Sara May is tested almost to her breaking point in “Castle Full of Blackbirds” #3. Minor spoilers ahead.
Written by Mike Mignola and Angela SlatterCover by Wylie Beckert
Illustrated by Valeria Burzo
Colored by Michelle Madsen
Lettered by Clem RobinsSara May expands her magical education in bigger but riskier ways as her lessons take a turn for the dangerous. And in the shadows, conspiracies begin to take shape. But what do they mean for the young witch?
Hellboy creator Mike Mignola partners with celebrated author Angela Slatter and artist extraordinaire Valeria Burzo for a new adventure from the world of Hellboy!
As Hellboy pushes on with his search for Sara May Blackburn, Sara May continues magical schooling and the secret tests with Miss Brook. These tests will push her to the brink of her abilities and could lead her to deeper connections to the goddess Hecate and possibly even to Hellboy’s fate. Issue #3 opens with some of Sara May’s routine as she takes her classes, has conversations with Miss Brook, and simply goes about her day. The disappearance of Ailsa clearly has her on edge, but any time she brings up the matter to Miss Brook, the idea that it is anything more than one of her temporary runaway attempts is poo-pooed and she is reassured that Ailsa will be back in no time.
These small, quieter, almost every day moments are probably the strongest stretch of the story as Slatter and Mignola give us these conversations and school lessons while ever so slightly letting us see these characters continue to become more fleshed out. It’s these character beats that are the heart and soul of any Hellboy Universe book and “Castle Full of Blackbirds” does it beautifully. While this miniseries seems to be one that is aimed more at the young adult crowd than the majority of “Hellboy” and its related titles, there is an excellent mean streak moving through the shadows the entire time. It continues to take on classic motif of capable young people in danger from a source they cannot comprehend and the adults are not there to help. If anything, they will only assist in facilitating the darkness.
Sara May is so trusting of her place at the school and of Miss Brook, but it is difficult to understand why. Nothing she has done in her magic lessons feels safe or on the side of good. After her brief time with Hellboy, missing students, and how obvious the faculty are when attempting to discuss their secret plans in “private,” you would think she would be far more wary and questioning everything, not just where her roomie ran off to.
Granted, she is just a young teen, and if there’s anything nearly universal amongst young people is that they are basically hardwired to trust any adults in a position of authority. After the initial scenes of daily life at the school, we get an extended portion of Sara May going to her next lesson with Miss Brook. Before the next test she learns more about the history of the school and it is only around now that she begins to question her whole situation. We get some decent spookery with a Hecate statue coming to life, some graveyard action, and minor action and violence as Sara May successfully defends herself. Upon succeeding in her test, it is clear that Miss Brook did not expect her to make it back and clearly regrets her part in what looked to be Sara May’s destruction. There is a good amount of set up for what is to come in future issues, but for the most part it feels like we are still being held at arm’s length from the meat of what is really going on. The pace of the series thus far has been really nicely done. It definitely is not moving too fast, but things do not feel unnecessarily dragged out either.
The art style is continuing to grow on me as well. I have enjoyed it for the most part since the beginning, but I tend to latch on to the more realistic or scarier work used throughout this universe. This week, Valerie Burzo’s style feels like Betty and Veronica for the occult crowd and that has really helped me lock into the art aligning with the plot. Matched with Michelle Madsen’s color work, the book is like a beautiful gothic penny dreadful. It has that blend of spooky and delightful, that a book like this does very well with. It is a really enjoyable mix.
A good halfway point, “Castle Full of Blackbirds” #3 feels mostly like a direct continuation of issue #2 with just a hint of how it will bridge things to the rest of the series.
Final Verdict 8.0 – A solid tween horror story set within our beloved Hellboy Universe that keeps the mystery and intrigue going strong.
