A different kind of way to warm up in the winter.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson, Scott Allie
Art: Paul Grist, Christopher Mitten, Sebastian Fiumara
Colors: Dave Stewart, Bill Crabtree
Letterer: N/A
What They Say:
Three weird tales show the world of Hellboy through the years, with Edward Grey appearing alongside Sarah Jewell, hero of the recent Rise of the Black Flame series in 1890s London. In 1980s New England, Hellboy, Abe Sapien, and Liz Sherman set out on a simple search for some missing kids and encounter a tormented spirit seeking to share its pain.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With a zero issue winter special last year, Dark Horse Comics returns with another winter special for Hellboy. There’s a lot to explore in the world that’s been created through Hellboy so getting some smaller standalone material from it with some pretty solid creators is welcome and this one certainly delivers, though more for the hardcore fan than the casual one. But even they may just become intrigued and want to explore more based on what they find here.
The opening tale is an interesting one that takes place in 1891 where we get Edward Grey and Sarah Jewell together out in the midst of quite the storm that’s shut much down in this part of England. The narration is fun as is the banter between the two as he regales her with tales from history about people that controlled the weather and that there must be some kernel of truth in it. The story is simple enough as they discover a frozen ship along the shore where the crew is in a solid block of ice and they find the captain with a bracelet that has special meaning. It’s easy to see how it goes once it’s removed and the weather turns back to normal, but the fun is just in seeing the tale unfold about this winter storm and how Grey ends up with the device that could prove useful later. The artwork is strong for it but I just felt like the dialogue between the two, especially from Jewell, worked really well.
The second story is fun just for the visuals alone as we get some time with Hellboy in 1961 as he, Vic, the prof, and others are enjoying some holiday time. At least until an overpowered Santa Claus starts tearing up the area. It’s a comical story just for how it looks with the artwork used here, which is just right for it, as we get Hellboy throwing down with Saint Nick like this. The fight is somewhat secondary to what the professor is doing as he ends up with conversation with a mysterious stranger in white that guides him towards what they need to do and that has its own cuteness about it. But man, I really wanted to see Hellboy in the snowman ugly sweater that Vic got him near the end more than anything else. Just a series of splash pages with him wearing different ugly sweaters would make for a good tale.
The final story here is one that places us in 1979 where we follow Hellboy, Liz, and Abe as they’re investigating some missing kids in New England. It’s an interesting little tale in the woods that starts off fun just for the banter between the trio as it nudges some of Abe’s past and how Liz dislikes using her abilities, all while Hellboy tries to keep the peace. When the group comes upon the kids it delves into the weirdness of what they’re going through and what’s forcing them to do the dark deeds of killing each other, but the story is less interesting than the artwork overall. It has a great kind of rough and raw quality about it that when combined with the color work gives it a certain kind of intensity that works really well for it.
In Summary:
Hellboy typically works best for me with some of the shorter tales that we get, such as the one-off issues or the two or three issue arcs. This one is more of a curiosity than anything else because I didn’t read Rise of the Black Flame, which is where the first story draws from, and the others are standalone pieces that are just fun little character bits in different ways. I liked the Christmas based one more just for the artwork and the silliness of such a throwdown but I also really liked the last story with the artwork and getting some time with Abe and Liz. The print edition also has a look at the next series that’s coming but the review copy did not come with that.
Grade: B
Age Rating: B
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: January 25th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
