Hellboy
Free Comic Book Day Edition
Written by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Joshua Dysart
Art by Duncan Fegredo, Guy Davis, Paul Azaceta
Colors by Dave Stewart, Nick Filardi
Letters by Clem Robins
Dark Horse Comics
Cover price: FREE!!!; Available..um, try eBay

I have to admit to not being as much of a Hellboy fan as I probably should be, as a semi-professional comic reviewer. Mike Mignola’s series is at the top of most critics lists, but while I’ve sampled some of the trades before, I’ve lost track of the story and don’t know what’s going on in the current series.

Fortunately, there’s a second Hellboy movie coming out next week (which I’ve already seen and enjoyed), so Dark Horse has seen fit to update as many people as possible by releasing this free comic, which contains three stories dealing with the timelines and characters of the three Hellboy series (Hellboy, BPRD, and BPRD: 1946). The three stories contained here, give the reader a good feel for the series, but don’t give as much info as I would like, and made me feel like I still need to buy all the trades to catch up, which at this point is a pretty expensive proposition.

The first story, entitled “The Mole,” shows Hellboy before the events of the most recent mini as he has a dream of a demon escaping his body at which point his skin follows the demon around. It’s kind of an odd story, as there’s little dialog, and if you haven’t read the story it’s a prologue for, it’s not going to make much sense. The art by Duncan Fegredo is pretty decent, as he does a great imitation of Mike Mignola’s personal style. In fact, if I didn’t know that it was someone different, I could swear it was Mignola on art.

The second story, “Out of Reach,” is done by the BPRD team, and much like the first story, takes place in the current continuity, and doesn’t do much to catch new readers’ interest, but I’m sure makes sense to readers following the series. The art on this one is by Guy Davis, who has a similar style to Mignola but is different enough for it to stand out. It’s a bit rounder and cartoonier than Mignola, but it works for the large cast he’s working with. It looks good though, and may appeal to readers who aren’t big fans of Mignola’s style.

The final story, “Bishop Olek’s Devil,” is by the same team as the recent BPRD: 1946 mini that just finished a few weeks ago (BPRD: 1947 is apparently on the way later this year). This one deals with Hellboy’s mentor, Dr. Brutenholm, as he has an adventure involving a book that offers great wealth to its owner. This story is the most accessible for new readers or at least readers whose main experience with the universe comes from the movie. Artist Paul Azaceta again works in the basic Mignola style, but again, adds his own personality to the work. It’s a bit darker, and not quite as clean, but it sets the mood, and never makes the story hard to read.

All the stories presented here are good enough; I’ve read enough Hellboy stories to know that they are decent representations of typical issues. My major complaint is that as a free issue, I’d assume it would be designed to catch new readers up to speed, and these mostly just drop the reader in mid-story. I’ve always wanted to get into the series, but the depth of backstory has always kind of scared me off, and I’ve never known where to jump in. But, a while back, I ordered the Library Edition that Dark Horse put out a few months ago, and I’ll probably buy the next one, so maybe I can catch up. I mean, it is one of the best series of the last decade, or at least that’s what us critics say.