Customer Reviews

Lobster Johnson: The Satan Factory

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr Sniegoski has done a wonderful job in recreating the pulp novels of old. Its all treated with the respect these stories and characters deserve. No Silliness is excused simply because its a supposed to be "pulp".

I loved the character of Lobster Johnson in the Mignola stories, but here Sniegoski uses the elements to create something I feel is even better than what we've been given so far. The world of the Lobster seem so much more real even with ancient demons and terrible monsters. We're given glimpse at The Lobster's previous fight against simple hoods and gangsters, but it's changing into a more wonderous dangerous place. Things don't die or even stay dead quite like they used to.

Along with the pulp adventure, we're also given a look at the depression era. Through the eyes of Jake Hurley we travel amongst the down trodden in soup kitchens and hobo jungles. Jake is a former police officer and the newest recruit in the Lobster's fight against evil. With Jake see no only what it took be part of a pulp adventure team, but also what it took to survive a very real and very sad time in our history.

The Satan Factory has all the best elements of pulp novels and comic books but never treats them like kid stuff. For being both fun and grim all at once I cant recommend this book enough.

Mike Mignola's appropriation of Lobster Johnson, a man believed to be a real life vigilante crime fighter that was fictionalized in pulp novels and Mexican horror films, into his world of colorful characters like Hellboy and Abe Sapien seems right at home. Little is known about the crime fighter called The Lobster except that between 1932 and 1938 a hundred or more crime figures, Axis spies and saboteurs were found murdered and left with a claw burned into their foreheads in and around New York City and Chicago. In Mignola's world The Lobster is still fighting crime with a heavy dose of the occult and the fantastic in the stories. First brought to life in the graphic novel The Iron Prometheus Lobster Johnson is given the literary treatment in Thomas E. Sniegowski's The Satan Factory.

This story takes place as the world is on the verge of the Second World War. The Lobster has a team of helpers, and the newest - Hurley, is a framed and disgraced police officer. His addition to the crew will help them take down a ruthless crime lord, Rocco "The Devil" Fazzina whose personal doctor, Jonas Chapel, has returned to New York City with a weapon that will help him rule the city. Chapel was on the lam from Fazzina in Mexico, fearing for his life after performing emergency surgery on Fazzina's cousin and causing him to die. In Mexico, Chapel came upon a powerful witch and a cursed skeleton that allows him the power to make humans into monsters. Chapel offers this weapon to Fazzina for leniency.

Sniegoski's writing is forceful and sparse, a tight fit for the nature of the story. The short novel is a fun mix of crime fiction and macabre monster storytelling. And while Sniegowsli delivers heavily on the crime figures and monsters he goes light on The Lobster. Nonetheless, it's a quick and entertaining read. The title character is a definite fit for Mignola's universe and the world of The Lobster is a deep well. There's a seemingly endless amount of stories that can be told utilizing The Lobster, his history and ours.

Want lots of blood-drenched violence, monsters, and an inscrutable hero with a crew of well-meaning henchmen? This is your book, then. Fast moving and a fantastic nod to the pulps of the 30s and 40s, our hero, Lobster Johnson, is pretty much a secondary character in his own book. The narrative mostly involves the unwitting dope who becomes the villain, and our main source of concern is for The Lobster's most recent recruit, Jake Hurley. It all ties together, though, and I had a great time reading this book.

I'd never read any of the comics Lobster Johnson appears in, though I am familiar with Mike Mignola and his Hellboy/BPRD worlds; I've read some of those trades. I dig his little universe, and will definitely seek out more.

This was a fun read - with just the right mix of pulp purple prose, stoic hero, and supernatural horror. I look forward to more prose outings from The Lobster!

Two-fisted action fun!

If you're expecting some world changing event, extended introspection, or for the main characters to go insane forget it. The Lobster is a Cinematic Action Hero. He's bit grim, but that's to be expected in a never ending crusade for Justice.

Reading The Satan Factory, for me, was very much like watching The Dark Knight for the first time- it took characters I thought I knew and pulled out the best parts of them and made me feel like I was seeing them for the first time. The fast paced, addictive action story starts with a down on his luck boozer who takes an evil turn to become one of Lobster Johnson's greatest villains yet! Without handing out any spoilers, I will say that The Satan Factory takes the 40's pulp vibe that Lobster Johnson is soaking in and carries it to new places. And just like The Dark Knight, the supporting cast really shines here. Lobster Johnson is a force of nature to be feared, attacking evil with brutal force and cunning... to balance that, the people Lobster depends on to fight the good fight are well rounded and Human, and you really care what happens to them by the novel's end.

I hope Dark Horse does many more BPRD novels, and that they bring back Sniegoski for another Lobster Johnson books because I will line up now to get another one like this. A Highly Recommended Must Read for all Helboy/BPRD Fans!!!

Tom Sniegoski takes on the much-loved Hellboy supporting character Lobster Johnson in a thrilling novel that evokes the spirit of the crime/horror pulp stories of years gone by. Taking place in the mid-1930s, Sniegoski paints a grim picture of life in New York City...and that's before we get to the demonic monsters! The writing is very fast-paced and action-packed; it's probably the most violent book Sniegoski's ever written, but followers of the genre will lap this right up. Aside from the Lobster himself, the supporting cast is made up of down-on-their-luck heroes that assist the titular character, as well as scumbag crime bosses that also get caught up in a web of demonic intrigue. All of the characters are well written, with tight dialogue (though the Lobster usually prefers to let his fighting prowess do the talking). Fans of Hellboy and the Lobster definitely need to give this one a read!