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Post by thwhtguardian on Jun 24, 2021 18:01:39 GMT -5
Hellboy: The Vampire of PragueWritten by Mike Mignola (and in my mind also P. Craig Russell) Art by P. Craig Russell Hellboy: The Troll Witch and Others TPB Dark Horse, 2007 Year: 1982 Summary: Hellboy travels to Prague to investigate rumors of a poker game with ghoulish results. Plot: This is one of those fun short stories that Mignola put together on the fly for the sole purpose of filling up a trade, but what makes this one stand out from other such short features Mignola had done in the past is that instead of doing the art here himself he instead approached P.Craig Russell with the idea. While the bones of the story have their origin in a trip he took with Guillermo del Toro back in 2002 while they were working on Blade II(Mignola did story boards!) it wasn't until he needed another story to make a trade for The Troll Witch story and a few other back up features that hadn't yet been collected and with the Gothic Nordic inspired architecture of Prague he just felt Russell would be a perfect fit. Which brings us to my unofficial story credit above giving Russell some credit for the story although he officially received none in the actual book as a few years after the story was published I asked Mike about the collaboration and he said it was practically done in the old Marvel method with Mignola giving Russell a fairly detailed plot and an overall page count but no scene break downs at all leaving the pacing of the story down to Russell's art...and that pacing, the way Hellboy's fight/poker game with the vampire plays out through the streets of Prague is such a big part of why this story is so memorable so in my eyes he definitely deserves the story credit right along with Mike himself. Art: Although there is a lot to love about Russell's art here, his ghosts are amazing and I love all the scenery and different shapes the vampire takes...his Hellboy is one of my least favorite takes on the character. There's nothing terrible about the figure itself, and it's clearly Hellboy...it's just that his proportions are a little too human. He looks sort of like a red painted guy wearing a big glove instead of a creature which is a big negative for me. Still it's a fun story.
Grade:7/10
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Post by tonebone on Jun 25, 2021 11:10:49 GMT -5
I have a confession to make. I don't like Hellboy.
I LOVE Mignola's art. I love the first two Hellboy movies. I love the concept. I love everything about it. I just don't love reading it.
For some reason, I find it hard to emotionally connect with the comic. The feeling I get is that it keeps me at a distance, at arm's length, and leaves me cold.
You know how you feel when someone is describing a dream to you and you check out immediately, because, no matter how crazy the dream, it doesn't matter. It is completely detached from the real world and your life. That's how it makes me feel. Don't know why.
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Post by The Cheat on Jun 25, 2021 13:25:20 GMT -5
I have a confession to make. I don't like Hellboy. I LOVE Mignola's art. I love the first two Hellboy movies. I love the concept. I love everything about it. I just don't love reading it. For some reason, I find it hard to emotionally connect with the comic. The feeling I get is that it keeps me at a distance, at arm's length, and leaves me cold. You know how you feel when someone is describing a dream to you and you check out immediately, because, no matter how crazy the dream, it doesn't matter. It is completely detached from the real world and your life. That's how it makes me feel. Don't know why. Have you tried BRPD? I found it far more engaging emotionally. I did like Hellboy (the character)'s arc, but I see where you're coming from. I always felt the book was more of a showcase for Mignola's art and writing, a forum for him to do whatever he wanted to/was interested in at the time.
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Post by Duragizer on Jun 25, 2021 19:07:01 GMT -5
You know how you feel when someone is describing a dream to you and you check out immediately, because, no matter how crazy the dream, it doesn't matter. It is completely detached from the real world and your life. I don't actually. I love hearing about others' dreams.
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Post by Calidore on Jun 25, 2021 21:10:05 GMT -5
I have a confession to make. I don't like Hellboy. I LOVE Mignola's art. I love the first two Hellboy movies. I love the concept. I love everything about it. I just don't love reading it. For some reason, I find it hard to emotionally connect with the comic. The feeling I get is that it keeps me at a distance, at arm's length, and leaves me cold. You know how you feel when someone is describing a dream to you and you check out immediately, because, no matter how crazy the dream, it doesn't matter. It is completely detached from the real world and your life. That's how it makes me feel. Don't know why.
