Continuing on from last year’s “Sir Edward Grey: Acheron,” “Koshchei in Hell” takes up the dangling threads from “Hellboy in Hell” and “Koshchei the Deathless.” If you are on the fence about this book because you think it is simply a spinoff, merely a side story, then let me first remind you that the spinoff side stories in the Hellboy Universe are often some of the best and most interesting stuff, and then let me tell you that this book is almost certainly the most important story since “B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know—Ragna Rok.” Don’t make the mistake of missing this one. Read on for our spoiler-free review.
Written by Mike MignolaCover by Ben Stenbeck
Illustrated by Ben Stenbeck
Colored by Dave Stewart
Lettered by Clem RobinsThe world above may be over, and Hellboy gone with it, but Koshchei is still in Hell content with his wine and his books—until an old face arrives and brings Koshchei a critical task. An old and powerful foe is returning, and Koshchei must take up his sword and defend the city from destruction.
Mignola returns to Hell to reunite with one of his favorite collaborators, Ben Stenbeck (Frankenstein Underground, Witchfinder: In the Service of Angels, Baltimore, Koshchei the Deathless).
It seems rather strange to call “Koshchei in Hell” a spinoff, since at this point it is carrying on the major Hellboy Universe story. Like “B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know” before it, “Koshchei in Hell” is full narrative convergence. “Witchfinder,” “Hellboy,” and “B.P.R.D.” all flow into “Koshchei in Hell.” Who’d have thought that back in 2007’s “Hellboy: Darkness Calls” when Koshchei first appeared?
Endings to long stories are curious things. Traditional wisdom says endings should be kept brief—there are many book critics that say The Lord of the Rings should’ve ended shortly after Sauron was defeated, and many film critics that say the film trilogy had too many endings, and yet The Lord of the Rings is among my gold standards for endings. The last five chapters give so much more meaning to the end. Defeating the enemy wasn’t really what the book was about anyway.
And that’s very much how I feel about this “epilogue era” of the Hellboy Universe. With that in mind, Koshchei being the central figure of the story now makes sense as a way to explore aspects of Mignola’s various plotline endings. Most notably, the transformation of Hell from a place of damnation into a place where salvation is still possible. Even in Hell there is still hope. What better way to express this theme than through Koshchei, a man without a soul?
One by one, we’ve seen characters die, and now we see the legacies their lives amounted to. But Koshchei is deathless. He gets to see the grand meaning of others’ lives while feeling the meaninglessness of his own. What better character through which to explore the importance of legacy, the sadness of death, and the folly of hiding from it?
There is a beautiful loneliness to “Koshchei in Hell” right from the very first panel, where we look upon the city of Hell, and but a single window has light in it. Throughout the issue, though Koshchei meets with other characters and talks with them, that loneliness permeates everything. Space is given to panels of Koshchei by himself in a room, Koshchei at a window alone, Koshchei walking in the streets alone. His encounters with others feel dreamlike; a meeting of strangers going in opposite directions.
Ben Stenbeck does loneliness so well. I swear, it’s an aspect in every single story he’s done with Mike Mignola. It’s a core part of his “Witchfinder” work, of “Baltimore”, and of “Frankenstein.” And if anything, he’s only gotten better at depicting it over the years.
I still believe that “Sir Edward Grey: Acheron” is Dave Stewart’s most impressive piece of color storytelling he’s ever done (though you really have to pay attention to everything he’s done in the Hellboy Universe to fully appreciate it), and since “Koshchei in Hell” is an extension of that story, it should come as no surprise that I find the storytelling through color here absolutely masterful. I’m kind of in permanent awe of his ability to do multiple color callbacks across twenty-five years of work and have it read so cleanly and uncluttered, while still serving the needs of the scene being told right now. It’s an incredible balancing act, but it’s such a subtle one.
Continued belowStewart to date has won more than a third of all “Best Coloring” Eisner Awards, so he’s hardly underrated, but I do think his most impressive works aren’t noticed nearly as much as his more showy ones. “Koshchei in Hell” is often understated, but Stewart’s use of color here is surgically precise. Those greens on page six could only be those greens. This sort of thematic continuity through color is such an essential part of these comics. No one but Stewart could color this comic and give single panels the power they have. It really is like John Williams doing the music of Star Wars or Howard Shore tapping into the grand history of Middle Earth with just the right motif. Stewart’s color is music.
Finally, I have to mention Mike Mignola’s incredible writing. When a story is executed at such a high level, the construction can feel so natural that it disguises how cleverly balanced it is. “Koshchei in Hell” with all the big ideas and grand history and all the lore a play could have come off as a self-important bloated mess. Characters talk plot at each other and yet it works because Mignola knows when tone should take precedence; Mignola knows when to inject humor; Mignola knows which story points to deliver through a puppet show so that the insult to Koshchei is at its harshest.
And Mignola knows when to reference himself. Cast your mind back to 2017’s “Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea,” with Hellboy alone and adrift at sea while narrative captions recite “The Pilot” by Thomas Haynes Bayly. It’s such a stark and lonely introduction, and one that itself draws from 2005’s “Hellboy: The Island,” which I consider to be Hellboy’s loneliest story. So when Koshchei sets off in a little boat on his own with an old Spanish ballad playing out in narrative captions, it summons up those old emotions. I think this particular element of his writing style, knowing when to reference the past and how, is why he and Stewart work so well together. It’s a skill they both share and understand intimately.
There is much more I want to say, especially about Stenbeck’s fantastic work—the final two pages are particularly powerful—but I’ll save that discussion for issue #2 when I can talk specifics and spoilers.
Final Verdict: 9 – Whenever Mike Mignola, Ben Stenbeck, and Dave Stewart collaborate, they end up creating some of the very best books in the Hellboy Universe, and “Koshchei in Hell” looks like it may be their best yet.
