The Sword of Hyperborea

He may not have had much time in the spotlight during “B.P.R.D.’s” run, but Howards still managed to be a memorable character.  What with his ability to take on any threat while wielding the Sword of Hyperborea.  Of course, he also had the spirit of ancient warrior Gall Dennar backing him up.  So it begs the question of what happened to Gall when Howards died?  Mike Mignola and new-to-the-Mignolaverse co-writer Rob Williams have some answers as they trace the journey of the sword over the centuries.  From its return to Hyperborea, to its acquisition by the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra, to its tenure under the English Channel, all the way to Chicago, there’s no doubt this weapon has had an eventful existence.

Said existence is certainly interesting, even if I wouldn’t say that it’s outright entertaining.  Mignola and Williams do succeed in conjuring up a satisfying amount of the kind of weirdness I like to see from this particular fictional universe at least.  This is a miniseries that involves an undersea diver fighting off a horde of lizard men attacking Atlantis, after all.  Yet none of the individual stories that encompass each issue ever manage to become compelling in their own right.  It all amounts to a bit of backstory-filling that never quite manages to justify its own existence.

This is also in spite of some quality work from Mignolaverse regular Laurence Campbell.  He gets to illustrate a variety of periods and settings here and acquits himself well throughout.  The man also does quality work with the monsters and other weirdness in the story, but that’s stating the obvious about Campbell’s skills at this point.  I’d say all this adds up to a story that’s best appreciated by Mignolaverse completists… if it weren’t for the fact that it was issued in a hardcover format.  It adds a needless bit of expense that doesn’t enhance the overall experience and will likely have those completists picking this up through gritted teeth.  If at all.