By Jonathan Edwards

Mr. Higgins Comes Home surprised me in a couple of ways. First and foremost, by just how short it is for an OGN. The story itself is only forty-nine pages long, just barely over double the length of a normal-sized issue. What’s more, I’ve seen a handful of single issues come out that match or even exceed that page length. I mean, Sacred Creatures #1 boasted a whopping sixty-six pages, so it’s honestly more surprising that Mignola and Johnson-Cadwell gave this one the full hardcover treatment rather than a mere one-shot. The second big surprise is the plot. See, the book’s vampiric premise may be a tried and true one, but it’s the execution that really sets this one apart. Mignola is well-enough aware of the expectations for where this type of story is going to go that he is able to lean into it somewhat during the setup before several curveballs in a row once it really gets going. And, he does it with such economic storytelling that there’s not a single wasted nor excessive moment, something that really goes to show the breadth of his skill as a writer and creator.