About the story: It's been over 35 years since Trevor Bruttenholm first found the creature that was later named "Hellboy", a big red creature over 7 feet high, strong as ten men, with a tail and an artificial stone arm. Nobody knows what he is or where he came from, including himself (a thing about which you get more and more hints as time goes by, not only in this particular volume). That was at the end of World War II on the scene of an occult experiment by a Nazi group trying to grab on to probably their last chances of enpowering the Reich. Now, the present, Trevor reaches out to Hellboy, who has since gone on to work for the "Bureau of Paranormal Investigation", because he desperately needs his aid. Weird extra-natural murders are taking place and it's up to Hellboy and his agency to find what kind of mystical powers are on a rampage and, even more important, who unleashed them.

What you have here is a title that especially people who like things like "X-Files" and "Planetary" will like a lot. It's about an agency that goes around the world to solve super-natural crimes and puzzles, but the members of the agency aren't that normal theirselves either. All this in a pretty gritty and dark atmosphere. It's very well-written, everything fits, and what also is really nice is that the creator (Mike Mignola) NEVER gave the story-writing or the art-job away in any of the following books. The creator sticks with his book and it really shows later on, when you see how things keep clicking and keep the same atmosphere. Must-buy for Planetary and X-Files fans and alike.


Hellboy saved comics, too.   February 26, 2004
 12 out of 15 found this review helpful

It's a mistake to divorce writing and art from each other in comics. A good comic needs to be a total package. Comics with great art but bad writing are failures, and vice versa. Hellboy is a great example of what makes good comics good.

In Hellboy, Mignola amalgamated horror, faeire tales, fantasy, and mythology in comics in a way that hadn't been done before, and brought back some stuff that hadn't been seen in the mainstream in a long time (Most especially a strong and unabashed H.P. Lovecraft influence), and did it with his own refined visual style (heavy Jack Kirby influence). Top it off with Mignola's sense of humor which irreverently loves all those elements, and you've got a standup start to a standout series.


Hell on earth with a snappy attitude   April 19, 2004
 12 out of 20 found this review helpful

In 1944, a team of specialized German Nazis gathered together with a powerful sorcerer on a strange mission to raise seven demons, while at the same time a group of rangers led by Sgt. George Whitman gather in an old church in East Bromwich, England with a team of paranormals, determined to discover what it is the Nazis are up to.

The Sorcerer, wearing some odd apparatus on his arms, powered by an electrical generator, casts a spell from a rocky hilltop resembling Stonehenge. A bolt of lightening-type power issues from the rod he holds in his hand, and strikes the church where the rangers are gathered along with their special forces. When the smoke and debris clear, a small being is hunched down on the floors, looking as though he were part demon and part little boy. It is Trevor Bruttenholm who names him: Hellboy.

Skipping many years into the future, Hellboy comes to visit Trevor, now an old man. Trevor, who had been like a father to Hellboy all these years, tells Hellboy of the failed "Cavendish Expedition" he has just recently returned from, way up in the Artic Mountains. He and the Cavendish "Boys" had found some ruins high up in the frozen cliffs, older than old, and inside beneath a mammoth carved pillar is a statue of a sitting man so perfect it seemed to be alive.

But Trevor has no further memory of what happened, though the Cavendish brothers did not return with him. During Trevor's narration of the expedition, Hellboy notices that Trevor's house is infested with frogs. When Hellboy mentions the frogs, Trevor freaks out and backs away from the frogs, out onto his balcony, from where he is suddenly and unceremoniously tossed back into the room at Hellboy's feet; quite dead. His body seems to be covered in odd marks that were not there mere seconds ago.

Hellboy brings in his friends to help him investigate the death of Trevor; Elizabeth Sherman and Dr. Abraham Sapien. Liz has highly advanced pyrotechnic abilities, and Abe...well, Abe is a really cool fish-man. Beginning their investigation at the old Cavendish mansion, which is slowing sinking back into the lake it was built over, the three friends are quickly separated and all hell breaks loose; pun intended. The nameless Sorcerer who originally summoned Hellboy is back to claim what he believes is his, but by now we know that Hellboy can't be forced to do anything he doesn't want to do.

This first Hellboy book reveals Hellboy's origin, and shows us the loyalty between him and his friends, and the lengths they will go to for each other. This was actually a very difficult review for me to write because I liked it so much, it is hard to describe in a non-gushing way just how much I enjoyed this book. The storyline is very intense and fast-paced, even for a graphic novel; the illustrations are superb, the cells formed and drawn just right, so that the eye follows the flow of Mignola's inspired tale of this devilishly good guy without staggering or stopping to search for the correct sequence.

I have only recently become immersed in the world of graphic novels, and Hellboy is the absolute creme de la creme of the lot. A brand new type of hero; ultra powerful, intelligent, witty humor and saucy quips, demonic appearance, and as icing on the cake, from Hell itself.

As a bonus, there are some added chapters at the back of the book that illustrate the evolution of Hellboy as he was created and drawn to life, plus some enjoyable Hellboy artwork to examine and appreciate.

Hellboy is a perfect graphic novel, and I am greedily looking forward to pouring over the rest of the series. Not to mention I'm dying to go see the movie now. Enjoy!!