Hellboy heads off on a new (brief) mission.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson
Art: Alison Sampson
Colors: Lee Roughridge
Letters: Clem Robins
What They Say:
When Hellboy is called to India to investigate a rash of mysterious animal attacks, he is reunited with a familiar face. Together they search for the strange beast terrorizing a small village, but the mystery–and the myth behind it–runs deeper than they thought.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It’s definitely been interesting getting into a couple of different Hellboy releases over the past year after being away from the property for so long. I’ve definitely found that I prefer the stuff from the 50s era the most and some of the 60s stuff but this late 70s era material is definitely holding its own really well. This series comes from a familiar Hellboy writer as Chris Roberson definitely has delivered once again and their pairing with Alison Sampson on the art just hits a good spot. There’s certainly a common design that we get across all the main books but Sampson definitely has some great layouts here and the new original characters stand out very quickly, especially with Lee Roughridge’s strong color design.
With this being a one-shot, it’s an interesting piece that brings Hellboy to India to help out with a problem that’s creeping up. With some kind of wild animal attacks that may be something more, part of the reason for being called in is that Virginia Payne is the one doing work here as a doctoral student for the professor. She worked with Hellboy about seven years prior and we get a nice nod to that interaction briefly while also showing the kind of ease that seems to exist now. Hellboy has changed a lot in those years, such as how he’s not running around with a comic book in his back pocket anymore, and there’s a decent bit of seriousness about him that makes it all work. You can see Ginny reappraising him a bit now that he’s older as well but it does, to me, feel like it avoids moving easily into any kind of actual interest beyond the existing friendship, though there may be edges of it to some.
What we get with this story beyond the two working with each other again is a fun little tale that plays with the were-creature elements as tigers are the cause of a number of killings recently but they’re not acting like traditional attacks. As Hellboy says, he just waits for things to happen and operates from there and it doesn’t take long for a new attack, which plays out weirdly but not like a were-creature attack either. It’s fun to watch them go through basic investigation, explore some of the local differences in were-creature stories, and reinforce that there isn’t just one distinct culture here but centuries of different cultures, traditions, and stories that all blend and intersect over time. It’s all wrapped up quickly and longtime readers can spot the pivot moment easily, but the real fun is just watching these two operate together.
In Summary:
Overall, this was a fun one-shot that plays to an area that’s interesting and gets us away from the usual US and European realms that the book often plays in. It doesn’t go deep or anything and it sticks to parts of what 1957 would be like, so it’s fairly standard. It’s good for fans of the Virginia character to get her back for a little bit more and Hellboy gets to wrestle tigers for a bit, which is never not going to be fun. It’s solidly written with good artwork even though Sampson isn’t one of my favorites when it comes to Hellboy. It’s a kind of bleak installment in a way because of the color design and that a lot of it takes place at night, but it delivers the Hellboy feel in largely the right ways.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 28th, 2023
MSRP: $3.99
