3 out of 5

We’re getting there.

After some issues of formation and cutely dreary Mignola fables, we’re taking steps toward a conclusion, compressed down to ten issues.  The initial scope of this series was longer, but, as per letters pages in another Mignola title, the staff acknowledged the slow pace of things and decided to wrap it up sooner, so perhaps that’s why this issue didn’t quite grab me all that much: for as slow as things have proceeded (and agreed that it was to the overall direction of the narrative’s detriment), the “now you’ve got to finish what you started” proclamation of The Spanish Bride felt a little sudden.  Mike has kept HiH pretty loose, so it’s not the worst offense on the planet, and although this issue heavily leans on past events to inform its setup, another one of Mike’s skills, that’s helped keep the -verse bubbling along pretty well, is not making you, as a reader, feel at a loss for not knowing exactly what’s what.  The gist is there, in other words.  So when HB is accosted by some ghouls frustrated at his offing of Satan, and a special friend shows up to lend a hand and then make that proclamation, you see the little editorial notes pointing you to past events, but it ain’t no thang.

Meanwhile, Mike’s art has gotten more and more minimalist and more and more lovely.  He and colorist Dave Stewart have arrived at a new language of exactness – only this line, only this color – on this title, and it’s simply, art-wise, a masterpiece.  Not much happens in issue 9 except to remind us that there was a plot, but the title is undeniably original in execution all the same, making it an enjoyable read even when the actual story content isn’t all that.