Joe Golem and the Drowning City by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden

This story, has a lot of familiarity in its characters. In Mike's drawings, Joe looks a lot like Roger the Homunculus and acts like/fights like a certain somebody we all know and love while Felix at the beginning of the story reminds me a lot of Johann Krauss with his occupation and methods in contacting the dead. Thrown in a Lovecraftian monster and yea, it seems a touch familiar but, Christopher Golden gives us a really enjoyable novel with awesome illustrations from Mignola. The story takes place in Lower Manhattan, which is now known as the Drowning City as, that half of New York was flooded a half century ago. Throw in a mad man looking to make contact with an old god, a little girl looking to save Felix (her father figure) who has been kidnapped, Joe and his mechanical friend/detective Church as they battle not only the supernatural but the gas-men to save not just Molly and the city but, maybe all of humanity. There is a lot going on here and the story flows from theater to building to bridges to cemeteries to abandoned subways as we are taken all over the Drowning City to solve the case and save Felix from whatever evil plan they have set forth for him with ease. Included in this collection is the short story of Joe Golem and the Copper Girl which is just as entertaining and enjoyable as the main attraction. Secrets unfold as characters build slowly and organically giving us some characters they could continue to use in a pre-Drowning City story like in the short story or, what happens after the ending with Joe. Basically, you don't want them to go away that easily.