Capes On the Couch - Where Comics Get Counseling

Anthony & Doc take a deep dive into the BPRD's resident fish-man, ABE SAPIEN! What is he? Why does he compare himself to Hellboy? And how many fish puns can Doc make this week? Listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro

  • 2nd Anniversary of our show – thank you’s

  • New patron Frank

  • TeePublic sale – March 18th-22nd

  • Shoutout to True Stories of a Tryhard – Ethan discuss his struggles with anxiety and talks to guests about their issues with mental health – I was recently a guest

• Background (09:00)

  • Abe Sapien created by Mike Mignola in Hellboy: Seed of Destruction (March 1994)

  • Introduced as a member of the Bureau for Paranormal Research & Defense alongside Hellboy & Liz Sherman, where they battled a resurrected Rasputin who was responsible for summoning interdimensional demons to Earth to destroy mankind

  • Later told by Rasputin’s spirit he would be speared to death, which came to pass – he had an out of body experience, where he saw his previous life – he was born Langdon Everett Caul

  • Caul was a Victorian scientist who performed an occult ceremony which turned him into an “icthyo sapien” – the other members of the society performing the ceremony locked him away in a tank the day Abraham Lincoln was assassinated (April 14, 1865) – he remained in the tank until he was discovered in November 1978

  • Recovers from the spearing and investigates his former life – he exorcises the demon of his former wife Edith, who was attempting to possess Abe to make him Caul again

  • After Hellboy leaves the team, Abe takes more of a leadership role in BPRD

  • Suffered injuries in battle, and although he recovered, he suffered brain damage – upon recovering and awakening, he discovered he had mutated further, becoming taller, lankier, and stronger

• Issues (13:23)

  • Initial amnesia/hauntings about former life

  • Insecurity about comparison to Hellboy

  • Uncertainty about what he is – mutations, comparison to frog monsters (27:24)

• Break (34:00)

  • Plugs for Cage’s Kiss and Ignorance Was Bliss, plus Erica Schultz

• Treatment (35:38)

  • In-universe

  • Out of universe

• Skit (46:09)

• Ending (54:00)
  • Recommended reading: BPRD: Plague of Frogs - Abe-centric story that delves into his background, and this is where we learn about how he went from Langdon Caul to Abe Sapien; Abe Sapien: The Drowning - also related to his origins
  • Next episodes - Yorick Brown, Alfred Pennyworth, Capes in Court 75th Issue Special

References:

• Smokey & the Bandit - Anthony (5:17) (NSFW)
• Red Oni/Blue Oni - Anthony (20:14)
• Hamilton - "Guns and Ships" - Doc (60:04)

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