Abe Sapien : The Haunted Boy [Archive] - Comic Book Resources Forums

Gary_B

10-30-2009, 12:03 AM

I don't feel like messing with spoiler tags so I"ll just say that it is a good read. I like the stand-alone comic project that Dark Horse has going right now. I can't wait to get my hands on the Mignola/Corben one-shot, The Bride of Hell.

I noticed a mistake in the letters column. Scott Allie made a plug for the upcoming Black Flame trade, but I'm sure he meant to say Black Goddess.

Noct

10-30-2009, 04:24 AM

It was a fun issue. The art was nice, though not my favourite. It did feel too much like the Abe Mini series. Why that distracted me I really can't say, but the tone was good some great images and exciting movement. Other than the Abe series it felt very different from everything else to me. Perhaps this scratchy type art is a good way of representing Abes past. :tongue:

It was kind of fun to have a stand alone story. On the other hand though I felt like I wanted it to somehow go further or be deeper. Anyway. Enjoyable and I like the little added bonus at the end. Great touch.
:biggrin:

mattmanw54301

10-30-2009, 08:30 PM

I really liked this, but the story felt shoe-horned into a one shot. But overall, great stuff. The art reminds me of The Drowning, which is a good thing.

brentmcd

10-30-2009, 09:36 PM

I liked the story. The artwork -- not as much. The art was very reminiscent of The Drowning, so if you liked Jason Alexander's stuff, then you would like this. Not really my cup of tea. I thought the pacing was alright, and I do like the idea of the self-contained, one-shot story. Definitely looking forward to The Bride of Hell.

Loved the kid's room featuring early 80s era posters -- ET, Empire Strikes Back, etc. And an action-figure-sized Millenium Falcon made me laugh because my brother had one of those when we were kids.

All in all, an enjoyable issue.

Blacksteel

11-01-2009, 05:21 AM

Finally got my hands on it! The artwork takes some getting used to, but it's really nicely drawn once you get right down to it. Storyline was nice too, though some parts did feel a bit rushed. It works splendidly as a stand alone, though. Hope more will follow. We've got a Hellboy oneshot this December, right?

grogtheslayer

11-01-2009, 07:45 AM

Those bloody bastards at Diamond shorted my LCS and so they ran out of the issues and I didn't get one in my pull box. Now I have to wait for a reorder. This is crap. I don't understand why, when a known quantity is desired and expressed in a pre-order, the damn distributor shorts guaranteed sales. The entire comics industry needs to get its act together.

Jelio

11-01-2009, 09:45 AM

I didn't like the art and the story was kind of plain. For me this is just another bad Abe Sapien book. Drums of the Dead (The first Abe Sapien one shot from years ago) had really bad art. The Drowning mini series had a good story but the art was not a style i enjoy. Finally The Haunted Boy continued the tradition of bad art but but this time reverted back to a bellow average story.

Im actually surprised Dark Horse published this. It kind of reminds me of some Superman one shots from DC that i used to buy where the story sucked and the art was bad, but because of the NAME of superman on the cover it was enough to sell the comic to the public ... i had no idea that Abe Sapien was a big enough brand that they could do the same and sell a mediocre story with bad art just because of the name on the cover.

Jeremy

P.S. i knock what i dont like and i just had to speak up. ... but for example i am still a big fan of Hellboy. Im very happy with Witchfinder and im also eager to read the conclusion of The Wild Hunt.

jlagory

11-01-2009, 10:24 AM

Overall a nice little read IMO. Art wasn't the best, but I liked that scratchy look it had, I just think some of the figure work was a little off, making it seem awkward in certain cases. Story was good, just kind of plain and almost exactly what we'd expect from a one-shot taking place in the HB universe. A proven formula, but formulaic none the less.

I wouldn't say that Abe Sapien only gets bad books, considering in BPRD he has been center stage for many stories, all of which are amazing. Drums of the Dead wasn't very good, but I feel that has more to do with Dark Horse still figuring out how to handle all the spin off series.

And no need to justify your dislike for something here. Most of us have a few Mignola projects that we just couldn't get behind

Gary_B

11-01-2009, 10:26 AM

Im actually surprised Dark Horse published this. It kind of reminds me of some Superman one shots from DC that i used to buy where the story sucked and the art was bad, but because of the NAME of superman on the cover it was enough to sell the comic to the public ... i had no idea that Abe Sapien was a big enough brand that they could do the same and sell a mediocre story with bad art just because of the name on the cover.

