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Proof (collected editions) #1
Proof, Volume 1: Goatsucker
If you believe in monsters... Proof doesn't leave urban legends where it finds them. Bigfoot wears a suit to the office. Fairies devour anyone in sight. A lonely monster wears human skins for company.
The hit series starts here!
Collects Proof #1-5
The hit series starts here!
Collects Proof #1-5
80 pages, Hardcover
First published May 21, 2008
3 people are currently reading
333 people want to read
About the author
Joe Kelly
1,004 books205 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
August 29, 2021
Picked up three volumes of this simply because they were there on eBay. It's an X-Files/Hellboy/Men in Black derivative. Not offensive in any way, but hardly original. I might have felt better about the whole thing had I been more attracted to the art work, but Riley Rossmo's lines didn't really do it for me. I guess I'll get to the next two volumes at some point, but I can't see myself pursuing this further. It just wasn't terribly compelling.
November 27, 2017
This is a world where fairies, dwarfs and bigfoot are real. The artwork is mediocre, but the real focus is on something like an X-Files setting with creatures that in the real world are myth or fabrication. Plenty of threads are opened in the first arc, so it might seem intimidating at first, but it's likely just getting started on the road to something good. There's plenty of heart in the story, especially in the main character who has been feeling lonely his whole life. The job is his best bet to find someone else like himself.
John "Proof" Prufrock, who is also Bigfoot, is a special agent working for the Lodge, an institution led by Leander White and financed by the US and Canada to quietly investigate cases involving strange creatures they call cryptids. Proof gets a new partner, a young woman named Ginger Brown who encountered a giant creature in New York while apprehending a bunch of criminals.
A couple goes missing while trekking through the Minnesota mountains. The Chupacabra is suspected. It's able to skin its prey and act human while it's wearing it.
John "Proof" Prufrock, who is also Bigfoot, is a special agent working for the Lodge, an institution led by Leander White and financed by the US and Canada to quietly investigate cases involving strange creatures they call cryptids. Proof gets a new partner, a young woman named Ginger Brown who encountered a giant creature in New York while apprehending a bunch of criminals.
A couple goes missing while trekking through the Minnesota mountains. The Chupacabra is suspected. It's able to skin its prey and act human while it's wearing it.
December 10, 2021
Vol 1-6: A six book series about cryptids. The Lodge is a joint project between the US & Canadian governments. It is a place to keep rare and dangerous cryptids safe within their own environments. John Prufrock, Proof, is a sasquatch. He and his partner, Ginger Brown, former FBI agent go out and capture said cryptids. There is also a plot running through of Proof trying to find his real father. The team work on cases involving a Chupacabra, fairies, Springheel Jack, Gilgamesh, and Mothman, to name a few. A really fun horror story with an interesting setting and group of beings bringing a unique story to the reader.
February 9, 2024
Bigfoot, federal agent!! Protecting humans from cryptids, and protecting cryptids from humans…
Proof was a long running comic by Alex Grecian and Riley Rossmo that I rather enjoyed. It’s the reason I still read Grecian’s novels.
John “Proof” Prufrock works for the Lodge, a federal agency that maintains a protective sanctuary for various critters and monsters to both keep them safe and contain them from preying on humans. Proof is one of their top agents and he works with a mix of various humans.
The first volume follows an investigating into something eating humans, while the second deals with a “gourmet club” that has a preference for exotic cryptid flesh.
Meanwhile various plots involve intrigue among the cryptids and humans at the Lodge, those outside the lodge with their own goals, as well as a study of Proof’s own background that starts around the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
This was a really fun series with a lot of fun cryptid lore. I’m sorry that it was so relatively brief compared to your comics of the period.
Highly recommend checking out some of the volumes if you ever have the chance, and if you like these, then check out the other work by the writer and artist.
Proof was a long running comic by Alex Grecian and Riley Rossmo that I rather enjoyed. It’s the reason I still read Grecian’s novels.
