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Underground > Comic Books >

Mike Mignola's Hellboy

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17:35 / 14.10.02

I'm looking for people interested in selling Hellboy back issues? or if you know where can I find them?

Mister Six, whom all the girls

18:04 / 14.10.02

Must they be back issues or would you mind trades?

20:51 / 14.10.02

Trades are fine. Right now I offer for trade Almost Colossus 1 and 2. Let me see what else I could trade.

21:12 / 14.10.02

Hellboy for trade:

Box Full of Evil 1 and 2.
Hellboy Junior 1 and 2.
Dark Horse Presents 89, 90, 91, 100 (2 of 5), 151 and annual '99.

11:58 / 16.10.02

While we're on the subject... I've always been curious why people like Hellboy so much... i agree that Mignola's art is fantastic. But i find the stories kinda... i dunno... lacking. No drive, no mystery, no revelation... he seems to throw together a bunch of folklore and then hellboy punches at it until it's gone.

I don't mean to be confrontational... i guess this is similar to my feelings about why Authority was worthwhile beyond just being entertaining... so i'm really curious for someone to try to "sell me" on why Hellboy is elevated.

And anyone have opinions about the upcoming film?

12:20 / 16.10.02

I agree with you, Mystery Gypt, but I think the childlike simplicity's part of the appeal. As a central character, Hellboy is charmingly uncomplicated - without being dumb or meatheated or gung-ho - and, despite being surrounded by abundant 'love interest', maintains a Tolkienesque obliviousness to all.

I like the way he solves pretty much every problem by hitting it.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

16:32 / 16.10.02

I'm with Ganesh on this one... I always describe Hellboy to people as being "Indiana Jones... if he was a really big red demon instead of Harrison Ford".

If they think that's a bad idea, then they won't like the comic.

22:07 / 17.10.02

yeah- it just feels so instinctive and fun without feeling dumb, and sometimes I need that in a comic.

I really like the character of Hellboy as well... he kinda has that Cliff Steele thing going on, in that he's a rediculously down to earth guy in the middle of all this crazyness. I'm a sucker for that kind of character, especially when the down to earth character in question is a big red deamon or a human brain in a robot body :-).

It wouldn't work if Mignola wasn't such a bloody amazing artist, but he is, so it does!

02:10 / 18.10.02

I think Mister six meant TRADE PAPERBACKS...

I think it's mainly the art that gets me into Hellboy. And the obvious research he's done on the folktales he uses. And the juxtaposition of the highart folktale stuff and the way Hellboy says BOOM when he punches stuff.

It's a good package.

m.

03:46 / 18.10.02

Why do I like Hellboy???

I agree with the Indiana Jones description but I must add with a bit of occultism and magic. He is the kind of guy that you would like to be his friend. He is very solemn and you don't know when he makes a joke after 2 or 3 seconds. Every chapter is reveling a little bit of the secrets about the origin and destiny of Hellboy because his right hand is The Right Hand of Doom, his hand is the ultimate weapon to destroy the world and he refuse this, he is fighting against evil and his hand is the ultimate evil's weapon (bizare don't you think). The end of The Third Wish has no sense because Mignola is dedicated 100% to the movie with Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman. The movie will be ready until 2003 I think in the summer. I like the art because is dark, simple, Mignola does not need to draw women with big boobs or guys with muscles over muscles.

Well this why I like him.

johnny the nation or jjpl or hellboy or whatever...
see ya

01:38 / 19.10.02

Why do I like Hellboy?

The use of old myths, that goes in the middle between postmodern reinterpretation and Primitive telling

The use of non/typical heroes (even if they can be partially related to known archetypes, they are not the same)

The dark, gritty atmosphere, both in the drawing and the story

The humor, definitively. There are many modern references in there

Mignola's use of negative/black space and simple lines.

04:46 / 20.10.02

There are 2 basic stories to understand Hellboy. The Corpse where you understand the black humor of Hellboy and Pancakes where you begin to like him.

I like Hellboy because he is like Batman but he deals with demons and monsters instead of criminals and maniacs.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

09:44 / 20.10.02

I think the combination of the mythical/occult elements with Hellboy's saturday-morning-pictures desire to make things better by hitting stuff is what makes it work.

