Comic Review: Hellboy Vol. 3 The Chained Coffin and Other Stories

I just don't know how to feel about Hellboy.  On the one hand, I really enjoy the art, and to a certain extent, I enjoy the stories, which delve into the myths and folklore of various cultures from around the world.  On the other hand though, is the fact that I've started to notice a trend.  That trend is this: Hellboy investigates some sort of creepy castle, or ancient ruin, then gets in a big ol' punch up with some sort of giant beast. Cue up the next story, and it is pretty much the same thing all over again.

I've said in the past that I love me some monsters and beasts, and that is true. I love 'em.  And yes, Hellboy delivers a shit ton of great monsters and beasts...what it all boils down to I guess to too much of a good thing.

The Chained Coffin and Other Stories follows the trend I mention above, except this time that trend is magnified since this is a collection of Hellboy short comics.  The thing is, while that trend might be magnified here, everything else that is so awesome about Hellboy is also magnified, so it all sorta comes out as a wash.

I think my favorite thing about this third volume of Hellboy is that Mignola draws much of his inspiration for the comics in this collection from a variety of folklore from around the world.  He essentially takes a bunch of really cool and obscure folklore that he dug up, and adapted it for the world he has created.  The results are a lot of fun to read.  The connections to myth and folklore are initially what drew me to the Hellboy series in the first place, so I really enjoyed getting a heavy dose of the stuff all packed into this volume.

As always, Mike Mignola's art is really impressive.  There's something to be said for the writer/artist which is a rare beast in comics, and it is even more rare to find one who can deliver truly great art, and Mignola certainly does that.  His art is some of the moodiest stuff I've ever laid eyes on.  I'm deeply impressed with his ability to set the mood and tone of his stories with his art.  It's an awesome skill to have at his disposal as an artist.

It's not so often that a comic artist's work breaks into the mainstream pop culture conscience, but I feel like Mignola has managed to do just that.  Hellboy has a look and feel that even the non-comic reading layperson recognizes.  Not that pop culture notoriety is something really special, but it is a testament to the fact that Mignola's art is unique and attention grabbing.

All told, I think the sheer volume of stories, especially ones steeped in folklore, makes this my favorite Hellboy volume yet.  I can't say that I'm totally enamored of this series; To be honest, I'm reading the Hellboy stuff more out of a desire to lay down the groundwork so that I can move on to the B.P.R.D. series, which I feel like holds more of an attraction to me.  Still, Hellboy isn't totally unenjoyable, it just doesn't completely float my boat.  Perhaps, as I delve deeper into the series, I'll come to like it more.  For now, I'll just pass on the word that The Chained Coffin and Other Stories is the best stuff I've read so far in this series.

Grade: B

Review: v2 Wake the Devil

I don't usually read successive volumes of a comic series in such close proximity to one another, but I felt myself drawn to Wake the Devil over the plethora of unread comics sitting on my shelf.  As Autumn settles in here in the north west, like every year, I find myself gravitating towards the darker, more devilish works that populate my shelves.  Fall, horror, and weird fantasy are a great combo, and I knew Hellboy would be able to deliver the necessary goods.

In Wake the Devil a mysterious crate marked Giurescu, Lot #666 has gone missing from a New York City wax museum and the evidence at the scene of the crime points to the evil Nazi unit Ragna Rok being involved.  From the intelligence Hellboy's employers at the B.P.R.D. have collected, it looks like the Ragno Rok folks are dedicated to resurrecting a deadly vampire.  Hoping to prevent vampire troblems (troubles and problems) Hellboy and his fellow B.P.R.D. operatives are sent in to investigate.  Throw in some Nazi occult business attempting to bring about the end of the world, and you have an action packed second volume.

The biggest difference between Wake the Devil and the opening volume in the series, Seed of Destruction is that the writing duties are wholly handled by Mike Mignola this time around.  So what does that mean for the story?  Well, there's less Lovecraftian beasts in the mix, and a greater sense that there's a distinct effort to tie everything into myth that already exists in the real world.  There was still a bit too much wordy dialog and weird occult stuff that is hard for me to wrap my head around, and I worry that I'm already getting sick of Nazis as the bad guys.  That said, there's plenty to like in this second volume too.

Once agian, Mignola's art stands out as the strongest quality of this comic.  The guy is great at drawing strange beasts of both magical, and weird science origin.  I'll never get sick of looking at art that depicts beasts, monsters and science constructs, I love that shit and Mignola is one of the best at drawing that stuff.  I mentioned this in my review for Seed of Destruction, but it bears mention again: Mignola is a master at setting tone and mood with his art.  Granted that mood is almost always set to "dark and creepy" but he does it well time and time again.  I love how there are often massive slabs of black on each page.  Though Mignola uses this technique a lot, it never feels overused, and really gives the comic a dark, grim feel, not to mention, a great signature style.

