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What did you think of Abbott by Saladin Ahmed and Sami Kivela? Who was your favorite side character? Would you want to read more about this character?

Reminder: This discussion thread is FULL SPOILERS for Abbot!

Those interested in picking up affordable issues of Abbott, issues #1-5 (that make up Vol 1) are on sale through (what appears to be) the evening of Friday, Nov 2. For those in Eastern Time Zone, it should end at 11 PM.

I realize that that's not a LOT of time, but it's part of the BOOM Halloween sale. The issues are currently just 99 cents apiece.

Nick wrote: "Those interested in picking up affordable issues of Abbott, issues #1-5 (that make up Vol 1) are on sale through (what appears to be) the evening of Friday, Nov 2. For those in Eastern Time Zone, i..."

aaaahhh such a good deal

I believe Abbot is great noir/mystery/strong female character story, which you hipster kissasses turned down on strong female character BotM suggestions. :-D

³Õ᳦±ô²¹±¹ wrote: "I believe Abbot is great noir/mystery/strong female character story, which you hipster kissasses turned down on strong female character BotM suggestions. :-D"

Yeah, uh. I don't know what you're trying to say here, but there's no need to be rude to folks here.

After Black Bolt I was more than curious about original series of Saladin Ahmed and was not disappointed. In fact I was amazed, thrileld etc etc. This Book has everything that good fantasy thriller should have. If you are looking forward pure noir you will be disappointed since the fantasy part and its clash with rational reality is important here a lot.
The main figure, Elen Abbot is both strong and fragile and I ( even the fact that I am a man) went with her through this adventure almost breathless!
Also the art is perfectly fitting to the story.
One last thing, if you see some song in the comic book just turn it on too it makes the experience perfect :)
Feel Free to quote me :)

I also was really interested in this book due to how much I enjoyed Black Bolt, and I really enjoyed it! I liked the element of something evil lurking under the surface - its been a while since I caught up on Wayward, but I think the monsters in that are kind of hidden in plain sight in a similar way?

I would absolutely, 100% read more of this character! I want to see her kick the asses of both demons and racist, sexist newspaper boards.

I really dug this. It was even better than Black Bolt. Supernatural noir is one of my favorite genres and this one didn't disappoint. Making the main character a black female journalist in 1972 Detroit worked very well for keeping Abbott in the midst of the action and adding plenty of antagonists. I wanted to punch half the characters in this book due to their racist and misogynistic treatment of our main character.

My Review

OK to air.

I enjoyed both the writing and artwork of Abbott, and found it to be a thought provoking read. I was drawn to Elena as the protagonist, an investigative journalist can become cliche when the narrative is that of a mystery, but in this case I think it felt true to the story, and fitted with the 1970's period in which it was set. The writing was successfully supported by the art style, as I thought it evoked the same tone as a lot of 1970's American cinema, and a movie like All the Presidents Men in particular. I also found her grief for the loss of Samir very effective in creating a well rounded believable character, as well as setting up a powerful conclusion and giving Elena a sort of closure.

The antagonist, Professor Bellcamp, with his supernatural powers, was an interesting portrayal of a patriarchal establishment villain, empowered by a conspiracy of self interested power propped up by racism, misogyny and cultural superiority, which is now very much something contemporary western society is engaging with in a much more critical way, and I thought this was a well constructed critique.

I thought that Saladin Ahmed did a fascinating thing in challenging racial stereotyping by presenting Classical European myths as a form of paranormal power in much the same way as colonial history has framed Voodoo and traditional African belief systems. I think it is instructive to compare this to the portrayal of African American characters in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die.

In terms of the supporting cast, Elena's Editor was certainly heroic in his principled stance in standing up to the bigoted shareholders at the newspaper, I did not think the dialogue in the scenes at the newspaper always flowed naturally, although I did think the contrast between the openly racist shareholders, and the self conscious ignorance of the police detectives Elena encounters raised the question of how it's possible to differentiate between a good intentioned person who is trying to throw off old ideas, and someone who is attempting to obscure their true thoughts and values. I think Amelia Chee was a character who's relationship to Elena would be very interesting if it was developed further, and I was disappointed that it wasn't. Conversely I was not very keen on the character of Sebastian, who felt really derivative of John Constantine, I read him as an English character, and even his repeated use of the word "luv" was to on the nose for me. I'm a big fan of Constantine, especially from the 90's Vertigo run, I just felt that this was a poor substitute.

