1952: everyone liked Ike, a young gal named Elizabeth captured the hearts of her British subjects, a baby named Bob Costas was already mythologizing the game of baseball into a pastiche of American cliches, and Hellboy joined the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.
Written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi
Illustrated by Alex MaleevA bizarre series of murders and rumors of something worse lead Professor Bruttenholm to send a young Hellboy to a Brazilian village on his first mission. Hellboy and a small group of agents uncover something terrible in the shadows of a sixteenth-century Portuguese fortress . . .
Brian: Well, David, here we are: a new Mignolaverse title in the old school, “collection of minis” style, and with an exciting artist attached: Alex Maleev. This is a book I’ve been excited about for a few months now, and I’m ecstatic to finally be able to talk about it. Before I gush, what did you think of the issue?
David: This comic was awwwwwweeeeeesommmmmmme!
Brian: Anything else you want to add before we slap a grade on this thing?
David: Nah, I’m set.
Just kidding. I’ll be totally honest, I wasn’t really that pumped for this. I don’t know why, but I just kind of felt like it was another move anywhere but forward for the universe, and that didn’t appeal to me. But then I remembered that I didn’t care, and I just loved it for what it was: an amazing comic. It’s a character rich story, filled with amazing moments from a lot of characters like Varvara, Professor Bruttenholm, Hellboy and an array of early Bureau agents. In a lot of ways, it feels like the Mignolaverse back at the start in how it delivers the story, and it’s a refreshing read. In a weird way, it’s a perfect amalgam of early Hellboy comics and B.P.R.D. as a series.
So basically, it’s awesome.
And man, Maleev. MALEEV! What a fit that guy is, right?
Brian: Before I get to Maleev, I want to touch on something you just said – this feels like the Mignolaverse back at the start. I recently re-read the first two Hellboy Library Editions, and that was the feeling that was practically jumping off these pages at me. There was an excitement, a newness, a sense of anything being possibly, that is, understandably, lost when a property is twenty years old – especially because Hellboy is dead, and the Bureau is dealing with the literal end of the word right now, it was refreshing to be back in a world where hope is/was still a tangible thing.
Now, onto Maleev. He was pitch perfect for this story. It very much feels like him, but he is also channeling that early Mignola something fierce. His Varvara was as doll-like as ever, and his Hellboy as menacing as we’ve seen him. This was a complete mastery of the Mignolaverse in one issue. In a corner of comics that is stuffed to the brim with talent, he managed to set himself apart.
David: Yeah, I did a big reread a year and a half ago, and man, when they are driving through the town in Brazil and see the big house on the hill…that could have been ripped from the pages of an early Hellboy story. It was perfect.
Maleev really, really crushes this. I think working in this universe fits him well, aesthetically, and even beyond that, it feels like his work was toned down in a good way. It’s much cleaner art, without some of the flourishes that you normally see from him that often work, but wouldn’t have worked here. Stripping it down to a more bare bones approach for him fits this better, as it keeps the work focused on the characters, from Bruttenholm’s concern to Varvara’s gleeful malevolence to the fear in all of the characters in Brazil. It’s a conscious choice to approach it in such a way, and it was the absolute right one.
Plus, Dave Stewart colors on Maleev’s art is likely an eyegasm. This is undoubtedly one of the best looking books of the year, and the dense blacks and the bold reds make this a sight to behold. Those two pair together about as well as anyone Stewart’s worked with in the Mignolaverse, and that is saying something.
Continued belowI want to reemphasize another point I loved about this comic: IT HAD VARVARA! VARVARA! MY LITTLE RUSSIAN DEMONESS PRINCESS! She’s going to be good in the end Brian! I’ve been calling it for years!
Brian: I love how much you love Varvara, but I really would be shocked if she’s good in the end. I’ll owe you a Coke, for sure.
This is sort of a meta question, but why do you think now is the proper time for a look back at the “good ol’ days” of the Bureau? I have a few theories, but I’m interested to see yours.
David: I honestly don’t really know. I’d say given what we know that something in this will tie into the ending of Hell on Earth, which has been suggested to be ending at some point in the relatively near future, but what that could be I really don’t know. What I do know is I’m very interested in seeing what you think might be the reason.
Brian: Well, I have a few thoughts. The first is what I mentioned earlier – the world is so bleak right now, that it doesn’t hurt to remind the readers “why we fight.” It can seem like such a nightmare to be alive in 2014 Bureau-land, that maybe the third act of the overall “Hell on Earth” story is one that is profoundly more optimistic, and we need to get in that mindset.
Or, and I think this is more likely, things are just going to get bleaker and bleaker, until there is only a nub of what the world used to be that is anything close to inhabitable without a containment suit or a hyperbolic chamber. By having this series alongside of that allows Mignola and co. to not have to pepper “B.P.R.D.” with anything resembling sunshine, and can let them tell that story in as dark a way as they see fit.
But the crackpot theory I have has more to do with the upcoming “Frankenstein Underground” miniseries – if the Bureau can figure out how to reanimate the dead, then maybe there is a character or two from the past that will be making their return eventually. Again, I have no proof of this, but I like playing the wild speculation game.
David: I’m not a big speculator, necessarily, but I can say that I support the theory that this exists as a necessary counter point to the bleakness of the current world. It’s a reminder of what the world can be, perhaps, and I’m very happy to read it.
Do you have anything else to add before we grade?
Brian: There is one thing, actually – this would be a perfect place for someone who hasn’t read a Mignola comic to jump on. Sure, they’re not going to know who Varvara is, but outside of that, this is a pretty clean entry point. I haven’t seen a particularly strong marketing push in that regard, but I hope that Dark Horse and retailers really push this into some new hands. This is a supremely enjoyable comic, and deserves a wide audience.
I give this a solid 9 – what about you?
David: I’m kind of on the fence about how new reader friendly it is. You can definitely figure everything out, but so much of the value comes from knowing about the relationships and the complexities within them. That said, it’s not a bad entry point by any means. It’s actually good, but like I said, it’d be richer with more knowledge of the book’s history.
I’ll give it a 9 as well. This is a really, really good comic, and I hope lots and lots of people read it. And if not, they’re missing out.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – One of the best Mignolaverse books of the year
