Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • Grayson Shows How Superhero Comics Can Still Develop

      Danny Djeljosevic
      January 26, 2016
      Big Two, Columns, Comics Bulletin Soapbox, DC Comics
    Recent
    • Revisiting the Witchblade/Fathom/Tomb Raider Crossover

      Daniel Gehen
      February 8, 2021
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • Team-Up Review: DC Rebirth #1

      Danny Djeljosevic
      May 27, 2016
      Big Two, Big Two Reviews, DC Comics
    Recent
    • 3.0

      Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

      Daniel Gehen
      February 22, 2021
    • 4.5

      DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      January 22, 2021
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • 4.0

      Review: SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH #5 Sticks Its Magical Ending

      Danny Djeljosevic
      September 11, 2019
      Archie Comics, Indie, Reviews
    Recent
    • 4.0

      Review: Beast Wars #2 another chance to change the past

      Stephen Cook
      March 3, 2021
    • 4.5

      Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 4.0

      Sunday Slugfest - The Spirit #1

      Danny Djeljosevic
      December 17, 2006
      Reviews, Slugfest
    Recent
    • Singles Going Steady – Vowels, Who Needs Them?

      Daniel Gehen
      March 8, 2021
    • 3.0

      Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

      Daniel Gehen
      February 22, 2021
    • 4.5

      Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Smallville: A Look into the Faces Behind the Characters

      Danny Djeljosevic
      August 14, 2009
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • Blood-Sucking in the '70s: Morbius by Steve Gerber Pt. 2: Super Space Cats

      Danny Djeljosevic
      February 12, 2016
      Classic Comics, Classic Comics Cavalcade
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • Dirty Bones is a comic that is simply for the dogs!

      Danny Djeljosevic
      March 21, 2014
      Kickstarter Spotlight, News
    Recent
    • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Image Comics and TMP Announces SPAWN’S UNIVERSE

      Daniel Gehen
      February 18, 2021
    • SAVAGE DRAGON IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 17, 2021
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Bernie Wrightson's 'Creepshow' is Back and Scarier Than Ever

      Danny Djeljosevic
      May 16, 2017
      Books, Classic Comics Cavalcade, Reviews
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Singles Going Steady - Vowels, Who Needs Them?
  • Review: Beast Wars #2 another chance to change the past
  • Collecting Profile: Blue Beetle
  • Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia
  • Collecting Profile: Kraven the Hunter
  • Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Reviews

Witchfinder: Lost and Gone Forever #2

Danny Djeljosevic
March 10, 2011
Reviews

Witchfinder: Lost and Gone Forever is going to read really well in trade form if the complete lack of pause between the last page of #1 and the first page of #2 are any indication. Instead of any recap or establishing shot, the thing just continues as if there hadn’t been a month between the cliffhanger and the reveal. That’s how Robert Kirkman does it in The Walking Dead, too, and that guy’s about as successful in life as Mike Mignola. Coincidence?

When I wrote about the previous issue of Witchfinder, I wasn’t exactly keen on Mignola and John Arcudi’s story as much as I was on John Severin’s art. But I know not to judge a miniseries based on its first issue, and especially not one where there’s paranormal investigation to be had.

You see, I had a love/hate relationship with that J.J. Abrams TV show Fringe — just when I was about to finally write off the show as middling and condescendingly written, the writers would drop some high-concept pseudoscience craziness and I’d be won over until the next episode, where it’d have to prove myself again. Witchfinder: Lost and Gone Forever employs nothing as wild as using a ketamine and LSD cocktail in a sensory deprivation tank to read somebody’s mind, but a creative enough high-concept idea is enough to keep me reading.

In Witchfinder’s case, it’s a white woman who passes her witchcraft as Christianity to scare an Indian tribe into worshipping her. It’s a cool idea and, as far as I can tell, it’s not even a plot point — just a bit of scenery for Mignola and Arcudi to paint their world a bit. The world of Hellboy is full of supernatural things, and the Old West is dangerous territory, so the marriage of the two — where you can just ride out into the prairie and come across a witch who’s subjugated an entire tribe — is a brilliant idea.

There’s a lot of storytelling in this issue, too — the witch Eris details her origin, Morgan (Grey’s companion on this adventure) tells her real origin, and we also get the origin of our eponymous witchfinder, Sir Edward Grey. Grey, while not the most distinct protagonist I’ve ever followed, is still fun to read because he is a man of action. He gets into a fun little saloon shootout in the first issue, and even his origin involves him fighting a werewolf as a 12-year-old. It’s a good inversion of most American fiction, where the Englishman is prim and proper and just a bit befuddled. In Here, our hero is akin to a pulp hero as written by a British person, not an American’s perception of a Brit. And it’s not like they don’t have an opportunity to make him as such — Grey’s companion is Morgan, a gruff Sam Elliot type, and it’d be so easy to play Grey off of him as a bumbling ninny.

Severin’s art remains consistently great as it did in #1, but in this chapter he finally gets to draw some scary supernatural stuff, and he’s quite good at it. Despite his photorealistic linework, he draws an angel as a supernaturally bizarre Sandman figure, a fantastic werewolf and what may or may not be a reanimated corpse. After a fairly mundane (i.e. “no monsters”) opening chapter, this one really ramps up the scary factor.

And, once again, Witchfinder: Lost and Gone Forever ends on a cliffhanger, but I have a feeling that this time it won’t be a fakeout. The third issue will surely be the one where it gets really good.

, Dave StewartClem RobinsDanny DjeljosevicDark HorseJohn ArcudiJohn SeverinMike Mignola

Share On:
Tweet
Research, Research, Research: The Direct Market Part Two
Venom #1

About The Author

Danny Djeljosevic

Danny Djeljosevic is a comic book creator, award-winning filmmaker (assuming you have absolutely no follow-up questions), film/music critic for Spectrum Culture and Co-Managing Editor of Comics Bulletin. Follow him on Twitter at @djeljosevic or find him somewhere in San Diego, often wearing a hat. Read his comic with Mike Prezzato, "Sgt. Death and his Metachromatic Men," over at Champion City Comics and check out his other comics at his Tumblr, Sequential Fuckery. His webcomic The Ghost Engine, with artist Eric Zawadzki, updates twice a week.

Related Posts

  • Dark Horse Presents: THE ART OF ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA

    Ashley Hurst
    May 30, 2020
  • Top 10 Comic Universes Outside the Big Two

    Daniel Gehen
    May 1, 2020

Latest Reviews

  • Singles Going Steady – Vowels, Who Needs Them?

    Daniel Gehen
    March 8, 2021
  • 3.0

    Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

    Daniel Gehen
    February 22, 2021
  • 4.5

    Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

    Daniel Gehen
    February 19, 2021
  • 2.3

    Review: SAVAGE #1 Needs Taming

    Daniel Gehen
    February 16, 2021
  • 4.3

    Review: RADIANT BLACK #1 Shines Brightly

    Daniel Gehen
    February 12, 2021
  • 2.7

    Review: DEEP BEYOND #1 Can’t Commit to a Premise

    Daniel Gehen
    February 4, 2021
  • 2.0

    VINDICATION Falls Short of its Lofty Goals (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    February 1, 2021
  • 4.5

    DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    January 22, 2021
  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

    Daniel Gehen
    December 14, 2020
  • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

    Daniel Gehen
    December 3, 2020
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders