reickel's review against another edition

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4.0

At least one of the stories, "The Devil Does Not Jest" with James Harren on the linework, is a slam-dunk 5-star Hellboy-universe story. Wow that story is great. The rest tend to be very strong, but otherwise don't break into that top-top strata. Good stories for supernatural horror, and it's Abe, so they tend a towards sea-related supernatural horror stories (but not all).

clintoon's review against another edition

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3.0

*SPOILERS*

The Drowning is the letdown story in this collection. For some reason, demons that are trying to resurrect a warlock become East Asian men in modern time. One of them floats around.

Witchcraft and Demonology is the standout and gory even for Hellboy standards.

enriquedcf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

acetheticallyy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

jonathancrites's review against another edition

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5.0

Part of Mignolaverse read through - this collection brings together all the Abe Sapien stories from over the years before he got his own ongoing series. A great variety of story, writers and art; it reminded me of how Abe is a man of few words. Recommended if you like Hellboy or the BPRD.

redhairedashreads's review against another edition

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4.0

Series: Abe Sapien #1-2, 9
Rating: 4 stars - It was really good

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.

You can also find my reviews at Red-Haired Ash Reads.
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Beat the Backlist 2021 - non-human character

absurtiddy's review

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

garyopostle's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious sad fast-paced

4.0

This book ends with 2 stories that are preceded by a paragraph that spoils the ending to Hellboy Omnibus Vol. 3 The Wild Hunt and some of BPRD book I didn’t think I would have to read because the events of all of those books are suppose to be after the events of this one.
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