Funny, I'm exactly the opposite. I enjoy reading Hellboy, but I've never liked Mignola's art style.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,860
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Post by shaxper on Jun 29, 2021 8:09:37 GMT -5
I have a confession to make. I don't like Hellboy. I LOVE Mignola's art. I love the first two Hellboy movies. I love the concept. I love everything about it. I just don't love reading it. For some reason, I find it hard to emotionally connect with the comic. The feeling I get is that it keeps me at a distance, at arm's length, and leaves me cold. You know how you feel when someone is describing a dream to you and you check out immediately, because, no matter how crazy the dream, it doesn't matter. It is completely detached from the real world and your life. That's how it makes me feel. Don't know why. I like Hellboy, but not as much as I want to. Most people whose tastes I respect adore the Mignolaverse and, frankly, it bores me a little. I adore Mignola's art, and I adore the overall tone of these volumes as a result, but I agree that it doesn't exactly capture me in the feels and make me hungry to read more. That's actually a big part of what I enjoy about this thread so much, vicariously experiencing thwhtguardian's love for this property because I can't feel it, myself.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jun 29, 2021 15:58:41 GMT -5
I have a confession to make. I don't like Hellboy. I LOVE Mignola's art. I love the first two Hellboy movies. I love the concept. I love everything about it. I just don't love reading it. For some reason, I find it hard to emotionally connect with the comic. The feeling I get is that it keeps me at a distance, at arm's length, and leaves me cold. You know how you feel when someone is describing a dream to you and you check out immediately, because, no matter how crazy the dream, it doesn't matter. It is completely detached from the real world and your life. That's how it makes me feel. Don't know why. Have you tried BRPD? I found it far more engaging emotionally. I did like Hellboy (the character)'s arc, but I see where you're coming from. I always felt the book was more of a showcase for Mignola's art and writing, a forum for him to do whatever he wanted to/was interested in at the time. BPRD is definitely more complex, and the character work is definitely far deeper but I do love the mythic feel of the main Hellboy story.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jun 29, 2021 16:00:20 GMT -5
I have a confession to make. I don't like Hellboy. I LOVE Mignola's art. I love the first two Hellboy movies. I love the concept. I love everything about it. I just don't love reading it. For some reason, I find it hard to emotionally connect with the comic. The feeling I get is that it keeps me at a distance, at arm's length, and leaves me cold. You know how you feel when someone is describing a dream to you and you check out immediately, because, no matter how crazy the dream, it doesn't matter. It is completely detached from the real world and your life. That's how it makes me feel. Don't know why. I find that the early stories, as fun as I find them certainly do that but around the late 90's and into the 2000's Mignola definitely found his feet more.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jul 12, 2021 15:07:09 GMT -5
The VarcolacStory and art by Mike Mignola Dark Horse Extra #14-19, 1999 Right Hand of Doom TPB, 2003 Year: 1982 Summary: While hunting down the Countess Ilona Kakosy Hellboy gets brought forth to the Varcolac, a vampire god. Plot: Usually I'm not a fan of those "It was all a dream..." kinds of stories but this vision of a vampire god given to Hellboy was just too good of a concept to care that it ultimately didn't matter. The Varcolac's fate wasn't always so rosy though, when it was originally published in Dark Horse Extra over six Sunday morning style comic strip pages it was more flash than substance and it was less than clear what had even happened. It wasn't until Mignola re-drew the whole story in a traditional comic book format to better fit into the Right Hand of Doom trade that the story really took form. With added panels establishing a Hammer Horror like mood the story suddenly felt larger and more important and not only helped to establish a greater sense of characterization but also tied the story into Hellboy's destiny. Sure, the vampire god never actually talked to Hellboy so the confrontation with his nature wasn't fully internalized by Hellboy but it still reinforces the idea that there are larger players at large in the world and that they are aware of Hellboy which gives the world a really great lived in field. Art: While I loved the Dark Horse Extra book and the story did look great in a Sunday morning wide screen format the re-drawn story had a longer run time which really fleshed it out further. Exploring other styles is certainly fun and I love it when Mignola branches out in how he puts his stories out but I think this was ultimately a case where the traditional method definitely was better suited for the story. Grade:7/10
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 22, 2021 18:42:00 GMT -5
Hellboy and the BPRD: The Secret of Chesbro HouseWritten by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden Art by Shawn McManus Secret of Chesbro House #1-2 Dark Horse, 2021 Year: 1983 Summary: Before a new couple can sell the house they inherited they must first break the curse that haunts it...so of course they call Hellboy. Plot: For a couple years Mignola's out put with the Hellboy and the BPRD book had been pretty hit or miss but of late it has seemed like he got his mojo back and this latest collaboration with Christopher Golden continues to build on that trend. While there is nothing earth shattering here plot wise and we don't really learn anything new about Hellboy as a character it's a really solid haunted house story that instantly brings to mind such classics as Poe's Fall of the House of Usher, Shirley Jackson's House on Haunted Hill and even a little of Oscar Wilde's Canterville Ghost. Mignola's Chesbro House has a lot of atmosphere and a mix of ghost hunters who are firm believers and skeptics that provides some fun dialogue as the mystery of the house is laid out. Surprisingly, this entry is only one of a few haunted house stories that Mignola has done; while he's done plenty of vampire stories, fought werewolves and even met Frankenstein's Monster, haunted houses are tropes that have been seldom done so it makes this story feel a little bit special despite its relative small stakes. Art: While McManus does a great job with his portrayals of the house, the human characters and especially the ghosts...his Helboy is sadly lacking. He nails the facial expressions, which often seems to drive artists crazy, but the rest of Hellboy's proportions are just really off giving him an emaciated, lanky look that just doesn't fit his character at all. Still the mood is strong so it's a sin that can be slightly forgiven, but it does stop this from being a near perfect story. Grade:7/10
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