INTERVIEW: Abe Sapien is on the case
Abe Sapien may have started out as a character in Hellboy comics, and made several appearances in B.P.R.D., but the dynamic character from Mike Mignola has enough clout to lead his own stories. Case in point: Abe Sapien: The Drowning and Other Stories is now available in hardcover from Dark Horse.
The new compilation, featuring stories by Mignola, John Arcudi and Scott Allie, has several different artistic takes on the memorable character. Readers can check out the work of Mike Oeming, Jason Shawn Alexander, Patrick Reynolds, Peter Senjbjerg and others.
In the book, Sapien takes on a powerful warlock off the coast of France, demonic monks, a haunted lake, a mad scientist and vampires in South America. It’s all in a day’s work for the agent in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.
Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails about the new release with Oeming, known for The Victories and Cave Carson. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What intrigued you about the Abe Sapien character?
I’ve been a Hellboy fan from the beginning. I remember the first time I saw the Hellboy ashcan. I think my pal, Adam Hughes, brought it back from San Diego or something with him. We didn’t even understand the shaved off horns yet. We thought maybe they were goggles? So we eagerly awaited the series, and when Abe was introduced as a character, it was hard to believe Mignola had created yet another great monster investigator in the same book as Hellboy. The tank, the old-timey science … I mean Abe felt like he was on his own adventure even before Hellboy began. In a way, I guess that is true.
How difficult was it to settle on an artistic style for the series?
I did struggle a bit. Mike being such an influence, it is a good excuse to let my fanboy flag fly in my art style, but I also know Mike wants to see other people’s takes on his characters. I used more brush in this series than I did the first time I drew the B.P.R.D. for the Soul of Venice story with Miles Gunter. In the end, I think I got a good balance between my biggest influence and still being myself.
Were you a fan of Mike Mignola’s world before signing on for the project?
Oh yeah, long before Hellboy even. When I first got into comics in the mid-late ’80s, there were only a few artists who seemed to stand out … to me — guys like Art Adams, Rick Leonardi and Mignola. So anything they would do, I would buy and study. Watching Mike’s style grow over the years, from his early Bernie days, his partnership with P. Craig Russell inks, all the way up [to] Hellboy, and how even that style has changed was always inspirational. He’s a big reason why I focus so much on creator-owned work like Powers and The Victories.
Because Abe Sapien features globe-trotting adventures, did you have to do research on the locations and time periods covered?
Research is fun. I loved the Mayan mythos and archaeology, so it was really a blast doing all that research. Sometimes it can become a hole that is hard to get out of though — like the more you research, the more you want to find more — but eventually you have to put Google down and just start drawing!
What’s next for you in the comic book world?
I just finished a two-year run on Cave Carson at DC, and after this next B.P.R.D. story, I’m focusing on creator-owned work for awhile. Brian Bendis and I are bringing back Powers and United States vs. Murder Inc., and I’m also planning a series of short stories, comics just for me I’ll be sharing somewhere along the way. I’m usually talking about work on Twitter. You can find update[s] there at @oeming.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Abe Sapien: The Drowning and Other Stories is now available from Dark Horse. Click here for more information.
