Hellboy and the BPRD 1952 #5
Writer: John Arcudi, Mike Mignola
Artist: Alex Maleev
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 1, 2015
Cover Price: $3.50
Arcudi, Mignola and Maleev deliver an aesthetically pleasing finale that, although light on plot, grounds this miniseries more firmly in the Hellboy universe than any of the issues before it.
In my review of issue 4, I said that I didn’t see why this story existed. That I couldn’t see, how this story was important to Hellboy as a character or to his world. I think that’s because I was looking for something spectacular to happen that dramatically changed the way the fledgling BPRD agent Hellboy was seen by the world.
I think now, given this final issue, that it’s clear this whole miniseries has been more about how the early BPRD missions, this one included, changed the way Hellboy saw the world and how it hardened him physically and emotionally. The first callous of many.
This final fight, written by Arcudi and Mignola, really is just that, a fight. There’s no depth or haunts, there’s no poetically dark philosophical questions about the nature of beast or man. Instead, there’s a fight. One, which begins to propel Hellboy into the limelight, a recurring issue of both pride and shame for his character, but not a fight this time, that forces him to ask questions about his destiny or his identity.
He’s seen by the world now but, does he see himself? No. He sees Nazism, monsters and violence. He, in his youth here, is now harder but still equally unaware. It’s an interesting, often overlooked part of his history that if it had been more verbose or well written, would have a bigger impact.
Arcudi and Mignola, over the course of this miniseries, have succeeded in creating an interesting story but not in writing one. The final pages hint that there’s more to come but, I can only hope that it’s more focused, narrative based and expansive than this series has been.
Maleev, on the other hand, is just as good here as he was 4 issues ago. The depth of the shadows, shading, action and physicality that he evokes on the pages here is so aesthetically pleasing that the book breezes by in a matter of minutes, a fluid, quick series of events near-perfectly orchestrated by Maleev.
It’s not a perfect issue, but it does undo the worst parts of the previous issue at the very least by giving context to Hellboy’s storied past. True Mignola or Hellboy fans will enjoy the look into the character’s youth as well as his first step toward becoming the thing he is now but, there’s this lingering feeling of missing out on something truly important or defining.
Artist: Alex Maleev
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 1, 2015
Cover Price: $3.50
Arcudi, Mignola and Maleev deliver an aesthetically pleasing finale that, although light on plot, grounds this miniseries more firmly in the Hellboy universe than any of the issues before it.
In my review of issue 4, I said that I didn’t see why this story existed. That I couldn’t see, how this story was important to Hellboy as a character or to his world. I think that’s because I was looking for something spectacular to happen that dramatically changed the way the fledgling BPRD agent Hellboy was seen by the world.
I think now, given this final issue, that it’s clear this whole miniseries has been more about how the early BPRD missions, this one included, changed the way Hellboy saw the world and how it hardened him physically and emotionally. The first callous of many.
This final fight, written by Arcudi and Mignola, really is just that, a fight. There’s no depth or haunts, there’s no poetically dark philosophical questions about the nature of beast or man. Instead, there’s a fight. One, which begins to propel Hellboy into the limelight, a recurring issue of both pride and shame for his character, but not a fight this time, that forces him to ask questions about his destiny or his identity.
He’s seen by the world now but, does he see himself? No. He sees Nazism, monsters and violence. He, in his youth here, is now harder but still equally unaware. It’s an interesting, often overlooked part of his history that if it had been more verbose or well written, would have a bigger impact.
Arcudi and Mignola, over the course of this miniseries, have succeeded in creating an interesting story but not in writing one. The final pages hint that there’s more to come but, I can only hope that it’s more focused, narrative based and expansive than this series has been.
Maleev, on the other hand, is just as good here as he was 4 issues ago. The depth of the shadows, shading, action and physicality that he evokes on the pages here is so aesthetically pleasing that the book breezes by in a matter of minutes, a fluid, quick series of events near-perfectly orchestrated by Maleev.
It’s not a perfect issue, but it does undo the worst parts of the previous issue at the very least by giving context to Hellboy’s storied past. True Mignola or Hellboy fans will enjoy the look into the character’s youth as well as his first step toward becoming the thing he is now but, there’s this lingering feeling of missing out on something truly important or defining.
A Look Inside
