While technically “Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club” is a five-issue miniseries, it functions much more like a series of one-shots. This allows the series to put different club members at its center (such as Lady Bai in this issue) and to assemble different groups to see how they bounce off of each other. It allows the series to act as a continuation of the “Witchfinder” series, while being its own thing. If you haven’t read the issue yet, this review is full of spoilers.
Written by Mike Mignola and Chris RobersonCover by Christopher Mitten
& Mike Mignola
with Dave Stewart
Illustrated by Christopher Mitten and Ben Stenbeck
Colored by Michelle Madsen
Lettered by Clem RobinsWhat could a missing explorer and a string of strange killings possibly have in common? Silver Lantern Club members Sarah Jewell, Lady Bai, Major Singh, and Sir Edward Grey bring fresh eyes to each other’s cases. . . and find they meet unexpectedly in the middle!
At the end of “Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club” #1, Simon Bruttenholm wraps up his tale about the possessed machine and begins another tale about a possessed marionette. If you had your heart set on that tale (and who could blame you given Mignola’s way with puppet stories), you may be saddened to hear as issue #2 begins, Uncle Simon is already a few tales further along. Don’t worry though, you won’t be heartbroken. As with issue #1, the hidden strength of this issue is in its comedy. We’re only two issues into “The Silver Lantern Club” and already Trevor Bruttenholm’s frustration with his uncle is palpable.
I want to draw attention to how much visual storytelling is going on in Ben Stenbeck’s framing sequence. There are the obvious things, like there being a few more glasses on the table than there were at the end of issue #1. But then there are other, more subtle touches, like how Hellboy’s shirt is looking pretty beat up—Hellboy and Trevor have clearly been very recently doing some paranormal investigating, and this sort of detail lends weight to Trevor’s frustration as he tries to get an opinion on his case from Simon.
Character dynamics prove time and time again to be the heart of this miniseries. It’s what makes everything work. Lady Bai, Sarah Jewell, and Sir Edward, aren’t a great team—there’s a certain amount of friction there that hampers them at times—but they are certainly an entertaining team.
As for the tale itself, it’s a classic locked room mystery. Unfortunately, it wasn’t much of a mystery since the cover gives a significant portion of the game away. It’s a shame—after all, it is a damn good cover and it fits wonderfully alongside the other four in this series—but works against the story. I’m hoping that when this story is collected, Dark Horse doesn’t use the covers as chapter breaks like they usually do, but rather saves them for a cover gallery in the back matter. These covers really look great side by side, where we can quickly see the degradation in Hellboy’s pose as he slumps further into his chair, so this may actually end up being a plus.
That said, the cover spoiling the mystery is a minor quibble. Even with the mystery largely solved before it even begins, that’s not really the point of the story anyway and there’s much to delight in as the investigation unfolds. “The Silver Lantern Club” #2 introduces us to Lady Bai, a member of the Silver Lantern Club and the Golden Crane Society, so as we get to know this character, we also get a better sense of the Golden Crane Society which has been part of the ongoing plotline in “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.” She’s clearly a learned woman given the very specific knowledge at her disposal, but also well versed in combat. Both strike me as important details considering we’re talking about a woman in the 19th century.
Sarah Jewell’s commentary throughout is welcome. It does have the effect of diminishing the tension at times, but then this is supposed to swing more towards the comedy side of things, and what we’re seeing is not literally what unfolded anyway—this is Simon Bruttenholm’s account of the events, and so tonally it’s all fitting. Also, it’s hilarious to me how little the story has to do with the spark that set Simon Bruttenholm off to begin with. Trevor was explaining his and Harry’s investigations into what appeared to be the work of a condemned spirit and with only the most tenuous of links, Simon launches headlong into his tale about a spider. This is further highlighted at the end of the issue when all it takes is Trevor mentioning Tibet for Simon to launch into yet another story.
Continued belowWe’re only two issues into ‘The Silver Lantern Club’ and already Hellboy’s not holding his drink well, knocking a painting askew as he heads to the bar for another round of drinks. This is a minor detail, I know, but it sets the stage for things to get more ridiculous throughout the next three issues. Since the comedy of ‘The Silver Lantern Club’ has been its standout feature so far, I’m eager to see this ram up. Plus, I suspect the drunkenness of the framing sequence will bleed into the Silver Lantern Club tales—I will not be surprised Hellboy and company get drunker, we end up getting a drunken Silver Lantern Club tale out of it. (Frankly, I think half the reason Lady Bai and Sir Edward were bickering so much was because they were already a little under the influence when the story began.)
While this issue does not have the same punch as the first (the *FUT* moment was such a well-executed gag, it’s a tough act to follow), it keeps the energy up and shapes our expectations for what we should expect from the miniseries. Christopher Mitten’s character work shines, especially in the glances characters shoot at each other; they almost function like extra lines of dialogue. Roberson carved out moments that let the visuals tell the story in amusing ways, such as Sarah Jewell carrying on with the investigation in the background while Sir Edward and Lady Bai argue. Sarah’s body language in this sequence is so wonderfully handled by Mitten.
Based purely on the paranormal aspect, ‘The Silver Lantern Club’ #2 is a perfectly fine story, but time and time again, it’s the character dynamics that elevate it. If this miniseries is acting as a teaser for a fully fledged Silver Lantern Club series, then in this regard it’s doing its job well, because it makes me want to spend more time with the Club members.
Final Verdict: 8 – “Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club” #2 refines its premise. This isn’t outright comedy, but it isn’t a book to be taken too seriously either. Given that it is further exploring characters from “Witchfinder,” it’s gratifying to see how easily it shrugs off the more serious tone of that series and adopts more levity.
