Hellboy

I just got BPRD: 1947, and I really don't know what to think about it. There's two different plots that were interesting enough to carry a whole miniseries, but they get rushed through so quickly that I'm left wondering what the point of this miniseries is. Didn't care much for the art style either, though the only part I would really call bad would be the Russian demon-girl.

Interesting contributions to the worldbuilding of the 'verse, however. If the vampires have agreed to lay low until humanity has forgotten how to fight them, has the possibility of Hellboy ending the world made them rethink this plan? And from the excorcism, it would seem that all the good gods of all religions are one and the same.

It did kindof annoy me that it seemed so confusing there being multiple gods or whatever and lovecraft type stuff all in one big ball. But once I'd read BPRD The Dead I kinda 'got' it. Well, ok, I still don't.

I just have a hard time reconcilling the fairies version of the end of the world, the demonic version of the end of the world, and the lovecraft version of the end of the world. They all involve Hellboy and seeeeeem to be the same event but I can't really tell.

I've collected all the Hellboy TPB, and trust me when I tell you that you really appreciate Mike Mignola's mythos when you read them back-to-back

I don't own any of the Hellboy TPB but the library I go to is awesome.

edited 10th Jan '11 9:44:07 PM by Gvzbgul

Man, Gvz, now you've got me turning all the prophecies over in my head, trying to remember how they fit together.

Actually, I think our own Hellboy article's take on all the prophecies makes the most sense:

Evil Is Not a Toy: Nearly everyone Hellboy encounters seems to have their own agenda for the Right Hand of Doom and the Ogdru Jahad, believing that they can control their powers (even Hell seems to think they can use the Dragon). It is implied that they are all delusional, and that the release of the Ogdru Jahad would simply result in the annihilation of reality. Hecate is the only one who seems to be aware of this, but pursues it anyway and mocks those who believe they can twist the power to their own ends (she suggests that it might be possible that a new world will be born from the ruins, but it doesn't really concern her).

Anyway, just read BPRD: Killing Ground and The Warning. HOLY CRAP so much stuff happening. More of Lobster Johnson is always a good thing.

Knowing Lobster Johnson is a recurring character is one of the reasons I want to start buying the old volumes of BPRD. Though I'm gonna get The Crooked Man first.

Well, a very rarely recurring character so far, but the ending of The Warning promises that the story's not done with him yet.

I wonder what sort of game Memnan Saa is playing. Dude's definitely my favorite villain in the 'verse.

Oh, oh my goodness.

In Killing Ground, there's a shot of the BPRD personnel directory. Guillermo del Toro is listed there.

^ Yeah, I saw that, too. I laughed, which caused my roomie to stare at me for a couple seconds.

So, I've read up to Killing Ground now. I have all of them through King of Fear coming in the mail as we speak (type?). I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl, to be honest.

Lucky you. I have through The Warning, which says it's the first part of the "Scorched Earth Trilogy". If you thought the open ending of Killing Ground was bad (not bad as in badly written, but bad as in "I must know how this ends! You're killing me, Mignola!"), the end of The Warning was a bazillion times worse.

That just made me even more excited.

Okay, finally got The Black Goddess and The King of Fear. DAMN it wasn't just epic, but epic Continuity Porn to boot. They tied in the stuff from the Lobster Johnson miniseries!

It feels weird being caught up with the series.

Read all of them through King of Fear. Holy SHIT. This is incredible!

I got the first Witchfinder book for my birthday last weekend. I've only read the first chapter, but holy crap is this gonna be awesome. Victorian mystery in the Hellboy universe... oh my goodness.

edited 8th Mar '11 8:03:17 AM by Moogi

So there is a Witchfinder TPB? I keep hearing about that series, but I haven't seen it at my usual comic haunts.

Amazon, my friend. Or in my case, birthday present from my doting parental units.

I just finished it last night. It was a really good start for the series (since I've read that there are more Witchfinder stories coming out), and I dig how well it's tying together all these different strands of lore from the Hellboy 'verse- the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra, Hyperborea, Martin Gylfryd, and of course, Sir Edward himself. I'm pretty giddy about this prospect.

I also love Edward's character, too- it's nice to see Church Militant characters who aren't used by the writers as 'OMG religion is evul' strawmen. It's fairly uncommon to see something like this in the fantasy genre, so I really appreciate the change.

Speaking of which, there's a short story in the paperback (initially a backup in Hellboy: The Wild Hunt) about the witch hunter whose undead form attacked Hellboy in Wild Hunt. As much as I think the old witch hunts were evil, that story, which actually showed the witch hunter from when he was a fairly decent guy before he went off the deep end, was pretty cool.

Next up on my need-to-buy list: the Lobster Johnson and Abe Sapien paperbacks.

Yes, Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus is insane pulpy goodness. 'Twas my introduction to Memnan Saa.

I don't have Abe Sapien yet. Forgot that one.

I'm only up to Volume 4 of BPRD, but so far my favorite is Volume 2, which features the best putdown ever of a vampire, and the least threatening zombie invasion.

Is it strange that the thing I look forward to the most about the end of this semester is getting back to my collection of Hellboy books?

Depends, do you have a significant other?

Yeah, but she doesn't live where I do, so that doesn't count.

Still waiting for next Hellboy tpb. :/

Don't get me wrong, I like BPRD and all (Wish Mignola would do more art, but you can't get everything), but the thing I love about Hellboy is how it blends weird, almost Shakespearian fantasy with the more grounded world.

Or something.

I always liked that part, too. I think what really attracts me to the series is just how bloody mythic it all is. I mean, this is some serious Joseph Campbell stuff going on here, which is something I wholeheartedly approve of (though I'm sort of biased in favour of anything that even vaguely reminds me of Joseph Campbell, since his whole 'Monomyth' concept was an integral part of me becoming the happy person that I am today). Plus, there's the sheer amount of work that Mignola has put into developing everything. I have a folkloregasm practically every time I read another story. Oh, and Mignola's art is delightfully evocative of German Expressionism, which is another thing I geek out about.

If I had a uterus, I would want to carry Mignola's child. Not because he's attractive, mind, but because I believe that the human cultural experience of the future will be vastly improved if his DNA is spread as far as possible.

At the rate we learn of Hellboy's various claims to fame, (ruler of Hell, descendant of Arthur, has the hand of a god, is a saint etc) he's turning out to be a bit of a messiah figure. Maybe his options are not limited to just destroying the world or not. Maybe he can in fact save the world?

edited 12th May '11 1:43:56 PM by Gvzbgul

That's what I'm thinking, too. I mean, this guy's got more heroic archetypes going for him then I can count, and they're both highly indicative. Given Mignola's fondness for old myths and legends, it looks like he's planning on using the hell out of these archetypes. I'm having a Joseph Campbellgasm just thinking about it.