John “Proof” Prufrock works for the Lodge, a federal agency that maintains a protective sanctuary for various critters and monsters to both keep them safe and contain them from preying on humans. Proof is one of their top agents and he works with a mix of various humans.
The first volume follows an investigating into something eating humans, while the second deals with a “gourmet club” that has a preference for exotic cryptid flesh.
Meanwhile various plots involve intrigue among the cryptids and humans at the Lodge, those outside the lodge with their own goals, as well as a study of Proof’s own background that starts around the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
This was a really fun series with a lot of fun cryptid lore. I’m sorry that it was so relatively brief compared to your comics of the period.
Highly recommend checking out some of the volumes if you ever have the chance, and if you like these, then check out the other work by the writer and artist.
January 6, 2020
It's the old 'fairytales are REAL! and REALISTIC! and GRITTY!' thing but i think this is about the best I've ever seen it done. If magical realism without the magic sounds good to you then definitely check this book out. I'm particularly fond of the way fairies are presented here, and I think the idea of having one of the main characters be a cryptid who's so cryptid he doesn't know if he's the last of his species or not is pretty genius.
June 29, 2025
Really wanted to like this but didn’t. Proof was only interesting character. Instead of spending time with main character, writer squandered valuable story time on characters that were ill-defined and unlikable. To make matters worse, the artwork was so dark it was hard to see what was going on in the scenes. Sadly, can’t recommend this one.
June 18, 2019
Promising first issue. FABLES was so good, that I worry that this will tread the same ground, but I will give it a try. I find the storytelling and imagery are a little fragmented, but eventually you get there.
March 31, 2020
Picks up enough at the end for a third star, but it's a bit tough to get in to. I think the "cryptoids" were supposed to be "factoids", but they were mostly just a narrative distraction. I dunno, it was in the pile of unread comics so I read it. I probably won't chase down the rest.
January 10, 2023
An FBI agent is moved to a supernatural agency with Bigfoot as her partner.
This is an intriguing start to a series. Those fairies were vicious!
This is an intriguing start to a series. Those fairies were vicious!
October 10, 2024
The non-traditional pieces of these issues really detract from it for me. I think focus is the thing I lament about this series as I've been reading through.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2025
Not amazingly original story but entertaining😃
Reminds me of hellboy.
Big foot working for government to find other Cryptids.
3✨
Reminds me of hellboy.
Big foot working for government to find other Cryptids.
3✨
October 10, 2025
Proof Vol 1 had everything I look for in a first volume - solid writing, interesting characters, promising plot, and world creation so unique I absolutely have to come back for more.
December 25, 2025
2.5 stars rounded up. It’s Xmas, why not?
Nothing terribly original here but it’s fine for what it is: a police procedural where Bigfoot is partnered with an FBI agent to track down cryptids.
Nothing terribly original here but it’s fine for what it is: a police procedural where Bigfoot is partnered with an FBI agent to track down cryptids.
July 14, 2008
I saw an ad for Proof in the back of another Image title and found myself vaguely intrigued. I flipped back a page and saw an image of a sasquatch wearing a suit on the cover of the current issue and immediately went down to my local comic shop and ordered the first trade.
Simply put, Proof rules. It tugs away at a few nostalgic elements for me--first, in its obvious reference to the X-Files, an old favorite of mine when I was a kid (and yes, I wore an X-Files baseball cap when in high school, and yes, I got made fun of for it,) and second, it took me even further back to elementary school, where I read and re-read every book my school library had on cryptozoology and monsters (most of which were written by a guy named Daniel Cohen, whose hand I would like to shake, especially since it turns out he is (or at least was) a true skeptic and a card-carrying member of CSICOP.) I couldn't get enough of the likes of Nessie, Champie, Bigfoot, Mothman, Spring-Heeled Jack and even the Dover Demon. As an overly-imaginative only child some of those guys became playmates for me, and I would occasionally swear I saw evidence for them in the half-acre of woods behind my friend Billy's house across the street.
