Summary: The dingy dock yards of London find themselves threatened by the twin terrors of a plague that leaves bodies covered in tentacles and a slasher killing women in the night...but which is worse?
Plot: For those in the know Jenny Finn isn't exactly fresh off the racks as the issue is actually a remastered reprint of a series that began it's life at Oni in 1999 for two issues before then being concluded at Boom! in 2005 with it's third issue...yeah that was a long wait between issues. When it originally came out, and to a lesser extent even today, this was the most divisive book put out by Mignola with people either thinking it was the worst thing Mignola had ever done or absolutely loving it with out any real ground in-between.  Back then I was in the latter group, and still am, and way back then I really couldn't understand the hate it got, but while my opinion of the book has not changed I think upon reflection I think I can at last figure out why it was so divisive. Looking at it from nearly twenty years away I think one of the reasons this book was so savaged by fans was the simple fact that this was the first book that Mignola wrote but did not provide the art for; while that's a common occurrence now this was new territory then and I think that culture shock turned a lot of people off and it's a reaction that was later similarly lobbed against  BPRD: the Hollow Earth in 2002 and even the recent run of Hellboy and the BPRD. Even larger than the art I think the bigger turn off for many may have been the denser plot and more adult themes; again while both elements would become incorporated into Mignola's work in the Hellboy Universe later on back in 1999 Hellboy was little more than a fun, occult action, beat-em-up, adventure comic. While there were signs of greater complexity in stories like 1997's Wake the Devil and it's follow up Almost Colossus it wouldn't be until 2001's Conqueror Worm that we'd see the dense, narrative driven story telling that has come to be the hallmark of Hellboy today.  So in hindsight this book is a look at Mignola really stretching his legs as a writer and experimenting with his style in ways that have since become the highlights of his work; so if you read this before and were originally disappointed I highly suggest picking this up and viewing it with fresh eyes, and as an added bonus the book has now been colored!

For those of you who never tried this book and got nothing out of the above history lesson I still say pick this up if you're a lover of Lovecraftian horror. It's equal parts unnerving, disquieting, mysterious and at times down right gross and the pacing is excellent; starting off slow to draw you into the world and then gradually ratcheting up in intensity as the mystery unfolded. I mentioned Lovecraft before, but there's also a great Hammer horror feel with the pervasive exploitative use of gore and sexuality. Once you get your hands on this it's going to linger in your nightmares for years.
Art: Nixey’s art is detailed and fluid, which makes the strange deformities populating people’s faces and bodies all the stranger. The panel work is exceptional too as it slows and speeds up depending on how many panels there are on a page, helping to plow through and give the reader more or slow down when we should sit and think about what we just saw. There are visuals in this book that are disgusting to look at, but it’s the kind of disgusting you won’t want to look away from.
Grade:10/10