Funnily enough, I was at a gig last night, waiting for the band to come on and discussing Hellboy with a friend. A guy overheard me and joined us, but was of the opinion that Hellboy was really shit and pointless. (Sorry I can't remember his argument in more detail, but I was pissed.) Needless to say, we agreed to differ.

Oh yeah... and he beats the shit out of Nazis. A simple pleasure, but a pleasure nonetheless.

14:01 / 29.10.02

I agree with every one of the reasons stated above for loving Hellboy, especially the reinterpretation of folklore.

I'll add:

--The whole overarching storyline of Hellboy's Hand of Doom...will he destroy the universe or save it?

--the way he actually yells, "BOOM!" when he hits something, rather than having it as a sound effect or whathaveyou. 'Sjust wonderful.

jUne, a sunshiny month

14:10 / 29.10.02

I agree with every one of the reasons stated above for loving Hellboy, especially the reinterpretation of folklore.
good art + good stories = exceeeellent comics. well, my point...

Murray Hamhandler

19:11 / 29.10.02

I feel like I have to check Hellboy out now, if only for the "BOOM!". That's funny as shit.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

02:55 / 23.06.05

Bump!

Just picked up _Hellboy: The Island_ #1 today, the only thing at the shop that caught my eye today. First big old Mignola Hellboy story in a while. The art, as usual, was gorgeous. As far as the story was concerned, it felt a bit odd - there was all this back continuity relating to Hellboy's past, and the last mini ("The Third Wish") which I'd forgotten about and had to break out the old comics to remind myself of. Not in anyway a "jumping on point" or wossname. It felt a bit like six or seven stories wanting to get out; it could just as easily been a couple of short stories or more clearly "chapters" to delineate the bits. There was a good old ghost story in the middle with a bunch of dead sea explorers sharing a drink with Hellboy, I think I enjoyed that the most, but it felt like some key ingredient was - missing - from the preceedings. I was rather disappointed, as I'd been looking forward to some old-fashioned Mignola action.

On the other hand, THANK GODS there were no Nazis. I'm so tired of that particular plot-device.

Hekate showed up and was just there.

Hoping #2 shapes the ship up a bit.

Beautiful fucking cover, tho. Hellboy covered in starfish!

03:10 / 23.06.05

I think Hellboy works best when it doesn't delve too much into his backstory in a "see issue #9" kind of way. Conqueror worm was full of flashbacky references and didn't work for me because of that. Compare that to Box of Evil that dealt with the backstory, but didn't overtly trainspot the whole thing.

I'm hoping that this comic will have a natural conclusion soon - ongoings always run the risk of spreading themselves too thin and leaching out what was good in the first place. The fact that Mignola puts a new hellboy out whenever he feels he's ready, as opposed to every couple months, is one of the things that has saved hellboy from overexposure. The whole movie thing, though, rings alarm bells for me on this issue.

m.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

03:23 / 23.06.05

I find they work best when they're streamlined as far as plotting goes. That's really my big issue with THE ISLAND so far; too many things happen. Box Full of Evil worked for me because it was contained in a setting, didn't trainspot backstory as you say, didn't drag up Nazis and all the usual trappings, but focused on a particular case with some character ramifications. And it had Abe Sapien in it, I find he and Hellboy do well as partners - Abe's a bit more cerebral than HB.

And honestly, _Box_ had a decent villain in Bromhead. Hekate kind of leaves me cold, she's treated as a generic dark goddess who changes shape and for some reason always becomes an iron maiden. Which is why I like _Island_'s ghost story element more.

23:03 / 30.06.05

(possible spoilers)

Just picked up Island #1 and am not impressed at all, especially with the egregious (new resolution: to use 'egregious' in a sentence at least once a day) footnoting, in particular the Moby Dick quote reference and the old sailors drinking song. I mean, here's the ghosts of three old sailors singing a song and drinking rum, and at the end of it all there's the fucking asterisk and a note from Mignola saying "this is an old sailors' drinking song". Gee, thanks Mike. Wouldn't have picked it up otherwise...

I'm wondering if Mignola might be spreading himself too thin with other projects.

m.

07:25 / 01.07.05

I agree, this issue was a real let down. After the recent, top notch, BRPD I was looking forward to the return of Mignola & Hellboy but this just didn't do it for me. I always felt Hellboy worked best when he was used to ground the crazy, mystical side of the books in a certain earthy reality, but this, imho, didn't really do that.