This doesn't make any sense to me. Nobody can force you to like it, and it's okay for you not to like it, but you don't need to construct a conspiracy theory to justify it.

Kelly Tindall

11-01-2009, 02:55 PM

I passed on it... I really disliked The Drowning (except for the artwork and the awesome Edward Grey prologue) so I figure I can trade-wait this at the very least. I'm finding the Hellboy books to be spread just a little too thing for me right now, and I'm finding myself trade-waiting or skipping a lot of the 'extra' books.

Mark Thorson

11-03-2009, 10:22 AM

I liked the art and the story. I thought it was a nice little one shot. I hope they do more of these.

Jelio

11-03-2009, 11:01 AM

it's okay for you not to like it, but you don't need to construct a conspiracy theory to justify it.

You're right i dont have to construct a conspiracy theory ... i was just trying to understand dark horse's thoughts on publishing the comic.

Maybe they thought it was a great book, thats possible but i didnt read in any letter columns or on their website about them praising the quality of The Haunted Boy at all, just that a new comer to comics would be drawing it. A kind of ho-hum low level endorsement ... it led me to think they weren't very proud of the quality of this comic themselves, at least not enough to get behind it like they would some other hellboy comics, where they might say, everyone go look for this comic when it hits shelves, you wont want to miss this one, it will be flying off shelves ect ect. ... if they really dont have confidence in it ... then maybe they are selling it just on the hellboy universe built in fan base connection only

i guess i dont have to construct conspiracy theory's however this publishing mystery urged me to.

Jeremy

pimpernel

11-03-2009, 06:21 PM

Blacksteel

11-03-2009, 06:46 PM

Slightly off-topic: i noticed in the letter column Scott mentioned that next year wraps up the current Hellboy trilogy arc thingy.

I remember reading that Mike had two more arcs left to cover with Hellboy... one exploring his mother's side of his heritage, which seems a lot like the current Wild Hunt... then one with Hellboy in Hell exploring his father's side, which seems a lot like where he might be at the end of Wild Hunt. So does that mean that Hellboy is done and dusted after next year's arc? The Sounding Horn? Or will there be a futher trilogy lookiing at hell and his father?
I didn't hear about that! I mean, I knew there would be a third part to this arc, but I had no idea that it would be set in Hell... even though that's apparently what it was leading up to. I'd hate for this to be the end of the series, but it might be a proper way to close it if this will be the ultimate confrontation. Either way, I can't wait!

pimpernel

11-03-2009, 07:19 PM

I'm probably just assuming it is set in hell, but i know someone said it deals with his father and his demonic heritage, plus he visits Pandemonium, so i'm thinking at least part of it will be hellbound.

As i said tho i don't know if this is the next arc, or an entire other trilogy.

Blacksteel

11-04-2009, 03:51 AM

Oh, sorry. I thought you meant that it had actually been confirmed. Well, if he visits Pandemonium, a part of it will ultimately be set in Hell.

I think it might just be the next arc, though. I mean, how much can you really feature in Hell before it becomes a touchy subject?

But to get back on topic now: Did anyone else get the feeling of, "Wait, but that doesn't make sense," with this oneshot?

Spoiler:
I mean, why would the Nokken demon, masquerading as Jacob, tell Abe that he was different as well upon first meeting him? And why exactly would he be drawing people dying? I don't... think it adds up or makes much sense. It was almost as if the Nokken demon wanted Abe to know he had taken possession of Jacob's body.

It just made it seem kind of... too easy to me.

mattmanw54301

11-04-2009, 02:54 PM

Slightly off-topic: i noticed in the letter column Scott mentioned that next year wraps up the current Hellboy trilogy arc thingy.

I remember reading that Mike had two more arcs left to cover with Hellboy... one exploring his mother's side of his heritage, which seems a lot like the current Wild Hunt... then one with Hellboy in Hell exploring his father's side, which seems a lot like where he might be at the end of Wild Hunt. So does that mean that Hellboy is done and dusted after next year's arc? The Sounding Horn? Or will there be a futher trilogy lookiing at hell and his father?

