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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 7, 2019 10:27:12 GMT -5
Whats yer thoughts on the Hellboy Omnibus's? I hear they're missing stories - what do you think is the best HB collections? I haven't yet decided if I want to go in on the omnibus collections of Hellboy yet as I already own the individual trades, some of the Library editions and the single issues, though the idea is appealing and I love how the trade dress looks on the shelf. For my money, if anyone is looking to get into Hellboy they should pick up the third trade Hellboy: The Chained Coffin and Others. I know, that seems counter intuitive, it's the third trade not the first, but trust me for new readers it really is the way to go. For one, although vol. 1 Wake the Devil does include the story of how Hellboy came to Earth during WWII, vol.3 gives us his actual origin in the Chained Coffin; introducing us to his demonic Father, his kindly mortal Mother and Uncle and hints at his fate much better than Wake the Devil. In addition to that Vol.3 is also the first volume to feature Hellboy stories that were written and drawn entirely by Mike Mignola, the first two volumes although written and drawn by Mignola were actually scripted by John Byrne and as such, while still really good reads, have a much different feel both in tone and style to Mike's later works. Hope that helps Brian, and happy reading! |
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Post by brianf on Jan 7, 2019 16:36:52 GMT -5
I bought the first few series when it started, but then due to money troubles I quit collecting comics all together.
I have kept up reading Hellboy via the library and have been wanting to buy the series in trades, so the 6 volume Omnis published in 2018 look good to me.
I also wonder if they reprint the omnis soon in hardback?
I've also enjoyed the BPRD series
I'll most likely pull the trigger on them
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 8, 2019 10:37:09 GMT -5
I bought the first few series when it started, but then due to money troubles I quit collecting comics all together. I have kept up reading Hellboy via the library and have been wanting to buy the series in trades, so the 6 volume Omnis published in 2018 look good to me. I also wonder if they reprint the omnis soon in hardback? I've also enjoyed the BPRD series I'll most likely pull the trigger on them That the omnis were soft cover through me a little as the previous BPRD omnis were all hard cover, but they do look nice. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 29, 2020 14:40:29 GMT -5
I always mean to up date this more often, maybe it'll stick this time. Hellboy Promo #2Written by Mike Mignola and John Byrne Art by Mike Mignola  The Comic Buyer's Guide #1070 May, 1994 In Universe Year: 1959 Plot: This four-page story was first published as a black-and-white mini-comic in The Comic Buyer's Guide, and was the main reason I picked up that magazine and read it until it's collapse in 2013 as it always had great features like this early entry by Mignola and excellent interviews. As for the story itself though only four pages long it really packs a punch with some excellent action scenes and an overwhelming pulpy mood that makes it well worth revisiting. I mean, what's not to love about a talking gorilla, an evil Nazi scientist and a damsel in distress? More than that though I love the unanswered question the story raises when Hellboy triumphs over the gorilla, was it just a dumb brute being remote controlled by a crazy Nazi and thus a poor victim to be pittyed or did it have an intelligence of it's own? The story doesn't say one way or another but Hellboy expresses regret if it were just an animal which is an excellent character trait in such a short piece. On a side note, this early story is the first actual appearance of Professor Doctor Herman Von Klempt who we've seen earlier in the 1940's stories and will see later on as well. Art: As you can see from above this is an early glimpse at Hellboy by Mignola as the character lacks his signature jacket, but otherwise it's a great piece visually. I absolutely adore how Mignola draws apes so any excuse to get them on the page is more than alright with me. Grade:10/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Apr 6, 2020 19:11:55 GMT -5
Hellboy: Double Feature of EvilWritten by Mike Mignola Illustrated by Richard Corben  Dark Horse Comics, 2010 In Universe Year: 1960 Summary: In this double feature set in 1960 Hellboy encounters a murderous haunted house and the Egyptian God, Sebek.
Plot: This is by far one of my favorite Hellboy issues ever done, and I'd love to get more like it. I've said it before, but it definitely bears repeating: more than anything else Hellboy works fantastically in short doses. Heck, I think on the whole the same goes for horror in general, sure there are novels that do well with establishing horror but for my money the short stories that do it right far out number the novels and I think the reason is that when your page count is low you focus on the quick emotional impact and mood over anything else which goes right to the heart of the genre. With this one shot Mignola's short and sweet approach is highlighted further with a trick right out of the pages of the greats of horror comics(Eerie and Creepy) with his twin "moral" endings that are deliciously shocking with the haunted house owner being crushed by a mountain of coins after delivering Hellboy to the house and the mad professor being devoured by Sebek after praying to the wrong God. Although only credited with the art, I do wonder if Corben had anything to do with those endings as they do hearken back to his early Warren days.
Art: And Speaking of Corben, he's once again a match made in heaven Hell when it comes to his depiction of Hellboy's world. While Mignola is still the undoubted king of Hellboy the collaborations with Corben are always fantastic to see as his gruesome mix of humor and Gothic horror really hits the spot.
Grade:10/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Apr 12, 2020 13:43:04 GMT -5
Hellboy: Return of the Lambton Worm Written by Mike Mignola Art by Ben Stenbeck  Playboy Magazine, 2018 Year:1960 Summary: Hellboy and Professor Bruttenholm travel to England to investigate a folktale concerning a dragon.
Plot: Originally published by Playboy Magazine in 2018 this six page story was a nice mix of past and present as it had the feel of the early shorts and the mythmaking of the latter stories. With it's inclusion of a bit of folklore and Hellboy taking a beating before coming out ontop at the end despite the odds it felt squarely like those fun early tales but when the dragon reveals itself to actually be a demon and tells Hellboy he'll see him again when he takes the crown it felt like a scene ripped from the more modern stories that focused more on Hellboy's legacy...and while decent enough mix it doesn't do enough of either to make for a cohesive whole. It's not zainy enough or folklore focused enough to really capture the feel of those early stories and the reference to Hellboy's legacy wasn't meaty enough to feel important giving it a kind of hodgepodge feel that isn't terribly interesting. I really like the idea of going outside the box with where we can put comics and hope they do more projects like this in the future.
Art: As always Stenbeck's work here was impeccable, his harder edged style(as compared to Mignola's) really fit the historical part of the tale especially well and I really loved the look he gave to both the armor and the design of the Demon.
Grade:6/10
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Post by thwhtguardian on Apr 12, 2020 18:36:41 GMT -5
God Rest Ye MerryWritten by Chris Roberson and Mike Mignola Art by Paul Grist  ![]() Hellboy Winter Special: 2017 Year: 1961 Summary: Hellboy fights a possessed Salvation Army Santa.
Plot: This was the start of one of the blackest phases of Hellboy publishing we've yet encountered, a story so bad I had to drop the book which was a first for a Mike Mignola book for me. Roberson has been hot or miss with his writing in the past but this arc focusing on an alien tasked with observing Hellboy was just down right unreadable and this first chapter was only slightly faster. The summary above really isn't an over simplification, Hellboy is Christmas shopping with the Professor when a possessed corner Santa just randomly attacks and Hellboy only prevails due to the all too timely advice from the alien Visitor who then vanishes into the crowd. There's no rhyme or reason to the attack, no explanation is given to the amulet or how the alien knows what it is and there's no characterization to the Visitor. It's just all very empty, which is sad because I had been wondering about the aliens that noticed the Birth of Hellboy back in the day and this story killed all interest in that concept to the point that I won't be reviewing the Visitor mini that followed this short because I just don't want to subject myself to that book again.
Art: To add insult to injury Grist's art just comes off as way too flat and it doesn't get better in the following mini...so again this is the last you'll hear of him here.
Grade:2/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Apr 15, 2020 16:21:48 GMT -5
Hellboy: The Iron ShoesWritten and Illustrated by Mike Mignola  The Corpse and the Iron Shoes, 1996 In Universe Year: 1961 Summary: Hellboy encounters a vicious Border Goblin. Plot: When the time came to collect the short story The Corpse which was originally serialized in two page installments in Capital City Advance Comics catalog Mignola discovered that he didn't have enough pages to fill up a whole issue and instead of padding out what he already had or including an unrelated back up feature he came up with The Iron Shoes on the fly. And while the time crunch origin of the story is obvious as it's more of an action focused encounter with little dialog rather than an actual story the energy is fantastic making it a really fun read. One thing that's important to note is that in order to give a little meat to the story Mignola inserted a few folklorists to talk about goblins and the nature of iron as it relates to fairies in myth at the begging of the story injecting a nice bit of folklore into the mix which is a technique he'd use more often in the future. In addition to that this was one of the stories that was selected to be adapted for a proposed animated series, two direct to DVD's were made as a back door pilot but the series sadly never came about(though some of the other stories they were planning made it into comics) but the short adapting this story was my favorite and you can watch it hereArt: Though cloaked in shadows, and thus light on details I really loved the look of the Iron Shoes Goblin, and the way the fight was framed brought a great amount of energy to the book:  Grade:8/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Apr 19, 2020 18:44:12 GMT -5
The Hydra and the LionWritten and Illustrated by Mike Mignola  Dark Horse Book of Monsters, 2006 In Universe Year: 1961 Summary: Hellboy travels to Alaska to investigate the grave of a man who may have been the legendary Hercules. Plot: Originally published as part of Dark Horse Book of Monsters which (even aside from this Hellboy tale) is a truly amazing collection of stories that is well worth tracking down. At first glance the story is a little odd, there's a hydra haunting a grave of a man who may or my not have been the actual Hercules and a little girl who turns into a lion when Hellboy needs help defeating the lion...and the debate about her origin at the end making her out to possibly be a manifestation of Hercules' guilt is the cherry on the top. All that said, as weird as it sounds as a summary it's energy is really fun so you're never taken out of the book by the truly weird plot elements. Art: If there's one thing Mignola does real well it's monsters and the Hyrda is no different. Not content to draw a simple dragon with some spare heads Mignola put forth a truly dark and terrifying creature on the page. With it's flat face, wide gaping mouth and skull like eyes Mignola's Hydra looks more like some sea creature emerging from the inky depths and for me that works far better than your regular scaly look.  Grade:10/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Apr 26, 2020 18:41:48 GMT -5
Hellboy: The Troll WitchWritten and Illustrated by Mike Mignola  The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft, 2004 Year: 1963 Summary: Hellboy travels to Norway to investigate a series of brutal murders.
Plot: Over the years Mignola has retold a slew of folktales, myths and legends through his Hellboy stories and they have always been some of my favorites but The Troll Witch just might be my favorite. The Troll Witch stands out in my mind not only for it's more mature storytelling and art(in terms of Mignola's style) but also because it's the only story that actively acknowledges that it's based on a folktale and makes that a part of the story. As the witch tells Hellboy the story of how she was born and how a group of trolls stole her sister's head and replaced it with a cow's head, Hellboy interupts her and says, "I've heard this one before, the other sister fights the trolls, get's her sister's head back and she turns back into a beautiful girl who ends up marrying a prince..." which is the ending my grandmother told me as a kid, but the witch interjects," That's a fairytale, my sister lived and died a cow, her bones are over there..." which put a decidedly darker, Mignola take to the story, but one that still felt authentic to the Norwegian culture that the story came from. On top of that, the ending to Mignola's story in which the witch helps Hellboy trap the trolls out side of their cave and turning them into stone also rings true with Norse folklore, compounding that folktale feeling.
Art: Although I love the stunted, rough hewn look to his troll design, and the image of the witch as a girl riding a goat into battle is fantastic I think my favorite element to the art is a tiny scene at the end where instead of looking like the troll statues from The Hobbit Mignola turned the trolls into a ring of standing stones on the hill. It's quiet, and artistically it provides yet another layer of folktale to the comic as now there is a story explaining the appearance of those standing stones which is a fun detail.
