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Mignolaversity: Hellboy in Hell #6 [Review]

By and | May 14th, 2014
Posted in Reviews | 9 Comments
Logo by Tim Daniel

After several months since the fifth issue, Mike Mignola’s exploration of Hell through the eyes and experiences of Hellboy continues with an issue titled “The Death Card”.

Written and Illustrated by Mike Mignola
Colored by Dave Stewart

Hellboy revisits an old vampire acquaintance in the bowels of Hell.

David: Brian, we’ve got another issue of Hellboy in Hell to look at, reappearing after a several month gap, and this one as per usual comes from Mike Mignola, his trusty compatriot Mike Mignola, and Dave Stewart. What did you think of this latest joint?

Brian: Absence makes the heart grow fonder! This was a really enjoyable issue, one that is pretty indicative of what “Hellboy in Hell” is all about – it is a methodical, mythological, funny, and disorienting issue. What did you think?

David: Honestly? A lot more on the disorienting side. This actually emphasized the elements of Hellboy as a series that I dislike more than any issue of it that I’ve read in a long time. The interesting thing about much of Hellboy as a series is that many of the issues feel like an aside to the main story, and this issue – while having fantastic art and having some hints as to what could be happening going forward – feels like having a really ornate, tasty but ultimately unsatisfying meal after not eating for a long stretch.

I guess I just don’t really understand the allure on this particular issue, especially considering how it in a lot of ways feels like stories we’ve read from Mignola before, but in far less interesting and more slight fashion than how we’ve seen it in the past.

Brian: While I can understand that position, I think “Hellboy in Hell” is far more appealing, even when it meanders and goes on tangential journeys, than “Abe Sapien,” which can be similarly unfocused.

The difference, to me, is that “Hellboy in Hell” is creating a whole new world, a world where the laws of physics don’t really make sense, where friends turn into skulls, and you forget who you were on Earth while walking the streets that become a maze.

Sure. this issue isn’t exactly a new idea in the Mignolaverse, but it is building up Hell to be something important and interesting; plus, Mignola’s art is such a delight to look at, that I found myself lingering on certain pages and panels, and generally just really enjoying the experience of reading the book.

David: Well, I’m not sure where the “Abe Sapien” comparison came from, but that doesn’t do it much favors considering that book so far has been a tremendous slog to get through.

I’m not even really complaining about the unfocused nature of the narrative, it just feels like – and I mean in this in the most appreciative of a way as I can about the man’s gifts – a story that Mike Mignola wants to tell because it’s what he very specifically would want to read, boiling out all of the bits he never really enjoyed of his earlier run of stories. And there’s nothing wrong with that whatsoever, but there’s a reason that I’ve personally always enjoyed “B.P.R.D.” more than “Hellboy, and it’s because John Arcudi focuses Mignola’s ideas so well.

When Mignola tells his stories himself, it feels like a walking dream, and it has the plusses and minuses that come from that idea. As I said, it’s not that the unfocused nature really bothers me so much as there doesn’t really seem to be any narrative tension because there isn’t really much a narrative. There are really three stories within one here, but none of them really have beginnings or middles ore ends, it’s like Mike Mignola is Rustin Cohle in “True Detective” and he really, really wants to emphasize that time is in fact a flat circle.

But you’re right. It is a tremendously attractive book, and one that has a look and feel unlike anything you can really find in comics. I do think for me the visuals didn’t help always either, as I struggled in realizing when parts of the story were flashbacks and when they weren’t (I THINK there was only one panel that was truly a flashback, but I honestly can’t tell you for certain).

Continued below

Honestly, Hellboy as a story is a funny one for me because as much as I love it, every once in a while, it lays an egg for me as a reader. This just happens to be one of those eggs, randomly enough.

So can you elaborate on what you loved about it so much? I can perhaps use that as a guide for my reread. It seems like you liked the world building and the art. What else?

Brian: Well, the “Abe Sapien” comparison comes from the fact that your initial description of the issue, I felt, was more fitting to “Abe” than “Hellboy.” But let’s leave “Abe” to the side for now.

Again, I know what you’re saying, but I guess I’m just really enjoying walking around in the dream-like world Mignola is creating. This shows how subjective all of this really is – when you mentioned the book feeling like a walking dream, and that is exactly why it appeals to me, but something that can turn you off as well. I get it – this book isn’t for everyone, but I am really, really enjoying it.

Part of what I enjoy about it is that nothing is ever as it seems – people aren’t who they say they are, situations that seem straightforward wind up being circuitous journeys, and things that seem like flashbacks wind up not being so. These issues remind me of films like Eraserhead, which focus on presenting interesting images on the screen, without too much care for explanation.

Another thing I have really been enjoying is how truthful the title has been: this is the story of Hellboy’s time in Hell. And that time feels claustrophobic and disconcerting.

That said, I do wish there was more tension in the book, but I don’t think that is what Mignola is going for – I think the drama, in Hellboy’s life, has passed. Sure, it’ll be back at some point, but this seems like an extended interlude. It reminds me of walking home from the bar – everything in the neighborhood seems both beautiful and unsettling. I wouldn’t want an entire stack of these from my shop each week, but I’m glad I get one of these.

David: Yeah, I understand all of that. The thing for me is I don’t always dislike the more ethereal storytelling. Some of my favorite Hellboy stories – like The Corpse or The Island – weren’t exactly plot driven, but they also felt like they had definitive beginnings and ends. My problem is that this story felt more like a story lost within itself, and in the process, it lost me as a reader.

But it may just be a preference thing. This is certainly a subjective medium, and it’s also a story that is less tethered to reality than damn near anything we’ve ever read from him. I can say this: when we interviewed Mike a couple years back, he said that he was going to go really far down the rabbit hole, and he’s not sure who would follow him down. If it’s like this, I might not be there with him.

Anything else you’d like to add before we grade this?

Brian: See, I think that, taken with the super plot-heavy, forward momentum of “B.P.R.D.,” we are seeing the two sides of the Mignola coin; we get the best of both worlds, in the extremes of the two books. “B.P.R.D.” is so action packed that it rarely has time to go down too many odd paths; “Hellboy in Hell” is, to use Mignola’s words, so far down the rabbit hole that it rarely has time for action.

As far as a grade, I give this a solid 7.5 – I really enjoyed my time taking in the issue, but I can see your viewpoint, and think this is a fair representation of the book.

David: I’m giving it a 5.0, weighted VERY heavily on the art side. I completely understand why someone else might really enjoy it, but this issue is the part of Hellboy that’s not for me. At best for me, this was a charming aside and at worst, a story lost within itself that has been months in the making.


//TAGS | Mignolaversity

Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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