Where to start with Hellboy? I had to think about this, I could have gone to the first volume ‘Seed of Destruction’ or to the Weird Tales compilation, or some of the one shot hardback releases such as ‘Into the Silent Sea’ but I decided upon the relatively recent ‘Hellboy in Hell’ two volume release. Why? Well, I have read Hellboy for nearly 20 years now, I first saw the character in Mike Allred’s Madman and followed him back to his own series from there, ever since I have been sold.

Hellboy in Hell is the conclusion of the Hellboy main story. So we are beginning at the end but don’t let that get you down, this is a fantastic place to start.

Hellboy is a demon from hell conjured into this world during some dark magic shenanigans, was raised by humans and eventually worked for the BPRD which is essentially the X-Files in comics. The main difference is that there’s no Mulder or Scully but a range of strange creatures with Hellboy (a large, red, demon spouting broken off horn stumps on his head) front and center. I’m not going to go into the long story of how Hellboy got to hell but lets just say there were plenty of adventures culminating in an Arthurian culmination of mythic struggle where our Mr. Hellboy suffers a fatal defeat.

Hellboy in Hell consists of ten issues across two trade paperbacks; The Descent, and The Death Card (both available through the fantastic Dark Horse comics). In these volumes are the playful moments we love so much from Hellboy as well as a mythos heavy narrative. It differs from much of what has preceded it however as it has a very singular focus: The End.

“…We are not faced with the Ogdru Jahad, Baba Yaga can only comment from afar, and Anung Un Rama here, is not himself…”

We have had moments of escape from this looming End for years, in these digresses these stories explored more what Hellboy does, not what Hellboy is and this is the flip. The work prior shows us what makes Hellboy different from the monsters of hell and these volumes show us how he is the same.

A lot of that focus it must be said is due to the art of Mike Mignola. Of course Mignola has often been joined by artist regulars such as Duncan Fegredo and Richard Corben. These artists are so intertwined into the weave of Hellboy it is hard to forget them (Richard Corben drew both ‘Makoma’ and ‘Hellboy in Mexico’ which are highlights for me). While these artists do not contribute directly to the work here Hellboy in Hell makes one reminisce of the good ol days before, you know, Hellboy was dead. But we are back in Mignola’s Hellboy here, 100%,  and there is something unsettling and unique about Mignola’s chiaroscuro of misshapen faces; the contrast. The black.

From the opening pages of Hellboy in Hell vol 1 we are reminded just how special the combination of Mike Mignola’s art, and writing are: Hellboy’s removed heart is dropped and we see from afar it falling, closer, closer, we go to find that heart, now burning, is Hellboy himself as he plummets into the nine circles of hell.

Each page drips with a sense of intensity and there is a gnawing in your gut that just wont go away. But we are not seeing Hellboy embark on a new adventure, no, we are seeing him finally resume the one he was born to take. We are not faced with the Ogdru Jahad, Baba Yaga can only comment from afar, and Anung Un Rama here, is not himself (or perhaps he is more himself than ever?).

Hellboy arrives in hell to find it in turmoil. The demons, knowing Hellboy is coming have fled, the slaves seeing the fear in their masters have overthrown most of them. This is the decay of chaos. Hellboy is feared by Hell, not as a conqueror, but as a plague, a pox. The demons and devils run from his blight, they don’t want to fight, Hellboy has come to hell to end hell itself, whether he likes it or not (there is 20 years of birthright and prophesy building here I’m trying to cover OK so go easy on me). The throne of the underworld sits empty, the prince of evil lies in a pool of his own blood, and Hellboy’s right hand of doom is superseded by his left hand of destruction.

This is as glorious as comics ever get.

Those of the literary persuasion will no doubt enjoy Mignola’s work not just for his writing skill but also for his use/and knowledge of literary classics from Shakespeare to Dickens. These references from plays, novels, poems, and also scriptures have guided and shaped the stories over the years. Often sequences are overlaid with a wistful or apocryphal segment of writing. It‘s bliss to read.

In these two volumes allusions to Milton and Dante are hard and fast, the references to Poe and Lovecraft here are more about tone and design (although some strange tales are told in this vein as we progress). There are some nice and pretty touches of horror such as the tale of the lost captain who sold his soul for a magic whip and who wanders the abandoned outskirts of hell, or the re-visitation of the Vampire of Prague.

“…Hellboy’s right hand of doom is superseded by his left hand of destruction…”

Hellboy has always been a bit of a pastiche of tone, story, and art. Monsters from all eras, myths, legends, can all be placed in some form, in Hellboy’s path without them seeming out of place. The balancing act is a high wire worthy of significant praise. Over the years we have had Hellboy face Japanese ghosts, zombie Nazis, the denizens of a Christian hell, or possessed Mexican wrestlers. Hellboy has always felt to me like a modern way to view all these different, colourful, and wonderful stories incorporating them into our own traditions. Mignola just has always been able to make us feel that this cornucopia of stories and legends fit together. It’s a unification theory for literature.

A big focus in these volumes is on fate, identity, and agency. What is destined? Who am I really? And can I actually make any meaningful choices? Hellboy’s ability to say no to the crown awaiting him, to say no to prophesies are addressed head on. Early on he acts however, seemingly unaware, doing one of the things he was born to do, he does this without thinking, without remembering but he does it all the same and it makes all twenty years of stories pale in significance to this one decision. It’s powerful storytelling, it shakes at the foundation of not just the Hellboy mythos but also Judeo Christian ones too. Its glorious.

Look, I don’t love all of Hellboy in Hell equally. Some of the second volume, to me, feels out of place. The Vampire of Prague, Hellboy’s wife; they are great stories but they seem to intrude and distract from the building conclusion (perhaps the series was intended to be much longer with more single shot stories interwoven?). But this is a minor gripe as the introduction (for me) of Sir Edward Grey is beautifully done and sold me on picking up Witchhunter immediately. So while I might be a little annoyed that we pull away from the impending finale to tell a quirky little tale here and there it is in essence the story of Hellboy in microcosm. Its been boiled down, this is the really good stuff!

Again, Mignola’s writing and drawing is what comics are all about, his work is unlike anything else available. There is something about the art, the black, the space, that really does transport you into the world, sometimes kicking and screaming like a demon baby.

The Hellboy universe is an incredibly rich one, the fact that Abe Sapian, BPRD, Witchhunter, Lobster Johnson (… and I can go on and on) have all spun off from this comic is something no other property can proclaim in modern publishing. It’s a testament to the work and to the audience’s appetite for unique, pretty, and thought provoking fiction. I must say Hellboy was a light in the dark in the mid 90’s comic scene and continues to show the way for others. Hellboy feels more in place alongside the current scene than he did 20 years ago and that is just a statement saying that more and more modern mainstream comics have really grown in content, scope, and intelligence.

I’m not writing an article to spoil the books, go read them yourself and thank me later for it, but I will say the end is bittersweet. It’s sad; sad because our journey with Hellboy has ended. But…

…while an end is just that, there are plenty of enjoyable beginnings still to explore.

 

 

Bravo Hellboy. Bravo.