The background of 1970's Detroit made for an interesting setting, and if there was to be a continuation of Abbott in a future mini series I think the future decay of Detroit could continue to present a fascinating parallel to the type of supernatural horror present in this volume. I also think there is more to tell about Elena's relationship with Sergeant Gratham and how they can continue to support each other's work, whilst navigating predominantly white occupations.

I hope that there is a second volume in the future.

Ok to air.

To anyone who is reading this, I just got an ILL for this one and I'm in so many book clubs that I don't know how to manage them all! Do people ever come back and join discussions after the BOTM has changed? Saying I finish this one like December 3.

As someone who likes to talk about books and doesn't care too much about book club deadlines, I imagine it would be fine. It might not be as active a conversation, and you'll miss the chance to have your thoughts aired on the podcast--but I think it's okay! and it's a great chance to share your thoughts with other folks who've read it. :)

Eli wrote: "To anyone who is reading this, I just got an ILL for this one and I'm in so many book clubs that I don't know how to manage them all! Do people ever come back and join discussions after the BOTM ha..."

You can totally come back and continue the discussion if you finish the book later. There have been previous BOTM discussions that people have added onto later.

I finally finished re-reading Abbott and it remains fantastic! I love the weaving of the supernatural/horror with the journalist digging to the find the truth angle. Honestly these kinds of stories are my jam, and this particular series does a great job with it. I love Abbott. I love that when you meet her she's just trying to keep her routine in order and do her job well. It was interesting on re-read to notice that most of the really important characters have been in a relationship with her, and yet it's not really annoying in the way that it could be. And I think that's because Abbott has a sense of self confidence and isn't sitting in a corner with her brandy pining away about lost loves and oh but what if? so it doesn't take away too much.
I really do love Sebastian, and if a spin-off were to be created about him, I'd read the hell out of it, to be honest. He mentions in the pages that he's like 800 years old, surely there is a lot of story there, and I want it.
The art/color really was perfect and accented this story set in 70's Detroit in a way that made it come to life in such a way that (and I swear I don't say this often) I would LOVE to see this as a TV show.
I do wish that the curse words hadn't been in symbols--like, if you're gonna let the characters swear, just let them please. It's not like this is being marketed as a children's comic.

(ok to air)

Eli wrote: "To anyone who is reading this, I just got an ILL for this one and I'm in so many book clubs that I don't know how to manage them all! Do people ever come back and join discussions after the BOTM ha..."

I will be coming back to this discussion. I can’t read Abbott until this weekend. :)

Okay, so I finished it last night and now I'm ready to discuss. I loved it. Recently reviewed it on my profile. I just really loved this. I don't know if there will be more coming to this series but there absolutely should be! It was open-ended and it was super solid. I said in my review it reminded me a little of Locke & Key. I did love Elena a lot and I loved the side note of her being bisexual. Bisexual women of color need more positive representation. But yeah, I loved the plot and I tore through it like a maniac. I might buy a copy of my own.

I wish there were further volumes of this series. I'd read a whole series of Abbott's adventures.

I agree with most of what was said here. I normally don't like dark art, and "grimy" art is touch-or-go for me. But having been to Detroit, I have to say that the art style matches the city very well. I also really liked how magical elements get their own colors in the book--I think that emphasizes how different those elements from Elena's world.

I really hope we see another arc with this book. There are enough loose ends that I think an addition to the story would feel very natural, and I would love to see where Elena's life goes from here.

Got this at the library and read the whole thing the same day. Haven't done that before. Loved it. Absolutely dug how the lead character is a strong black female. (Sad to me that it's even worth mentioning.) Hope the series continues. I'd definitely read more.

I don't really like Lovecraftian horror -- especially not when it is written by Lovecraft himself -- but I loved this. I would like to see more from this character.

I went on to read Black Bolt from the same author, and that just wasn't as good to me. (But I like superheroes even less than I like horror, so mostly that is to be expected.)

A somewhat similar story of detective plus horror is Weird Detective: The Stars Are Wrong. The main character there is a white male, but the main secondary character is a colored female Muslim and that plays a part in the story.

Ed wrote: "A somewhat similar story of detective plus horror is Weird Detective: The Stars Are Wrong. The main character there is a white male, but the main secondary character is a colored female Muslim and that plays a part in the story.."

Weird Detective is very good. I wish Van Lente would write another one.