The race against time to find Liz Sherman began. For their part, Abe Sapien, Johann Kraus and Andrew Devon travel to the former headquarters of Lobster Johnson to search its archives in search of a clue. For his part, Kate Corrigan visits a hospital to interview Harold McTell, the last surviving officer who worked with Lobster Johnson. The first team gets a hold of folder with the double name of Martin Gylfrid and Memnan Saa. Corrigan obtains information on the fate of three other agents working for Lobster Johnston and the folder that concern it before it carries out missions against the Nazis during the Second World War. Meanwhile, Memnan Saa makes mysterious preparations since his retirement; especially a monk takes care to paint frogs while Liz Sherman seems in a deep trance, in full levitation. Having finally located the place where Memnan Saa resides, the BPRD of field workers go there to release Liz Sherman, accompanied by a squad of soldiers and a tank.
Since the previous volume, it is clear that Mike Mignola and John Arcudi decided to push ahead with the plot not related to frogs. This volume continues this momentum with a multitude of revelations called into irreversible because of the balance of forces. It even appears that they still increased a notch the density of their story. The information cascading rain down; the reader gets many answers to essential questions of the story. What is the link between Memnan Saa and Martin Gylfrid? Where does the power of Liz Sherman? Why Memnan Saa has he spent so much energy to request his help and convince? What's behind the strange behavior of Johann Kraus? What is the link between frogs and Hyperborean people? Where is the city of Agharta already visited in Hollow Earth and Other Stories, the first book in the series? Lobster Johnson had discovered? As elsewhere, it is better to have read Iron Prometheus before reading this tome.
Amid these weight discoveries, readers witness a new confrontation with imposing proportions. As in the previous volume, this is again of monsters fighting each other. But this time the battle has a more manageable size. And although no identity frogs hordes continue to be massacred like flesh to anonymous canon, the conflict more meaning and more impact on the overall story. And the story still contains beautiful moments devoted to individuals. Kate Corrigan again uses his investigative talents. Johann takes his indecipherable figure in curious situations. The physical presence of Liz impresses even if it has no dialogue. And Abe faces a moral dilemma of rare intensity.
The reader has the pleasure of seeing again the illustrations of Guy Davis and setting colors by Dave Stewart. The trend in the previous volume is confirmed: Guy Davis uses a looser style than before, especially for faces. They sometimes appear to be similar to simple preparatory sketches. It is possible that this repelled some aesthetics. Apart from this, the quality of the illustrations remains a treat. The sets continue to be really immersive it is easy to imagine it, to feel the atmosphere that emerges, whether the general area of crawfish drains or snowy plains of Urals. The bestiary offers specific and vitality that exist are each monster, and even that allow the reader to get involved in clashes comprising only monsters. The smell of Series B and pulps are intoxicating Davis evokes the mythical epochs become over the years that have passed while blowing original enough to not stay at the simple copy, or worse fall into ersatz. And each sequence is enhanced by nuanced colors that are there to increase the effect of illustrations, that does not strain the reader's attention. The meditation sequence among the trees with white flowers for relaxation, it exudes a quiet thanks to unexpected colors chosen by Dave Stewart.
Again, Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis and Dave Stewart have dosed ingredients carefully to a story that evokes the classic fantasy literature and anticipation, without falling into plagiarism. And the last 10 pages are challenging many facts that seemed acquired, foreshadowing a further significant evolution of relations of forces.
