Reviews

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  By Strangely - December 30, 2012 12:49 am Log in to Reply

  Mike Mignola’s followup volume to his first outing with H.B. is a triumphant return to a fantastic universe. I am unabashed in my love of Hellboy, and this volume hits all the sweet spots, while still managing to grow the world.

  It’s really fun to go back through the series and recognize little things Del Toro has pulled from these pages as little easter eggs, like the retractable chain-claw thingy. Also the moment with H.B. and the malfunctioning jetpack is perhaps one of the all-time best moments in this series. Simply classic, the stuff of legend!

  We also get to learn quite a bit more about Grigory in this volume which is a welcome addition. One of the things that I’ve sought in fiction is well-drawn villians, the more understandable the better. While not quite on the level of Clive Barker’s Christoper Carrion (Abarat) Rasputin is at least someone who’s downfall can be mourned as opposed to leered at. And Baba-Yaga, lordy-lou does she ever stop over every single frame she appears in!

  Several glaring unresolved points loom over the end of this book but fortunately they are resolved in the final story in the next volume (The Chained Coffin & Others). If you like reading about what goes bump in the night, as well as who bumps back (rather none-too-gently I might add) then this book is a fantastic way to spend an evening. The bit of artwork in the bonus section of H.B. in Hefner gear is worth the price of admission alone. (Fortunately I managed to aim the resulting spit-take away from the book just in time!)

  @iamstrangely