Haus of Mystery

08:55 / 01.07.05

Limbo stories suck. But not as much as dream/hallucination stories...
I kinda liked this though. I do love Mignola's pared down style (loving how weak Hellboy's shoulders are), but I agree it was a bit of a weak issue. Can't see how it'll pick up in one issue neither...

20:26 / 02.07.05

'corpse' & the film were my first intro to hellboy.

i'm guessing the film was probably not the best intro. liked the down to earth nature of hellboy and the occult aspects. felt it should have been 'darker' though.

is there much lovecraft references in the comics?
any particular story arc that has the most?

picked up 'island' and thought it was v.good. i liked not knowing the back stories. it gave the scenes like the hecate one an air of mystery and it was nice knowing there were these other stories to read. i thought the final scene w/the mythical images & the little speech from the weird gnostic guy was great as well. mignola's art is superb.

Withiel: DALI'S ROTTWEILER

10:29 / 03.07.05

Most of the stories have some kind of Lovecraftian reference in there somewhere, but the most noteable ones are in the first trade and the BRPD: Plague of Frogs story, which also has the Abe Sapien origin.

Having recently seen the film reminded me of why I love the comics so much - apart from Mignola's linework, it's the little running themes that appear throughout, one of my favourites being that no-one seems to react to the fact that Hellboy's a big red demon on first seeing him - I'm thinking of the Irish family in "The Corpse" here. The "retro" settings are also a joy - with most of the stories I've read being set at least twenty years ago, it gives a pleasing "authenticity" and sense of place to everything. Also, it makes the BRPD technology seem a lot more James-Bond-ish, in that it's pleasantly archaic.
Also, Lobster Johnson.

10:47 / 03.07.05

Did anyone else like the film better than the comics? I think it's one of the only times I've liked a comic book film better than the comic itself. The art's so good in the comic though.

23:44 / 03.07.05

The Island is a bad comic to come into in terms of preferring the film over the comic. It's not Mignola at his strongest.

What would I recommend, now...?

Box Full of Evil is right on the money. I'm not sure which trade that story appears in. Also, the Chained Coffin collection is really strong. It's lots of short pieces. And the one with Rasputin and Hecate and the Vampire dude - is that Wake the Devil? - which has a bit of what the movie was based on in it, is also very good. I'd have a look at those, if you haven't already, before making a final call on movie vs. comic.

But that's just me.

m.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

17:26 / 02.05.07

Huzzah! Just yesterday I saw a poster proclaiming DARKNESS FALLS with Hellboy on it and four other important words- "Mike Mignola" and "Duncan Fegredo." And today, in the shop -- there was the first issue! God, I'm using just heaps of exclamation points in this post, but I had yesterday off and today's been nothing but good stuff.

I'm about halfway through and really enjoying it. The more recent Hellboy stuff has been very much dwelling on past continuity, and this is no exception, but it seems (so far) to be handled better than THE ISLAND was. Fegredo's doing a really good job of mimicking Mignola at the same time as showing off his own flairs -- the Mignola Style is very much the House Style (even though Arcudi seems to be avoiding it on BPRD) for HB and it really works dynamically in comparison to the DC house style of the moment or the old Image house style.

Did anyone else pick this up?

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

04:09 / 09.05.07

So I've just finished reading up a bunch of the more recent Hellboy minis, looking at the recent explorations of his background and the use of different, non-Mignola artists and whether or not they work in a "house style" or something altogether more personal.

It's been interesting. THE ISLAND is obviously a bit of an ugly beast. The clarity went through the floor on that one - the opening of the first half (Hellboy on the island, the dead sailors, Hellboy screaming "Don't mess with me, Lady! I've been drinking with skeletons!" while waving a jug of rum) is quite brilliant, but then it collapses down into a bit of a mess, and an origin story that didn't feel entirely neccessary to me.

THE THIRD WISH was good. It had - well. I think the Cliff Steele comparison doesn't quite work because HB's a regular joe big demon guy but he's so utterly blaise about all the weird crap coming at him from all angles.