Another enjoyable quality is that this volume is all about strange monsters, occult plans for Armageddon, and demon battles.  However, Mignola also craftily adds depth to his titular character by throwing Hellboy an  inner demon to confront on top of the regular flesh, blood and brimstone demons he usually faces: his purpose on earth.

I'll admit, this was very much a reading experience full of ups and downs.  Though great art, exciting action, and fell beasts populate the pages, there were some low points as well.  For one, there's a vampire involved, and if you've been reading the blog for any length of time, you may have noticed that I'm sick of those bastards.  Lucky for me, the vampire has sort of a supporting role here. The theft of his body is what sets the plot in motion, yet the vampire himself isn't much of a player until the end.

Another gripe I have is that the same Nazi crew was back as the baddies for consecutive volumes.  Like vampires, I'm also a bit sick of Nazis.  I understand that these comics were written back in the 90's before popular culture was swamped with video games where you shoot hordes of Nazis and shitty books with goofy ass vampires but still, I'm reading them now with all that cultural bullshit clogging my brain.  What is a man to do?

In regards to the occult Nazi crew, I think I was more disappointed with the lack of variety than I was fed up with the use of a familiar trend.  Hellboy is part of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense right?  To me, this opens up the doors to a lot of possibilities, the only limitation being Mignola's imagination, so I expect a weird and wild variety of investigations.  There's no need to limit the antagonists to one group.  In order for me to stick around, Mignola is either going to have to branch out, or somehow weave his clan of Nazis into a greater tapestry, because right now, the story has too narrow of a focus for me.

I gotta say, so far the Hellboy series has been an atypical comic read for me.  Usually if I enjoy a comic, it is because I get sucked in by the characters, and the plot.  However, with Hellboy, I'm not sucked in at all, yet I've enjoyed each volume thanks to key elements like the art, the beastly creatures, and the weirdness.  This series offers up some of my personal favorite elements, but somehow it isn't blowing my doors down.  I'll admit, I'm a little bit confused.  Still, I'm intrigued enough to read more, but I'm still on the fence.

Grade: C+

Review: Hellboy v1 Seed of Destruction

Like any good opening volume to a great epic, Hellboy: Seed of Destruction is very much an introductory story.  It begins with the summoning of Hellboy from, duh, Hell, by Nazi sorcerers, and his subsequent adoption by the U.S. government.  From there the story gives you a taste of what the full-grown Hellboy is all about and what he is capable of.  This is all depicted as Hellboy battles some strange frog-like beasts who've just killed his adoptive father.

The story also introduces the reader to Hellboy's job as an investigator for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, or B.P.R.D. We also meet a couple of his fellow agents, Liz Sherman, and Abe Sapien  who together with Hellboy travel to a remote manse to investigate what they believe is the source of the strange frog-beasts.  The introductory-ness doesn't really stop once the team is assembled.   As the story goes on, you get a sense of the special abilities that Liz and Abe possess, and the type of creepy and weird shit the team tends to investigate.

Seed of Destruction was a solid first volume, but for my money it took things a little bit too slow, and sorta gently eased the characters and the world into the reader's lap.  I think I would have preferred to just be dropped into the middle of the action, and learn as I go, but that wasn't even remotely the case here.

Aside from the gentle introduction, I also found the writing and dialog to be overly wordy, and a bit tedious.  From discussions I've had with other folks who have read the series, my understanding is that the wordiness is a byproduct of having John Byrne scripting this opening story arc.  Apparently, in the later volumes with Mike Mignola at the helm, the writing is much more smooth.

My biggest problem with the writing was that it actually took away from the art.  Mignola, who wonderfully handles the art, is adept at setting, tone, atmosphere and action.  His art is very moody and can carry a lot of the story, so the writing tended to be distracting in many situations.  That said, the art here is clearly still developing.  Mignola's Hellboy style is still finding it's feet here in the early going.  Though Mignola hasn't reached the top of his game yet at this point, I still really enjoyed the art, which is very unique and dark.

Despite writing that didn't totally work for me, and a plot that was a bit too linear, I still enjoyed Seed of Destruction.  The main reason is that it is weird, and I like weird.  The characters are either hellspawn, some sort of strange creature, or an outcast from normal society...and that's the good guys.  There's also plenty of crazy looking Lovecraftian beasts and monsters, plus crazy Nazi sorcerers.  The world it all takes place in has captured my interest too, and I look forward to seeing more of it.

Overall, Seed of Destruction is pretty solid but nothing overly earth shattering. It is definitely lacking in the writing and plotting, but the art, characters and world more than make up for the writing. I think the story still needs to find its feet a bit, but there was enough in the first volume to keep me interested and make me want to keep reading.

Grade: B-