Joe Golem: Occult Detective – The Drowning City. The world is full of mysterious dangers, with creatures and monsters out of the old serials. Mysteries abound in Manhattan, which was covered in water after an earthquake. The world of Joe Golem is like a radio play, and its characters are just as intriguing.

Joe Golem, a sort of gumshoe meets Indiana Jones, finds himself being the muscle for Mr. Church. Joe has been having dreams for some time now about a Golem some 500 years ago that killed witches. Mr. Church uses magic to keep himself alive, but he’s too old now to get his hands dirty. Joe’s a good guy. Like Mignola’s other creation, Hellboy, he just wants to do the right thing which often gets him in over his head. Mr. Church seems to have his heart in the right place… it seems.

Now, they’re tracking down a twisted scientist who wants to make contact with creatures from the Outer Dark. He’s kidnapped a magician to help him find an artifact, the Pentajulum. Now, Joe has to team up with the young woman who was the magician’s assistant, Molly. She’s smarter than she seems. She’s smart enough to know that she shouldn’t trust Mr. Church as blindly as Joe does. As the story continues forward, this dynamic with Joe, Church, and Molly begins to take shape. The relationship between Joe and Church is built on very thin ice that keeps getting thinner. I can’t wait until it breaks.

The great thing about this series is the villains, and even the shady good guys who don’t use brute force. Their intelligence defines how dangerous they are – their ability to manipulate not only each other, but the dark arts. Mignola and Christopher Golden have taken time to make sure that that danger is felt. Their actions have an effect on others around them. It makes for a far more involving story than it would have if monsters simply kept coming…and coming…and coming…

With every issue, the world of Joe Golem becomes more exciting, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next issue.

Creative Team: Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden (writer, creator), Peter Bergting (artist), Michelle Madsen (colors), Dave Palumbo (cover art)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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