Art: 10/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 15, 2020 18:41:08 GMT -5
Hellboy: The Baba Yaga Written and Illustrated by Mike Mignola 1998, The Chained Coffin Year:1964 Summary: Hellboy investigates a series of child abductions in Russia lead him to encounter the Baba Yaga. Plot: This is another of those times where Mignola takes a known piece of world folklore and deftly weaves it into the fabric of Hellboy's world. On top of that this was the first time where Mignola got around to telling a story that was previously thrown out as a quick refrence in past stories with Hellboy's encounter here after being previously mentioned in both the one page story/ad "Hi, My name is Hellboy" in 1994 and in 1996's Wake the Devil, as time went Mignola would flesh out Hellboy's past adventures pretty frequently but when this came out in 1998 it was the first of its kind and it really made you stop and think to yourself, "Wow, this book really is going somewhere!" as it made it all seem planned out which was really fresh then. Looking back on it what strikes me about this story is just how important it has since become to Hellboy and his mythology, at the time it was just a fun romp but the repercussions of shooting out the Baba Yaga's eye would be something that would be felt again and again through the years. Art: I think my favorite part though was the mix of horror and fantasy in Mignola's artwork. Though the traditional story of the Baba Yaga is dark which lends itself perfectly to Mignola's style they are still at the end of the day fairy tales which brings to mind an entirely different style that is much softer than his usual look and not only does each look work but they work well together:   Grade: 10/10 |
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Post by EdoBosnar on May 16, 2020 4:20:20 GMT -5
I find that use of the definite article before Baba Yaga really weird. It's like saying 'the Santa Claus' or 'the Dracula'.
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 17, 2020 4:42:41 GMT -5
I find that use of the definite article before Baba Yaga really weird. It's like saying 'the Santa Claus' or 'the Dracula'. I think it marks her as "the other" in the same way it sets apart say the Creature of the Black Lagoon or The Thing. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on May 17, 2020 5:47:33 GMT -5
I find that use of the definite article before Baba Yaga really weird. It's like saying 'the Santa Claus' or 'the Dracula'. I think it marks her as "the other" in the same way it sets apart say the Creature of the Black or The Thing. Yeah, but my point is that 'Baba Yaga' is the name of a specific witch in Slavic folklore (or, in some Russian fairy tales, 2 or more sisters with the same name). Just like Dracula is a specific vampire. It's not a generic term for witch or some other supernatural being.
As an aside, I also found the use of the term in John Wick, and the laughable translation as 'bogeyman' really ... wrong. There's no way a bunch of Russians would refer to a man as Baba Yaga; they would more likely call him 'chort' (demon, devil) or something similar.
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 17, 2020 7:03:45 GMT -5
I think it marks her as "the other" in the same way it sets apart say the Creature of the Black or The Thing. Yeah, but my point is that 'Baba Yaga' is the name of a specific witch in Slavic folklore (or, in some Russian fairy tales, 2 or more sisters with the same name). Just like Dracula is a specific vampire. It's not a generic term for witch or some other supernatural being.
As an aside, I also found the use of the term in John Wick, and the laughable translation as 'bogeyman' really ... wrong. There's no way a bunch of Russians would refer to a man as Baba Yaga; they would more likely call him 'chort' (demon, devil) or something similar.
It's not about making her generic, it's a narrative tool that immediately sets her aside as something truly odd and different than the reader (which was the very focus of the story) and that in turn fuels the dread and horror, in contrast Dracula was portrayed seductive and personable which was horrifying specifically because that made the monster just like us. It's all in what you're looking to do with the story in how you approach the name. And yeah, I wasn't a fan of the use in John Wick either, though I suppose it could work though from a certain point of view, though not as a bogeyman but as a horror with unknowable motivations which would fit...kind of. |
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