Hellboy Winter Special 2017
Hellboy Winter Special 2017
Written by: Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson
Illustrated by: Christopher Mitten, Paul Grist, Sebastián Fiumara
Colored by: Dave Stewart, Bill Crabtree
Lettered by: Clem Robins
Published by: Dark Horse
A small trio of stories, the usual Hellboy-universe fare offered up here, to mixed results.
First in this year’s Winter Special is Sir Edward Grey, otherwise known as the Witchfinder. We see him here older, looser with the rules, and I think for the first time, honestly likeable. Grey’s stories have always been staunch, exciting too, but relatively staunch – he himself the pinnacle of that. Here, a small vignette of humanness and exploration that sets up some other elements of the Witchfinder stories to come and follows up on some previous ones as Grey and companion, Sarah Jewell, discover a long forgotten ancient relic (you know the kind, those that permeate the Hellboy universe at large). Ultimately, a kind of boring or pedestrian tale for casual or HB/BPRD only readers with pretty art but lackluster narrative that brings a bit of humanness and fleshes out the Witchfinder story in suitable ways for those invested in the whole picture.
Second up, a story that leads into the coming Hellboy-verse book, The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed. Our usual fare of Hellboy laying the smack down on a super-ripped supernatural Santa is bolstered by some mysterious elements at play in the periphery that should offer a tantalizing bite to folks interested in picking that book up. The line work and narrative is fine here but the colors fall, I think, a bit flat
.
Finally offered, a story that I really enjoyed if solely for its bluntness. Abe, Liz and the immutable Hellboy confront a witch that has, as per Hellboy’s usual thematic underpinnings, has taken advantage of some scared young girls. The choreography here is excellent, Hellboy at war with a supernatural force while Abe and Liz comfort the girls makes out for a well-done display of the duality of Hellboy’s stories – the vicious fighting and the very human intrigue. I appreciated this ones straightforwardness and it’s always a pleasure to see these three together doing what they do best.
Ultimately, we have a variety of stories that do what they set out to do, one which I think really successfully teases a yet-unseen shadowy corner of the Hellboy universe in The Visitor, but the other two of which are fun but pedestrian stories.
Written by: Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson
Illustrated by: Christopher Mitten, Paul Grist, Sebastián Fiumara
Colored by: Dave Stewart, Bill Crabtree
Lettered by: Clem Robins
Published by: Dark Horse
A small trio of stories, the usual Hellboy-universe fare offered up here, to mixed results.
First in this year’s Winter Special is Sir Edward Grey, otherwise known as the Witchfinder. We see him here older, looser with the rules, and I think for the first time, honestly likeable. Grey’s stories have always been staunch, exciting too, but relatively staunch – he himself the pinnacle of that. Here, a small vignette of humanness and exploration that sets up some other elements of the Witchfinder stories to come and follows up on some previous ones as Grey and companion, Sarah Jewell, discover a long forgotten ancient relic (you know the kind, those that permeate the Hellboy universe at large). Ultimately, a kind of boring or pedestrian tale for casual or HB/BPRD only readers with pretty art but lackluster narrative that brings a bit of humanness and fleshes out the Witchfinder story in suitable ways for those invested in the whole picture.
Second up, a story that leads into the coming Hellboy-verse book, The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed. Our usual fare of Hellboy laying the smack down on a super-ripped supernatural Santa is bolstered by some mysterious elements at play in the periphery that should offer a tantalizing bite to folks interested in picking that book up. The line work and narrative is fine here but the colors fall, I think, a bit flat
.
Finally offered, a story that I really enjoyed if solely for its bluntness. Abe, Liz and the immutable Hellboy confront a witch that has, as per Hellboy’s usual thematic underpinnings, has taken advantage of some scared young girls. The choreography here is excellent, Hellboy at war with a supernatural force while Abe and Liz comfort the girls makes out for a well-done display of the duality of Hellboy’s stories – the vicious fighting and the very human intrigue. I appreciated this ones straightforwardness and it’s always a pleasure to see these three together doing what they do best.
Ultimately, we have a variety of stories that do what they set out to do, one which I think really successfully teases a yet-unseen shadowy corner of the Hellboy universe in The Visitor, but the other two of which are fun but pedestrian stories.
A Look Inside
