Summery: Spurred on by the old woman's rebuke the priest sets out to confront the creature on his own while the BPRD agents sleep, but it seems his faith is not enough to protect him as his screams awake the team but arrive to late to rescue him. As the team gathers around the priest's body, Hellboy hangs back leading Stegner to question why he came along; Archie defends him but Stegner's calling the shots and instead of including Hellboy in the investigation of the castle he sends Hellboy back to town with the alter boy they miraculously found alive in some bushes not far from the priest. As the rest of the team walks up the hill to the castle Hellboy takes the young boy to the church to rest but as he talks with the old woman he becomes the one to find the creature as it leaps down from the rafters at him, luckily the team was already on its way back to town as before they could enter Susan had a premonition that they should not go in and their gun fire was able to drive the ape creature off of Hellboy. Following in hot pursuit the team splits up with Stegner, Archie and Susan going one way while Hellboy and Robert go the other, however all is not as it seems as Hellboy enters an abandoned building the nature of Robery's mysterious pre-mission phone call becomes clear as he tosses in a grenade after Hellboy. 


Review: We get another issue of set up here, but strangely it's not character based as other than Archie and Stegner (who are returning characters) we don't really know who these people are; we know Susan gets premonitions and from the phone call and now tossing a grenade at Hellboy we know Robert is a trader but other than those simple characteristics they don't feel like fully realized people and are utterly forgetable. Heck, I just finished reading this issue a short while before writing this review and I had to go back and look up their names, which is frustrating but sadly new as many of the human agents from the previous 1940's stories and to a lesser extent even the main BPRD book are in the same boat. Despite being able to create fantastic powered characters and sweeping epic story lines the team continues to struggle with the little guys, especially in these kinds of team exercises.  

However, despite the bland characterizations Alex Maleev's art still makes this issue a page turner, if you liked his work on Daredevil or Moonknight you'll love him here. Maleev's rough, almost photo-realistic art style just mixes so well with Mignola's world that like the first time you ever tasted peanut butter and chocolate together you'll be wondering why you never experienced this combination before. On top of that the softer, mistier pallet of colors that Stewart chose to use here instead of the bold and heavily saturated  primary colors he usually uses just looks wonderful giving the Brazilian streets a real sense of being lived in. So although light on the narrative side this issue was a visual feast and with the cliff hanger ending with Robert's betrayal it ends with a feeling like the story is really going to take off despite its flaws. 

Grade:B

Summery: The explosion of the building brings the team running to the site, finding rubble, fire and Bob stunned on the ground. When he comes around Bob blames the explosion on Hellboy, saying that Big Red went into the building by himself with a grenaid in hand and then there was an explosion and he has no idea what happened or what Hellboy's fate was. Archie is certain that Hellboy could survive the explosion, to the utter dismay of Bob, but Sue stops him from entering the burning building out of fear for his safety. As they discuss the matter the Ape jumps down from a tower at them, intent on taking Archie out but Sue blocks the way taking the brunt of the attack but bouncing back and delivering a one two punch to the creature with a blow from a flaming piece of debris and then a few quick rounds from her pistol which took it out at last...but not before grabbing on to her and delivering a psychic message about where it came from: The ruined castle! But before they can digest that premonition the movie director's car shows up and it's full of more killer monkeys! The team regroups and takes them out while it's revealed that Hellboy has been taken into a subterranean river where unconscious he is taken by Japetequara, a native alligator god,  to another native god with the form of a boy to debate the meaning of Hellboy's existence. The alligator god believes Hellboy is dangerous but the boy says that he is not only a signal of doom but also hope and so they leave Hellboy to be found by Archie while Stegner, Sue and Bob head up to the prison.

Review: There still isn't a lot of character development of the new human agents, Bob continues to remain to be a two dimensional traitor but Sue gets a little bit more to do as she saves Archie and defeats the Ape that bested Hellboy while giving a larger look at how her premonitions work which is a step in the right direction. Where this issue really improves over the last two issues was that it was more action orientated than the prior issues and worked to advance the plot much faster than the ones before it while also containing a great moment for Hellboy. Now, while shadowy apparitions and gods discussing Hellboy's fate is a tried and true story telling technique for Mignola at this point this scene is stands out in that instead of the argument being, "No, you can't just kill him, he's destiny says he goes further yet." here it's that he isn't just a figure of doom but also one of hope for the world that comes next and that cyclical mythology of death and rebirth is truly fun to think about and makes what we'll see later in Hellboy in Hell seem all the more exciting.

Grade: B+

Summary: Archie and Hellboy climb over a pile of human skeletons and into a lab full dissected human corpses and they learn who is behind the murders in the village.

Plot: Arcudi
and Mignola continue this Hammer Horror fueled pulp adventure and it's proving to be a true thrill ride. With the corpses of the castles former prisoners and prison guards floating in jars and their axe-wielding Frankenstein monster like brethen chasing our heroes you can well imagine the pacing is quick and yet it's not so fast as to not allow us some great character moments. The way that Hellboy questions Archie on what to do and the surprise in him when it turns out right illustrates their growing bond beautifully. That said it sort of falls off a bit at the end with the re-introduction of the Nazi-head in a jar scientist Herman Von Klempt. He's a fun villain but the recap of who he is unnecessary and delivering it ala a super-villain monologue feels amateurish. It's an issue I've mentioned before but it bears repeating; Mignola creates explosive starts, he heaps on the mood...but then there is often a lull just before the end which makes the conclusion often feel rushed.

Art: The art by Maleev is exquisite, and his Mignola impression during the flashbacks was unbeatable; I had to go pick up my 1940's issues to see if they were reused but no, they were all original and without a credit to Mignola on art means they're all Maleev's. I can usually pick Mignola's art from a mile away so for me to be fooled is really saying something. As always Dave Stewart’s color choices also deserve praise, his pallet gives the book a vibrant look while still maintaining a washed out, classic horror film feel. The contrast between the murky earth tones and the bright primary colors almost makes them glow in the dark, giving an especially eerie look here to the tubes: