Summary: When an unknown creature attacks an American scientific party at a remote arctic outpost the BPRD sends out Hellboy and rookie agent Woodrow Farrier to investigate and what first appears to Hellboy as an open and shut case of yet another mutated animal turns out to be far stranger.

Plot: What's really fun about this series is the chance to see Hellboy grow as a character. That isn't to that Mignola never developed Hellboy over the last 20 years, in fact the opposite is true as the changes the readers went through with Hellboy have been the main selling point, but while that growth has been great to see we never saw how he became the agent we first fell in love with which is exactly what Hellboy and the BPRD is giving us. In the first outings in the 1940's series we saw a young boy struggling to find his identity, in the 1950's we saw him develop from a reluctant, unsure agent to a young man who's discovered he's pretty good at monster slaying...and in this outing we see Hellboy in his sort of sophomore year; he feels he's the expert now and approaches his first mission in charge with an almost jaded outlook. It's an organic growth that just makes you smile because you know what will come of that view because you yourself likely went through a similar phase.  Mignola and Roberson do a fantastic job of creating a truly human story in the midst of a supernatural world, and the juxtaposition of those elements is amazing to see. It would be easy to lose the balance between those two disparate elements but they manage to thread the line beautifully. 

Art: Stephan Green is a new artist on the scene, we're told by Scott Allie at the end of the issue(where the letter column usually is) that he met Green at the North Carolina Comicon in 2014 and that he just knew he'd be perfect for Hellboy and I have to say I agree. He has a bright youthful energy to he work that perfectly fits this younger Hellboy without feeling out of place in Mignola's world which is probably equal parts his own talent and the work of Dave Stewart whose pallet choices always highlight the strengths' of the artists he works with while maintaining a coherent over arching look for the whole world.  In all of comicdom I don't think there has ever been a colorist given that level of power in a narrative and I'm not sure there is another one that could pull it off.

Conclusion: This is yet another exciting look at Hellboy's early years, and although Roberson and Mignola strike an excellent balance between creating a very human story and a supernatural thriller this first issue is ultimately all set up but it promises an excellent follow through.


Grade: 9/10 (story:4, Art: 5)