Today's superhero comic books clearly owe a debt to the hero pulps. But superheroes have moved away from the pulp world so far that they have their own idiom that seems far removed from the pulp origins of the medium. Likewise, superheroes' link to their other parent -- the newspaper comic strip -- is rather tenuous.
But Mike Mignola's Hellboy manages to capture the flavor, the fun, and the atmosphere of the pulps in its four-color, comic-paneled world. Like a great chef, artist and writer Mignola stirs together a fine array of ingredients to produce a marvelous concoction that can make a pulp fan drool: the moody atmosphere and building frights of pre-pulp master storytellers Arthur Machen, M.R. James, and Algernon Blackwood; the cosmic horror and the monster-battling action of pulp greats H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, respectively; B-grade monster movies; an art style influenced by Jack Kirby's monster and Fourth World comics as well as by artists like Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele; and an international range of ghost stories, folklore and legends. Throw in some Nazis and a dash of Golden Dawn-style theosophy, and you've got the heady mix that makes for a great Hellboy story.
The premise: Hellboy first appeared on earth during World War II, apparently a youthful demon of some sort, although his true origin remained a mystery. Adopted by the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD), Hellboy quickly grows into the agency's top troubleshooter, dealing with monsters of all sorts all around the globe.
The backstory that Hellboy comes to discover: He's supposed to be the Beast of the Apocalypse, who should bring about the destruction of existence as we know it and the rise of the lords of Chaos. For someone raised by humans (imagine Kryptonian Kal El learning that his role in life is to destroy Ma and Pa Kent, Smallville, and Metropolis), this revelation is a bummer.
Mignola injects humor and horror into his stories. His pacing and atmospheric artwork excellently carry along his stories of this demon-born hero. And the finest tension in many of these stories is generated by Hellboy's efforts to deny and reject his destiny as imagined by all the supernatural horrors he encounters.
The trade paperback The Right Hand of Doom offers perhaps the best introduction to the character. It collects a number of short stories and the longer title story, and all serve to reveal Hellboy's personality, his origins, and the conflict between what he wants to be and what the rest of the universe says he is.
Once you've tried Hellboy, you'll start to understand why this demonic monster-thumper is so popular. Horror novelist Christopher Golden has written two novels and edited an anthology of short prose stories featuring the character; Hollywood is currently working on a Hellboy movie; and comic publisher Dark Horse has released scads of non-comic collectibles (lunch boxes, Zippo lighters, tee shirts, posters, and so forth) with the character emblazoned across their surfaces.
-submitted by Louis King Glass
Hellboy LINKS:
The official Hellboy site: http://www.hellboy.com
Yann Barriere's online Hellboy fanzine, Weird Ways: http://www.oz.net/~rglass/weirdways/
Dark Horse Comics' Hellboy page: http://www.darkhorse.com/search/index.html?sstring=hellboy
Related LINKS:
Friends of Arthur Machen site: http://www.machensoc.demon.co.uk/
Ghost Stories of M.R. James site: http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~fadey/mrjframes.html
Ghosts & Scholars site, devoted to M.R. James: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pardos/GS.html
Miskatonic University's page on Algernon Blackwood: http://www.yankeeclassic.com/miskatonic/englishl/blackwoo/abmain1.htm
Art Archive's entry on Gustav Klimt: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klimt.html
Art Archive's entry on Egon Shiele: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/S/schiele.html
To purchase Hellboy: The Right Hand of Doom from Amazon.com, click here. A listing of the contents, as described on the Hellboy.com site:
"Hellboy: Pancakes" from Dark Horse Presents Annual 1999: DHP Jr. Collects "Hellboy: The Nature of the Beast" from Dark Horse Presents #151. Premiers a new story, "Hellboy: King Vold." Collects "Hellboy: Heads" from Abe Sapien: Drums of the Dead. Collects "Hellboy: Goodbye, Mr. Tod" from Gary Gianni's The MonsterMen. Collects "Hellboy: The Vārcolac" from Dark Horse Extra #14-#19. The trade paperback version of "Hellboy: The Vārcolac" is presented in a redrawn and expanded twelve-page version when compared to the original series. Collects "Hellboy: The Right hand of Doom" from Dark Horse Presents Annual 1998. Collects "Hellboy: Box Full of Evil" from Hellboy: Box Full of Evil #1-#2. Includes the cover art for the Hellboy: Le Diable dans la Boīte French hardcover. Includes a sketchbook of the Lords of Hell and other creatures.
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Posted by ds at September 18, 2002 03:38 PM