Things really started hitting with MAKOMA, the one with Richard Corben artwork. The story was mint, the dialogue crisp and amusing, and the two styles - Mignola's, and Corben's - complimented each other but felt no impulse to emulate each other. They worked in concert. And that's been followed by DARKNESS CALLS, with Duncan Fegredo pulling a Ryan Sook - you can tell its him, but he's doing the Mignola House Style and it's all meshing. The story also starts to range into some unexpected sexuality (perhaps taking its cue from the sexuality of Makoma's encounter with the youthening woman), as Hecate inspects Bromhead's "equipment" (lizard half) with a sort of ugly flirtation.

What am I saying with all this? I don't know, but Hellboy's on my mind right now and I'm loving the sharp clean pulp punchiness of it, the more mythological epic, the meshing of drawing styles when it's been so clearly Mignola for a while.

I'm also curious if anyone's reading BPRD, given that I can't really stand the Arcudi artwork enough to go there.

My Mom Thinks I'm Cool

19:38 / 02.08.07

I'm also curious if anyone's reading BPRD, given that I can't really stand the Arcudi artwork enough to go there.

I'm trying to get into it on the recommendation of the comics store owner. At first I was very excited because I hadn't even known it was out there, but I'm having a hard time following any kind of a storyline - I think it's a Gold Digger-like problem where there's tons of backissues and short story arcs and I can't collect enough contiguous issues to fill in a picture yet.

Loving the new Hellboy though. He's really getting the crap kicked out of him right now (just read Darkness Calls #4). The story's nasty and desperate and great. And as usual there's the occasional splendid line of dialog.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

22:51 / 29.08.07

Really, the only reason I ventured out to the comics shop today was to pick up the fifth, penultimate issue of Mignola/Fegredo's Hellboy: Darkness Calls.

It doesn't feel quite so rich as the previous issues, but I think that has more to do with the pacing than anything. I'm starting to wonder if this isn't secretly THE DEATH OF HELLBOY; if Mignola isn't building to that, with the constant preoccupations with Koshchei's miserable immortality and his quest to find Death, the cold ruminations of the Faerie Folk as they wait for their doom...this series has been about things coming to a close for the way the world is, and it feels more palpable than the previous Hellboy comics--they always had that threat of world-ending but here there isn't any specific armageddon threat introduced or even recalled, but the dread hangs over the series.

Sure, Baba Yaga's after Hellboy's hide, and that's the thrust of the series. And he probably will escape to defeat her and drive her back into the depths. He's all about the Hero as Defiant of Destiny, after all. Caught in a Russian limbo and caught in combat forever with a deathless warrior. He's got to escape somehow.

I quite like the subplot with the imps freeing whatever dark creature is supposed to take over for the Queen of Witches, and what that represents in the overall Hellboy mythology; it's the thing I'm waiting on, because I don't know enough about the folklore in question to even make a guess (beyond, perhaps, Hellboy's mother, but I think that's wrong). I'm trying to recall who in folklore outside of Osiris was cut up and scattered to prevent hir being more powerful.

23:11 / 29.08.07

PPP, you seem to be confusing some names - John Arcudi is the writer of BPRD, the artwork is by Guy Davis (whose work I love).

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

23:21 / 29.08.07

'pologies, Cam. Though I'm still not terribly sold on Guy Davis's work. Doesn't quite suit my tastes.

03:15 / 30.08.07

wow, i LOVE Guy Davis' work. it's weird...after spending time freaking over tight work..the JWH 3, Frank Quietly and Cam Stewarts of this world...it's such a nice trip to take seeing Davis' art. loose, super expressionistic..Get The Marquis!
yum.

and Duncan Fegredo is doing a fantastic job on Darkness Calls..a perfect successor to Mignola--not TOO different but also, super trippy---best witch art ever!

03:35 / 30.08.07

Yeah, Davis' loose, energetic style is really appealing to me, and dude can draw monsters like no one's business. I can see why he's not for all tastes but I think he does great stuff on BPRD and others. And yes, the Marquis is superb!

12:56 / 01.02.09

A heads up for people that like me approve very much of Duncan Fegredo´s artwork.

He started his second Hellboy run after Hellboy: Darkness Calls. This new series is called The Wild Hunt and the art is so detailed, appropriate and fantastic. Giants, landscapes, blood, british aristocrats, ghosts of old ladies, birds, it´s all so vivid and almost 3D. Over the years I really liked Mignola´s Hellboy art, but this is way better. But don´t believe me, take a look yourselves.

Here´s a video where he talks about this new series.

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