This Lobster adventure with an Asian theme was long overdue for our masked man. A terrific read. Read Full Review

The brevity of this series is a direct representation of Mignola's desire to maintain the cult status without selling out to the masses. A monthly run would shatter the intrigue and inevitably churn out Lobster Johnson key chains and smart phone covers (which I would still buy, admittedly). Whether he takes back the reigns or leaves the story with Arcudi, the future of our crustaceous pulp hero is in good ha…er, claws. Read Full Review

Great action panels. Wonderfully noir and pulpy. The Lobster has assistants now! Great mystery. Yet again, a Lobster series is not more than 2 issues. Read Full Review

The writing in its own right does its fair share of setting the time and tone, the characters and the conversations they have feel real, and I feel they reflect the time well, with enough contemporary language as to not feel like a dated radio show (as much as I love them, the old radio shows were hella cheesy). Each character has enough attitude to be interesting, but not so much as to not be able to function in society, as well as having enough darkness to each of them, that nothing feels black and white. I really do look forward to seeing how this plays out, everyone in this book feels like they have an agenda, whether explicitly stated or not, and I want to see to what ends they will go to. Read Full Review

Lobster Johnson always had the potential for greatness, and this issue is strong evidence of it. The artistic efforts are better than ever, and the script actually has some weight. Read Full Review

Well, we're going to have to just pickup issue #2 when it comes out to find out those answers. Read Full Review

This was a propulsive, powerful issue that underlines everything we like about Lobster Johnson. It was a damn fine read. Read Full Review

Overall, there isnt a great deal of plot that has been revealed yet in A Scent of Lotus #1, yet the entire issue remains engaging and interesting. There is intrigue and mystery, along with the expected bursts of action that typically accompany the Lobster and his crew wherever they go. The story is being developed in an interesting way, with a particularly bizarre ending that will surely keep readers around to find out what the creative team have planned for issue #2. Finally, the artwork is stunning and fits this title like one of the Lobsters gloves. If youre a fan of pulp mystery, the Hellboy universe, or Mignola books in general, be sure to check out the latest addition to Lobster Johnson. Read Full Review

On the flip side I also note that like almost every one of these Lobster Johnson minis has featured some kind of mystic villain from the "mysterious orient" which, though I'm not going to call the series racist by any means, it often shows there are good strong ethnic characters it might be a little bit on the edgy in its depiction of Asia as a land full of magicians and monsters. I understand the story is aping a specific genre style, and that's a common theme in that style, I just think it could stand to have a bit of variety in its mystic villains. Overall though this mini-series is well paced with good action and an interesting mystery backing it up all wrapped in some very good artwork. Read Full Review

If "Lobster Johnson: A Scent of Lotus" falls short on anything, it's that there isn't a clear sense of what's at stake. There are killings of Tong members, but since they're generally wicked gangsters, it's not clear why readers (or Lobster himself) should really care. Why is Lobster investigating? Whose side is he on? What would be lost if these gangsters just kept getting killed? The comic skirts around all these questions, and thus, interest in the mystery is more academic than emotional, which makes it somewhat hard to get invested in the drama. Luckily, the pulp action is there, and the art is great, so the comic is still a blast even if it's ultimately a bit unsatisfying. Read Full Review

The period feel of the book reminded me of two great films: The Rocketeer and The Shadow. While the action took some time to get to due to lengthy exposition, I did find the book a good read. Read Full Review

Unlike most Lobster adventures, this one continues on next month. This is both a positive and negative. The book ends on a fantastic panel that will leave you wanting more, but feels so overstuffed with exposition and little to no resolution. A fun romp through Chinatown, but as it stands not a whole lot more. Lets see if next month is a more fun. Read Full Review