Thursday 3 October 2013

Bibliophilia: Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus – Michael Mignola

Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus – Michael Mignola

A character from the Hellboy/BPRD universe, here in his own book. It draws its inspiration from 1930’s pulp serials. Take a bit of The Shadow, throw in some Rocketeer, add a dash of H.P. Lovecraft. Reminded me a little of Captain Gravity and the Power of the Vril as well. A bit of a tongue in cheek pastiche, it features Nazi submarines delivering saboteurs; kidnapped scientist with knowledge of a super technology; that favoured trope of 30’s pulps, the inscrutable Asian mandarin trying to harness a long lost supernatural power; all being battled by a mysterious crime fighter and his cohort of helpers in a dockside industrial building. A fun romp, nothing too serious - the plot has gaps, character development is lacking, the villains are completely over the top, the artwork is at times sloppy and weak - but this is a totally entertaining guilty pleasure.

The metatextual “True History of Lobster Johnson” bits interspersed at the the end of each issue/chapter were also a nice touch.

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