Review: Lobster Johnson - The Burning Hand #2

There are a ton of great books this week, but the first one I went to was Lobster Johnson. The entertainment value of this book grabs me with each new issue and I knew after last week’s lackluster performance that I needed something really good to start this week’s reviews with. I’d love to talk to Mike Mignola one day so I could ask him about his affinity the early years of the 1900’s. It’s obviously a time in history that interests him and his interests become the reader’s interest as they are sucked into the story.

If you’ve ever read a book set in the Hellboy-verse then you should be accustomed to the story jumping ahead after the issue is concluded. The last issue left us one a scene of action and typically in a comic we would pick right up from where we left. This makes for a boring opening since we already knew what was coming. Not with Mike Mignola and company. This issue begins with the aftermath of the fight that occurred in the last issue. Our reporter is recovering from a bit of shock she suffered as mobsters came after her for asking questions around their controlled neighborhood.

She sips some coffee as Lobster Johnson sits staring at her. He’s in full costume goggles and all as he stares at her. She cracks the ice by taunting him into a conversation with spins into a tour of Lobster’s compound. Meanwhile the mobsters are finding out that not only is the reporter alive, but that his men are dead. I didn’t quite understand why the leader of the gang is so scared of the little person that he employs. I get it, that for the time line he would be openly creeped out by him, but then just fire the little dude. That was probably my biggest hang up on the story was that the boss hates this guy, but keeps him around. I’m betting that they’re related, it’s the only thing that makes sense.
Back on Lobster Johnson’s side of the story; he puts the reporter into his protective custody, but not before she tells him where the mobster is that day. Apparently she has a source that knows when he visits a country club out in the middle of nowhere. Lobster gears up to go kill the bastard.

As strange as its going to sound about a story that has a man killing mobsters, there is something wholesome about this book. It’s a throwback to another era and even though this comic is very modern, it leans heavily on plot devices common with the era it’s based in. The thing is, you’ll probably never notice a single one. They’re so well-crafted and subtle that unless you know what you’re looking for it will just read like any other comic. I encourage you to take a deeper look at the story once you’ve read it. The simple things that we take for granted in the story are quite intelligently used to progress the story and maintain the atmosphere of the tale.

How about that art? I guess the last issue was a lot of people’s introduction to Tonci Zonjic and hopefully they were impressed. If you weren’t then you’re an idiot and can stop reading now. Zonjic gives another strong performance in this issue and I’m amazed by his range of skills. There is a great scene of narration in this issue and Zonjic complements that scene perfectly. You can literally hear the reporter’s voice talking over the art as it perfectly acts out the narration. It’s the classic narration technique of showing the present, but having the past narrative running parallel with it and it would be completely lost without the art.

I didn’t attend to rant so much about this issue, but I couldn’t help it. How can I not talk about something that is so good and gives me so much excitement to talk about? I’ve enjoyed the B.P.R.D. books leading up to Hellboy in Hell, but Lobster Johnson is by far the best thing to spin out of Hellboy. For my money it may even be better than the original. Lobster Johnson is like Frank Castle with a bigger bank account and more rage and I love that. It’s not often that someone makes the Punisher look meh, but this book does it. Pick it up in print or digitally from Dark Horse this week and trust me, this book is damn good.

Score: 4/5

Writer: Mike Mignola and John Arcudi
Artist: Tonci Zonjic
Color: Dave Stewart
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $3.50
Release Date: 2/8/2012

First issue review