While I'm old enough now to know better, I'm still caught in the grip of a child-like fascination with monsters. Proof delivers on this in all counts. John "Proof" Prufrock, a sasquatch special agent, is a great, Hellboy-esque character: an outsider who, underneath it all, is still just a guy, a fella just trying to figure out where he came from and what he should do with that knowledge. His interactions with Ginger Brown, his new partner, are amusing and written well-enough to avoid the worst of the whole "new partner" cliche, and the supporting cast are rich, interesting and incredibly entertaining in their own right. The very well-placed "cryptoids," little nuggets of information ranging from the irrelevant to story-altering, and quite amusing and keep things moving along nicely. And the art--wow. A friend described Riley Rossmo's work as a mix between Paul Pope and Guy Davis and that makes a lot of sense, but his style is really all his own, especially his use of colors and washes.
Oh, and the Dover Demon is a regular character.
To sum it up, the first trade made me run out and pick up the next few single issues, and I'm definitely adding this one to my pulls list. Great stuff!
Simply put, Proof rules. It tugs away at a few nostalgic elements for me--first, in its obvious reference to the X-Files, an old favorite of mine when I was a kid (and yes, I wore an X-Files baseball cap when in high school, and yes, I got made fun of for it,) and second, it took me even further back to elementary school, where I read and re-read every book my school library had on cryptozoology and monsters (most of which were written by a guy named Daniel Cohen, whose hand I would like to shake, especially since it turns out he is (or at least was) a true skeptic and a card-carrying member of CSICOP.) I couldn't get enough of the likes of Nessie, Champie, Bigfoot, Mothman, Spring-Heeled Jack and even the Dover Demon. As an overly-imaginative only child some of those guys became playmates for me, and I would occasionally swear I saw evidence for them in the half-acre of woods behind my friend Billy's house across the street.
While I'm old enough now to know better, I'm still caught in the grip of a child-like fascination with monsters. Proof delivers on this in all counts. John "Proof" Prufrock, a sasquatch special agent, is a great, Hellboy-esque character: an outsider who, underneath it all, is still just a guy, a fella just trying to figure out where he came from and what he should do with that knowledge. His interactions with Ginger Brown, his new partner, are amusing and written well-enough to avoid the worst of the whole "new partner" cliche, and the supporting cast are rich, interesting and incredibly entertaining in their own right. The very well-placed "cryptoids," little nuggets of information ranging from the irrelevant to story-altering, and quite amusing and keep things moving along nicely. And the art--wow. A friend described Riley Rossmo's work as a mix between Paul Pope and Guy Davis and that makes a lot of sense, but his style is really all his own, especially his use of colors and washes.
Oh, and the Dover Demon is a regular character.
To sum it up, the first trade made me run out and pick up the next few single issues, and I'm definitely adding this one to my pulls list. Great stuff!
July 22, 2011
Proof, written by Alex Grecian and illustrated by Riley Rossmo, is a series that was first described to me as a combination of Men in Black and X-Files, with the part of Mulder being played by a sasquatch named John "Proof" Prufrock. An odd fusion of ideas, true, but nonetheless an apt description. The longer version is a story of a giant nature preserve, called the Lodge, reserved exclusively for creatures that for one reason or another need to be sealed off from humanity. Some of these creatures, like the jackalope, are put in the preserve for their protection. Other creatures, such a particularly vicious breed of carnivorous fairy, are placed there so that they would cease to be a danger to others. These creatures, collectively called cryptids, are the world’s best kept secret.
Proof is solid science fiction, and, like all good science fiction, it takes things that are seen as impossible and makes them probable. This is accomplished in part by compelling storytelling. The way Grecian develops his characters and the events of the book helps broaden the already far-reaching powers of suspension of disbelief. Another part of it is something that Grecian calls “cryptoids,” or little bits of information that are littered throughout the issues. It’s kind of like Pop-Up Video except for in a comic series. Some are funny, some are informative, some are just random, but all of them are interesting and add a new dimension to the events unfolding in the story.
