Witchfinder: In the Sevice of Angels #2

Witchfinder: In the Service of Angels #2
Written by Mike Mignola
Illustrated by Ben Stenbeck

Mignola is laying out a period mystery drama with a supernatural foundation. One would expect no less from him. What is astonishing is that he makes this London of 1879 just as real as the settings he places the BPRD in during the Forties or where Hellboy lives out his story in the present. It is a fertile mind that can handle such diverse locales and times so capably. The mystery is tense in this one, the stakes high, but as of yet there is not a lot of out and out action. This isn’t a bad thing by any means. He is doing solid character work and that is to be commended. This book is as much about mood as it is the horrible.

Mignola is giving us background in his larger epic here. It is great to see how far back his story goes. That kind of world building is what makes such a complex concept work. Here we see Victorian London’s dark corners, its alleys and the men who would profit at the expense of others.

RIYL: Hellboy, The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft, Proof, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen