into play. Is he a sign of the end? Or just a man in the wrong place at the wrong time? We don’t know but what we’re given within this release is just enough to keep fans invested as the creative team plays with a franchise that has value.

Mike Mignola and Scott Allie work together to pen the continuing tales of Abe Sapien. Since Hell on Earth began the world at large has been through the wringer, but in the middle of all that destruction our hero struggled to find himself. With his regained memories and new experiences the former B.P.R.D. agent evolved but he’s still running away from the possibility that he’s carrying a noticeable darkness. And that right there is the narrative element that these authors have chosen to focus on and it leads to some interesting bits.

The illustrations handed in by Sebastián Fiumara are easily an attention grabber. Each page is lavished with detail in a way that properly evokes the right amount of creation without burying the text under the weight of this talent’s strength. I did find a few of the panels to be a bit too bland but for the most part these were hiccups that’ll largely go unnoticed. And when you add in the colors by Dave Stewart there’s no doubt in my mind that this is a comic that absolutely deserves an audience.

Abe Sapien #16 is another rock solid entry in what has become one of my favorite titles to cover for UTF. With sturdy work by an intrepid creative team this jaunt comes recommend.