One of Mike Mignola may be well known for his “Hellboy†series, but he has crossed over to do other comics. One of them was “Mister Higgins Comes Home†with artist Warwick Johnson Cadwell. They have recently made a sequel called “Our Encounters With Evil†and it is a rather interesting read.
Professor Meinhardt and co. investigate a village in The Carpathian Mountains to investigate attacks by vampires. He does get vampires but also a few more surprises. Each of these adventures is broken up into named chapters.
The first one, “The Lost Duke Kurtz,†has Professor Meinhardt and co. seeking out an old vampire named Duke Kurtz. He does come upon a town that’s crawling with vampires that only kill criminals. This is a sort of comedic way of dealing with the paranormal. This is a solid idea and how the comic handles it is great. There should be more stories about a place like this.
“Blackwater†has our heroes investigate murders that have been happening on the Blackwater River. It is there they find vampire bats are doing the deed. The background to this story is better than the actual story. It also ends in the most obvious way you can think of.
Finally, “Siegfried†sees a werewolf that tries to trick Professor Meinhardt into thinking a vampire is killing people off. This is the best part of the comic because this chapter has one supernatural being trying to use another one in order to kill its prey, In fact, the werewolf is using this as a sport. That is clever.
Cadwell’s artwork while great it’s an odd one for this type of story. Yes, this is supposed to be horror but this art is cartoony. While at first, this is strange, but once you read the comic you’ll see that it makes sense. This is more of a “light-hearted†horror (despite all the death) with a hint of humor so of course, this style will fit.
“Our Encounters With Evil†is a fine light-hearted horror comic by Mike Mignola despite one weak story and nice artwork. If you can handle the cartoony art then you’ll find an entertaining comic.
Rocco Sansone is a “man of many interests.†These include anime/manga, video games, tabletop RPGs, YA literature, 19th century literature, the New York Rangers, and history. Among the things and places he would like to see before he dies are Japan, half of Europe, and the New York Rangers win another Stanley Cup.
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