Review — ‘The Serpent In The Garden: Ed Grey And The Last Battle For England’ #2

Welcome to the table,

As a kid, mythology and lore were favorites of mine. There was always a library book I could dig into that had stories of monsters and myths. There were secret histories that made the world we lived in feel special, supernatural, and fantastic in ways that history’s war, death, and hardship could not capture. Even when the myth was full of hardship, like the fall of Camelot or the loss of Atlantis, there was always some level of hope, of mysticism, that even when it was all said and done, it was never truly said and done.

The Serpent in the Garden: Ed Grey and the Last Battle for England #2 feels like that kind of story. Written by Mike Mignola, with art by Ben Stenbeck, colors by Dave Stewart, and letters by Clem Robins, the second issue in a three part series feels like the final ride of the iconic characters Edward Grey and Gruagach, two major players in the timeless landscape of the Hellboy Universe.

Warning: Spoilers Follow

The issue picks up with Gruagach discussing his sorted history with a goldfish who serves as the bits of Morgan Le Fay she has cast off of herself so she can connect with Dark Magic and be the hardened ruler she thinks she needs to be.

Gruagach’s story is compelling and a bit heartbreaking, taking a character who was already a bit tragic and really nailing home that he has been dealt a horrible hand by the universe. Rather than fading into the shades as those forgotten tend to do, he has been caught in this cycle of conflict and failure as the winding webwork of fate draws him in, over and over again, to be dashed against the rocks of legend and legacy.

After we are treated to the tragedy of Gruagach. we watch Morgan Le Fay bless him with her own blood, handing him the sword of her son Mordred, and giving him strength he has not known for ages untold. The pig-like form of Gruagach morphs into something resembling a primordial elf, muscular and battle ready and the goldfish wishes him a quiet goodbye as he is sent to clash with the champion of Avalon, the transformed Edward Grey.

Edward Grey, meanwhile, has been transformed into an avatar of the natural world: the Green Man, a forest god and icon of rebirth. Queen Alice gives Edward Grey a gold sword she says is the first sword forged in the born-again lands, a sword that will be known in the future as the Green Man’s Sword.

In a single word bubble, Mignola does the thing he does best, he creates a thread that stretches from the now into the infinity of tomorrow.

The Serpent in the Garden: Ed Grey and the Last Battle for England #2 continues to tell the story of two iconic characters from the Hellboy Universe caught in the web of fate, drawn together by the weight of legacy and legend, and pit against each other by two once and future Queens playing a game bloody game of chess for control of Avalon.

Edward Grey and Gruagach clash on page after bloody page, with neither yielding. As the final page turns, Gruagach transforms into a great beast of a giant seemingly ready to destroy Edward Grey, the investigator-turned-occultist-turned-immortal-wizard-turned-Green-Man, now the guardian of the last kingdom on Earth.

I don’t know what happens next. The talk of future gives me hope we will see a bold new world being born, something akin to what we have found in the Hollow Earth pages of Frankenstein: New World or something else entirely.

I often find myself worrying that with each passing story we are seeing the last entry Mignola feels like making in this vast legacy of lore he has created and with each new announcement of something new secret bit of mythos I find myself feeling slightly comforted but always anxious that this legacy of legend I have come to love is soon drawing to a final curtain call.

Until next time, I will keep believing.