Another big selling point is the title character himself. While the bulk of the story is centered on the happenings of the Lodge, most of the real conflict comes from Proof and his search for identity. With the appearance of a missing link and a level of sophistication that hasn’t been seen since the time of Thomas Jefferson, Proof is a war of opposites. He continually straddles the line between man and monster and feels at home with neither. Adding to the effect is Rossmo’s art work and colors which seems to perfectly suit the story, a rare quality in comics these days.
In conclusion, Proof is an awesome read. It takes the essence of every urban legend and makes it a little less legendary and a little more real. How many stories can you say that about?
Proof is solid science fiction, and, like all good science fiction, it takes things that are seen as impossible and makes them probable. This is accomplished in part by compelling storytelling. The way Grecian develops his characters and the events of the book helps broaden the already far-reaching powers of suspension of disbelief. Another part of it is something that Grecian calls “cryptoids,” or little bits of information that are littered throughout the issues. It’s kind of like Pop-Up Video except for in a comic series. Some are funny, some are informative, some are just random, but all of them are interesting and add a new dimension to the events unfolding in the story.
Another big selling point is the title character himself. While the bulk of the story is centered on the happenings of the Lodge, most of the real conflict comes from Proof and his search for identity. With the appearance of a missing link and a level of sophistication that hasn’t been seen since the time of Thomas Jefferson, Proof is a war of opposites. He continually straddles the line between man and monster and feels at home with neither. Adding to the effect is Rossmo’s art work and colors which seems to perfectly suit the story, a rare quality in comics these days.
In conclusion, Proof is an awesome read. It takes the essence of every urban legend and makes it a little less legendary and a little more real. How many stories can you say that about?
June 12, 2008
So great is my love of Bigfoot that I've watched more horrible Lance Henriksen movies than anyone should have to endure. I've also read a lot of crap (especially lately) where he is a bloodthirsty forest monster or a comedic straight man teaming up with the Loch Ness Monster and having adventures. What these all have in common, besides sucking, is that none of them "get" Bigfoot. The appeal of the big mythical galoot is in the legend. The mystery. The triumph of nature over man's constant attempts to best it.
"Proof" uses these angles better than most. The writing is sometimes cumbersome and the art takes some getting used to, but the original idea piqued my interest and the first few issues have been entertaining enough to keep me coming back. Proof himself is a compelling character I'm curious to learn more about and his partner Ginger is level-headed and realistically proportioned, which makes her a stand out female character. This book has room to grow, but I'm on board for the time being.
"Proof" uses these angles better than most. The writing is sometimes cumbersome and the art takes some getting used to, but the original idea piqued my interest and the first few issues have been entertaining enough to keep me coming back. Proof himself is a compelling character I'm curious to learn more about and his partner Ginger is level-headed and realistically proportioned, which makes her a stand out female character. This book has room to grow, but I'm on board for the time being.
March 8, 2012
Finally, a graphic novel about a supernatural crime solving task force that isn't centred around an utterly tired concept and characters.
Sure, there are echoes of Hellboy, but Proof (John Prufock) the bigfoot character at the centre of the narrative seems more genial. Then there's his partner Ginger, the newbie, who's the usual spunky action girl. But such is the quality of the writing that I believe she's going to develop over the course of the next few books. Elvis, another important character, is introduced later in the book, but is no less intriguing.
The art is evocative and unique but clear. It's suprising how many artists choose effect over clarity...being avant garde is all well and good but it's nice to know what's going on.
This is only the first few issues, but such was the promise of the book that I immediately reserved all of the others from the library.
If you like weird creatures, good writing and crime procedurals then this is definitely the book for you.
Sure, there are echoes of Hellboy, but Proof (John Prufock) the bigfoot character at the centre of the narrative seems more genial. Then there's his partner Ginger, the newbie, who's the usual spunky action girl. But such is the quality of the writing that I believe she's going to develop over the course of the next few books. Elvis, another important character, is introduced later in the book, but is no less intriguing.
