Sir Edward Grey Witchfinder is an excursion into the realms of gothic western. The western seems to be making a comeback, but it’s been infected by zombies and lycanthropes and invariably sultry witches. Why is this? Maybe it’s because it’s an era that already carries mythic overtones. Maybe it’s the looming, shadowed landscapes. Maybe it’s crass commercialism.
I am by now a total Hellboy fan, and that extended quickly to Mignola’s world, especially when I fell for Guy Davis’s artwork. Having said that, this 400+ page hardback book is not a very coherent volume.
Regular readers will have gathered that I am now hooked on Mignola’s Hellboy universe. This title is set in the late 19th Century, in which Grey travels to Utah on the trail of someone, for reasons not yet given; but I guess the main point of interest here is the art. John Severin is now 89, which makes him as far as I know the oldest artist still working in comics.
I admitted the other day that I had never read Hellboy before, so you won’t be surprised that I was unfamiliar with the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense spin-off. Actually, I don’t feel a great deal more familiar with them after reading this, since none of them appear until the final panel.
Strange confession time, before I start this: I have never read a Hellboy comic. I’ve seen and enjoyed both movies, and I’ve always liked Mignola’s art, so I can’t explain this. This two-issue series seemed a good way to sample it.