Last year, Mike said that Hellboy's story is about halfway done, and that he has an end in mind but that it's still at least 10 years off. So I HOPE that it's not ending with the Sounding Horn. I can't wait to read Sounding Horn, but I don't think it's the end of HB's story altogether.

EDIT: found this from CBR last year:

So you will be the one to see Hellboy to his ultimate end?

I don't know that the comics will end, but the story is finite. Hellboy is not designed to go forever. At this point, I am about halfway to the end of the Hellboy story.

mimschkin

11-05-2009, 09:48 AM

Just got round to reading this. Having not read The Drowning I can'r really compare, but I really liked the art and the story was cool if a litte rushed towards the end (whoever said it was 'shoehorned into a one shot' was spot on, a 3 issue arc at least would have been better). It did sort of leave me wanting more, which makes me look even more forward to Bride of Hell.

Angilas-Man

11-07-2009, 03:08 PM

I don't know that the comics will end, but the story is finite. Hellboy is not designed to go forever. At this point, I am about halfway to the end of the Hellboy story.

I like this. It sounds like even when the story ends we'll continue to get a few Hellboy comics set in the past (like Moloch, The Crooked Man, ect.).

Anyway, I really liked this Abe Sapien one-shot. It reminded me of the last two BPRD one-shots (as collected in Soul of Venice and Other Stories) in that in contrast to Hellboy's gothic or mythological horror this is a very modern horror. The demons haunt the suburbs and so forth.

Metatron1050

11-20-2009, 02:48 AM

The story was great, the art was okay. The art was as if I were in a nauseating dream state, dark and creepy.

Loved the Star Wars cameos as well.

TheFolklorist

11-20-2009, 11:59 AM

I didn't like the art and the story was kind of plain. For me this is just another bad Abe Sapien book.

God...and you people think I'm bad.

I liked the new Abe story and the art. My only issue is that I thought that Patric Reynold's style was too similar to Jason Shawn Alexander's. Why would you get a new guy to draw the new Abe comic when his style is almost identical style to old guy's. This isn't a dig on Patric or Jason I like what they do, I just think its weird. It reminds me of when they had Matt Smith do the art for Abe Sapien vs. Science and for the longest time I though Mignola had drawn it. But I love the sketchbook selection in the back. I think every comic should have one of these...haha.

Noct

11-20-2009, 02:36 PM

My only issue is that I thought that Patric Reynold's style was too similar to Jason Shawn Alexander's. Why would you get a new guy to draw the new Abe comic when his style is almost identical style to old guy's. This isn't a dig on Patric or Jason I like what they do, I just think its weird.

My guess is because they wanted to give the new guy a try and they had a one shot coming up. It was probably just a good opportunity for him to get some experience and for them to give him a shot.

I still really enjoy some of the images from that one shot. I'm really pleased with it.

And yeah. I love the sketch book at the back too. I was so excited to see that. I don't think I would want it every issue, but every now and again it's a nice touch.

I also really love the cover.

Kees_L

11-20-2009, 03:31 PM

The Haunted Boy was allright for me. An okay story, cool cover and good art - especially the sketchbook part - although it did reminisce Jason S(-hady?) Alexander somewhat. But his stuff rocks so that's okay too.
And I like seeing Abe catching some limelight.

Makes me wonder 'though: wouldn't a Liz one-shot maybe work well? By maybe Ryan Sook - in his own style (like Zatanna or Nightwing the boy wonder)? I'd think I'd pay money for such :cool:.

...and you people think I'm bad.

:biggrin:
Well, bad is such a strong word. You do seem to know some stuff :smile:.
I personally consider thë Motley Crue to bein' bad. An blatant effrontery to modern youth culture gone-by!
And Vanilla Coke - ptooey!
Although in case of that particular beverage 'bad' might not even cover it, since the stuff just seems 'not right' to me.

(And as to the post you quoted: such does represent a personal opinion, however a firm one, one notably devoid of presumption or - let's use this word once more - effrontery, I'd say.)

Jr. Wormwood

11-20-2009, 04:52 PM

It reminds me of when they had Matt Smith do the art for Abe Sapien vs. Science and for the longest time I though Mignola had drawn it. But I love the sketchbook selection in the back. I think every comic should have one of these...haha.
Yeah, that took me the longest time to finally realize that it was Matt Smith who did that. I caught him years later when he was pencilling CrossGen's The Path, and really loved his style on that. I should look up what he's doing now, if anything.