The art is evocative and unique but clear. It's suprising how many artists choose effect over clarity...being avant garde is all well and good but it's nice to know what's going on.
This is only the first few issues, but such was the promise of the book that I immediately reserved all of the others from the library.
If you like weird creatures, good writing and crime procedurals then this is definitely the book for you.
June 4, 2009
Love Proof! This is the first book, the real origin story of the chupacabra that has been weaving in and out of the periphery of the story since her big storyline here ended. It also gives some background on the origin of Proof itself, and the history of cryptids, and backstory for both Ginger and Elvis. Personal favorite moment is when Ginger is sitting in the conference room, waiting for her new partner to arrive so they can be briefed on a situation, and Proof walks in and she tries to shoot him. Luckily, Leander made her empty her gun as soon as she got to the Lodge...though Proof would probably survive a bullet pretty easily.
June 7, 2008
While a good idea (fantastical creatures exists, they are kept hidden from humans by a secret organization, and one of the agents is Bigfoot) that takes way too much from the Hellboy idea pool, proof never comes close to being that entertaining. While the art is decent, like someone tried copying Ben Templesmith's style, but lacked the skills, the writing is what really sinks this series. The flow of the story is broken up by this cryptoids (pop-up facts) that are amusing, but not needed. There was nothing fresh or interesting about this series, and I cannot recommend this to anyone.
August 2, 2008
eh. only okay. this has a hint of 'fables', but it's not a rip-off or anything. i just couldn't tell if it was supposed to be funny or dark or horror or fantasy... sasquatch is a cop. there's fairies and i guess fairies are dicks in this world. and some other creatures. and jackalopes...those are cool i guess.
August 22, 2008
I picked up a recent one-shot that had a short Proof story. Finding the premise interesting and the art pretty good, I picked this up.
Riley Rossmo’s art is pretty nice and bound to improve as he (hopefully) learns better storytelling. The writing could use a little umph, but this too may improve.
Riley Rossmo’s art is pretty nice and bound to improve as he (hopefully) learns better storytelling. The writing could use a little umph, but this too may improve.
April 26, 2009
More like a 4.5. Just a gorgeous, gorgeous book from Image. While the elements were very familiar, the execution and style of this series is unlike anything else on the shelves. I loved the Cryptoids as a Pop Up Video technique of injecting both exposition and humor. This is a new favorite.
July 15, 2013
This is a great series. Bigfoot as a well dressed gentleman working for the government was a brilliant take on the legendary cryptid.
This volume introduces the characters and establishes a status quo within just two main storylines.
This volume introduces the characters and establishes a status quo within just two main storylines.
October 10, 2013
Really solid stuff. The introduction of this book made me even more intrigued by its premise and the actual content didn't disappoint. A well told, twisting story backed up perfectly by creepy, bizarre, and fitting artwork. I definitely want to check out more.
March 19, 2015
I liked it! I think I would just get into it more later in the series--it was very introductory overall and had a lot of stories going on. I'm curious enough to keep reading once I've finished my current stack of comics.
November 29, 2008
Alex Grecian is my uncle. He is my mother, Gabrielle's brother. I really enjoy his wrighting and I think it's really cool that this site has it posted on here.
April 18, 2009
I'm a sucker for good paranormal stories and "Proof" has that in spades. Alex Grecian has taken the concept of Bigfoot into a great direction. I really dig this series.
May 25, 2009
It's like the X-Files with Mulder's character played by Bigfoot. Great characters, great story.
July 26, 2009
new acquisition and read for me, this series is shaping up to be a lot of fun with a lot of mythological crossovers, crime fighting, and conservation all mixed in.
May 17, 2010
Not bad, by any means, but it certainly didn't light a fire under me, either, since it's basically Hellboy Lite, and I'm not a big Hellboy fan, either.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews