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Hellboy in Hell
Hellboy in Hell, Vol. 1: The Descent
After saving the world in The Storm and the Fury but sacrificing himself and Great Britain, Hellboy is dead, cast into Hell, where he finds many familiar faces and a throne that awaits him. Mike Mignola returns to draw Hellboy’s ongoing story for the first time since Conqueror Worm. It’s a story only Mignola could tell, as more of Hellboy’s secrets are at last revealed, in the most bizarre depiction of Hell you’ve ever seen.
Collects issues #1–#5.
Collects issues #1–#5.
152 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 14, 2014
43 people are currently reading
759 people want to read
About the author
Mike Mignola
1,867 books2,536 followersMike Mignola was born September 16, 1960 in Berkeley, California and grew up in nearby Oakland. His fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age (he doesn't remember why) and reading Dracula at age 13 introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore from which he has never recovered.
In 1982, hoping to find a way to draw monsters for a living, he moved to New York City and began working for Marvel Comics, first as a (very terrible) inker and then as an artist on comics like Rocket Raccoon, Alpha Flight and The Hulk. By the late 80s he had begun to develop his signature style (thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black) and moved onto higher profile commercial projects like Cosmic Odyssey (1988) and Gotham by Gaslight (1989) for DC Comics, and the not-so-commercial Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (1990) for Marvel. In 1992, he drew the comic book adaptation of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Topps Comics.
In 1993, Mike moved to Dark Horse comics and created Hellboy, a half-demon occult detective who may or may not be the Beast of the Apocalypse. While the first story line (Seed of Destruction, 1994) was co-written by John Byrne, Mike has continued writing the series himself. There are, at this moment, 13 Hellboy graphic novel collections (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien and Witchfinder), three anthologies of prose stories, several novels, two animated films and two live-action films staring Ron Perlman. Hellboy has earned numerous comic industry awards and is published in a great many countries.
Mike also created the award-winning comic book The Amazing Screw-on Head and has co-written two novels (Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire and Joe Golem and the Drowning City) with best-selling author Christopher Golden.
Mike worked (very briefly) with Francis Ford Coppola on his film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer on the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). He lives somewhere in Southern California with his wife, daughter, a lot of books and a cat.
In 1982, hoping to find a way to draw monsters for a living, he moved to New York City and began working for Marvel Comics, first as a (very terrible) inker and then as an artist on comics like Rocket Raccoon, Alpha Flight and The Hulk. By the late 80s he had begun to develop his signature style (thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black) and moved onto higher profile commercial projects like Cosmic Odyssey (1988) and Gotham by Gaslight (1989) for DC Comics, and the not-so-commercial Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (1990) for Marvel. In 1992, he drew the comic book adaptation of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Topps Comics.
In 1993, Mike moved to Dark Horse comics and created Hellboy, a half-demon occult detective who may or may not be the Beast of the Apocalypse. While the first story line (Seed of Destruction, 1994) was co-written by John Byrne, Mike has continued writing the series himself. There are, at this moment, 13 Hellboy graphic novel collections (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien and Witchfinder), three anthologies of prose stories, several novels, two animated films and two live-action films staring Ron Perlman. Hellboy has earned numerous comic industry awards and is published in a great many countries.
Mike also created the award-winning comic book The Amazing Screw-on Head and has co-written two novels (Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire and Joe Golem and the Drowning City) with best-selling author Christopher Golden.
Mike worked (very briefly) with Francis Ford Coppola on his film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer on the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). He lives somewhere in Southern California with his wife, daughter, a lot of books and a cat.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 235 reviews
December 29, 2014
I'm a big fan of Mignola's work, and Hellboy in particular. As such, I've been looking forward to this new series for a while.
That said, this first book in the continuation of the series didn't really flip my switch.
If I had to point at one reason why, I'd probably have to say that I felt like Hellboy was too passive. Things happened around him and to him, but he himself didn't seem to be doing much.... well... protaging. If he's the protagonist, he should protag.
There was one section that was a nice call back to Hellboy's mythic folktale roots in this first trade, but generally this book felt like it was mostly setting the stage for things to come.
Am I a bit of hypocrite for criticizing someone for excessive stage-setting? Yeah. Maybe. That would be a fair thing to say.
Will I keep reading it? Yeah. Of course. Mignola has some credit to burn with me. I trust him to tell me a good story in the long run.
One qualifier:
1. I read this book directly after reading Scott McCloud's newest opus. That book hit me like a bomb. It's possible that I was suffering from a bit of a book hangover when I was reading this, and my dissatisfaction was partly due to that.
That said, this first book in the continuation of the series didn't really flip my switch.
If I had to point at one reason why, I'd probably have to say that I felt like Hellboy was too passive. Things happened around him and to him, but he himself didn't seem to be doing much.... well... protaging. If he's the protagonist, he should protag.
There was one section that was a nice call back to Hellboy's mythic folktale roots in this first trade, but generally this book felt like it was mostly setting the stage for things to come.
Am I a bit of hypocrite for criticizing someone for excessive stage-setting? Yeah. Maybe. That would be a fair thing to say.
Will I keep reading it? Yeah. Of course. Mignola has some credit to burn with me. I trust him to tell me a good story in the long run.
One qualifier:
1. I read this book directly after reading Scott McCloud's newest opus. That book hit me like a bomb. It's possible that I was suffering from a bit of a book hangover when I was reading this, and my dissatisfaction was partly due to that.
August 8, 2017
3.5 stars
I've read very little about Hellboy in the past (maybe 1 or 2 volumes?), so I'm not exactly an expert on Mignola's creation. In fact, the majority of what I think I know about Hellboy comes from the movies. So you can basically take my review with a grain of salt.
The hardest thing for me to overcome was the artwork.
BUT.
Ever since I read Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon, I've been trying to become more tolerant when it comes to graphic novels that don't have what I consider to be traditionally nice art.
See? I'm growing up. Maturing, if you will.
And I have to admit, that Mignola's style grew on me a little by the end. However, there were several times that I simply couldn't figure out what the hell just happened. Sorry, but does the blob of red splashed across the black background mean that he just fell off a cliff? Did he hit someone? Did the Devil go down to Georgia? Or maybe Mignola accidentally spilled his ink, and decided it looked cool?
I just...ehhhh?
Acceptable answers:
1) I'm not very smart.
2) I'm not artsy-fartsy enough to get what the author meant.
3) The art was weird and ambiguous at times.
As far as the story?
Hellboy is in Hell, due to (I'm just spitballing here) some major fight with a bad guy, that most likely ended in his death.
So now he's just kinda wandering around. Of course, there seems to be no end to the demony things that want to kill him, and he's forced to fight for his life. Which is odd, since he's, um, dead.
Once he kills everyone he needs to kill, there are also a few stories about some of the people he meets in Hell.
I wasn't riveted, but this was ok.
Recommended for Hardcore Hellboy fans.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital arc.
Also reviewed for Addicted2Heroines
I've read very little about Hellboy in the past (maybe 1 or 2 volumes?), so I'm not exactly an expert on Mignola's creation. In fact, the majority of what I think I know about Hellboy comes from the movies. So you can basically take my review with a grain of salt.
The hardest thing for me to overcome was the artwork.
BUT.
Ever since I read Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon, I've been trying to become more tolerant when it comes to graphic novels that don't have what I consider to be traditionally nice art.
See? I'm growing up. Maturing, if you will.
And I have to admit, that Mignola's style grew on me a little by the end. However, there were several times that I simply couldn't figure out what the hell just happened. Sorry, but does the blob of red splashed across the black background mean that he just fell off a cliff? Did he hit someone? Did the Devil go down to Georgia? Or maybe Mignola accidentally spilled his ink, and decided it looked cool?
I just...ehhhh?
Acceptable answers:
1) I'm not very smart.
2) I'm not artsy-fartsy enough to get what the author meant.
3) The art was weird and ambiguous at times.
As far as the story?
Hellboy is in Hell, due to (I'm just spitballing here) some major fight with a bad guy, that most likely ended in his death.
So now he's just kinda wandering around. Of course, there seems to be no end to the demony things that want to kill him, and he's forced to fight for his life. Which is odd, since he's, um, dead.
Once he kills everyone he needs to kill, there are also a few stories about some of the people he meets in Hell.
I wasn't riveted, but this was ok.
Recommended for Hardcore Hellboy fans.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital arc.
Also reviewed for Addicted2Heroines
April 11, 2014
The short version of why Hellboy’s in hell is that at the end of the last Hellboy book, The Storm and The Fury, he slew the dragon and saved England but died when he was caught off guard and the ghost of the witch Nimue plucked out his heart. This is what happened next…
Hellboy in Hell isn’t just the title of the book but a pretty accurate summary of what happens in the book. There isn’t a plot, it’s just Hellboy wandering around hell looking at stuff with a variety of different Virgils explaining what he’s looking at. This is weirdly the book’s strength and weakness because this is the first Hellboy book Mike Mignola’s both written and drawn in years, and his art has only improved with age. So while Hellboy meanders, the creatures and backgrounds he comes across are visually incredible.
Here hell isn’t the fire and brimstone Christian stereotype but in Mignola’s hands becomes an ethereal, perpetually twilit land of eerie shadows against Victorian buildings. The effect is quietly chilling as wonderfully ancient structures give an old world atmosphere and provides a gorgeous backdrop to the flying demons and Lovecraftian monsters that float around. Pandemonium sits in the midst of the muted yet ominous Lake of Fire, a looming collection of ancient Roman-esque architectural buildings surrounded by creepy talking statues housing the seat of hell’s power, the Citadel of the Fly, and the Devil himself. If nothing else, Hellboy in Hell is worth picking up for Mignola’s first-rate art.
But when it comes to story, things get a bit messy. Ideas like Hellboy going to the place where he’s been banishing monsters for decades, like a cop sent to prison and meeting all the criminals he’s put away, is touched on for a spell before being shuffled away and forgotten. Literary allusions pepper the script from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol being parodied, to lines from Shakespeare and Milton being quoted, all of which give the impression of a deep, complex read when it really isn’t. Hellboy doesn’t want the throne of hell so Mignola throws in a line or two from Macbeth which says something similar – kinda obvious.
The more successful elements of the narrative are things that have been explored in previous Hellboy books – Hellboy’s purpose for existing and his right hand of doom, which mark him out to be the heir to the throne of hell. Mignola re-treads some of this material but adds more detail behind Hellboy’s birth mother and introduces his demonic half-brothers who want Hellboy’s power even if he doesn’t. What happens when Hellboy encounters Satan himself is the most interesting part of the book as it makes the reader wonder what happens to hell afterwards but Mignola doesn’t take that thread any further (maybe to explore in later issues?).
I appreciate Mignola’s ambitious vision where he’s literally creating his own idea of hell utilising numerous artistic sources throughout human history while making it distinctly his, and Hellboy’s, own, but I kept waiting for Hellboy to try to figure out a way to come back to Earth. He seemed more than happy to simply be just in hell – is this it? Is Hellboy going to be in hell, walking about while remaining nonplussed, forever? The final story in the book is a standalone piece where Hellboy’s having a smoke when a lost spirit asks him for help and they go on a little adventure. It seems indicative of Mignola’s approach to Hellboy’s new situation – that he’s content to keep Hellboy in hell for the time being and be in no particular hurry to return him to Earth, or point him in any narrative direction at all.
The Descent isn’t the best Hellboy book if you’re looking for a more driven narrative but it’s fine for what it does which is establish and explore the fascinating new setting for Hellboy – though I’m assuming this is done because Hellboy’s staying in hell for a while; if not, then this is a lot of pretty filler. I would like to feel that there was a point to all of this but the ambling way Mignola writes these days shows that urgency isn’t something he’s overly concerned with and that he prefers to show interesting things rather than tell interesting stories – a quality that doesn’t make for amazing comics.
The art really is gorgeous though and it isn’t hard to see why the book looks amazing when the art team is Mignola, Dave Stewart on colours and Clem Robins lettering, and parts of the book are entertaining to read but the overall impression of Hellboy in Hell Vol 1 is of a fragmentary and unsatisfactory story. Which is a shame because after Batman and Superman, Hellboy’s my favourite superhero and I really wanted Hellboy in Hell to be the masterpiece I hoped it would be but it turned out to be an underwhelming next chapter in the Hellboy saga.
Hellboy in Hell isn’t just the title of the book but a pretty accurate summary of what happens in the book. There isn’t a plot, it’s just Hellboy wandering around hell looking at stuff with a variety of different Virgils explaining what he’s looking at. This is weirdly the book’s strength and weakness because this is the first Hellboy book Mike Mignola’s both written and drawn in years, and his art has only improved with age. So while Hellboy meanders, the creatures and backgrounds he comes across are visually incredible.
Here hell isn’t the fire and brimstone Christian stereotype but in Mignola’s hands becomes an ethereal, perpetually twilit land of eerie shadows against Victorian buildings. The effect is quietly chilling as wonderfully ancient structures give an old world atmosphere and provides a gorgeous backdrop to the flying demons and Lovecraftian monsters that float around. Pandemonium sits in the midst of the muted yet ominous Lake of Fire, a looming collection of ancient Roman-esque architectural buildings surrounded by creepy talking statues housing the seat of hell’s power, the Citadel of the Fly, and the Devil himself. If nothing else, Hellboy in Hell is worth picking up for Mignola’s first-rate art.
But when it comes to story, things get a bit messy. Ideas like Hellboy going to the place where he’s been banishing monsters for decades, like a cop sent to prison and meeting all the criminals he’s put away, is touched on for a spell before being shuffled away and forgotten. Literary allusions pepper the script from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol being parodied, to lines from Shakespeare and Milton being quoted, all of which give the impression of a deep, complex read when it really isn’t. Hellboy doesn’t want the throne of hell so Mignola throws in a line or two from Macbeth which says something similar – kinda obvious.
The more successful elements of the narrative are things that have been explored in previous Hellboy books – Hellboy’s purpose for existing and his right hand of doom, which mark him out to be the heir to the throne of hell. Mignola re-treads some of this material but adds more detail behind Hellboy’s birth mother and introduces his demonic half-brothers who want Hellboy’s power even if he doesn’t. What happens when Hellboy encounters Satan himself is the most interesting part of the book as it makes the reader wonder what happens to hell afterwards but Mignola doesn’t take that thread any further (maybe to explore in later issues?).
I appreciate Mignola’s ambitious vision where he’s literally creating his own idea of hell utilising numerous artistic sources throughout human history while making it distinctly his, and Hellboy’s, own, but I kept waiting for Hellboy to try to figure out a way to come back to Earth. He seemed more than happy to simply be just in hell – is this it? Is Hellboy going to be in hell, walking about while remaining nonplussed, forever? The final story in the book is a standalone piece where Hellboy’s having a smoke when a lost spirit asks him for help and they go on a little adventure. It seems indicative of Mignola’s approach to Hellboy’s new situation – that he’s content to keep Hellboy in hell for the time being and be in no particular hurry to return him to Earth, or point him in any narrative direction at all.
The Descent isn’t the best Hellboy book if you’re looking for a more driven narrative but it’s fine for what it does which is establish and explore the fascinating new setting for Hellboy – though I’m assuming this is done because Hellboy’s staying in hell for a while; if not, then this is a lot of pretty filler. I would like to feel that there was a point to all of this but the ambling way Mignola writes these days shows that urgency isn’t something he’s overly concerned with and that he prefers to show interesting things rather than tell interesting stories – a quality that doesn’t make for amazing comics.
The art really is gorgeous though and it isn’t hard to see why the book looks amazing when the art team is Mignola, Dave Stewart on colours and Clem Robins lettering, and parts of the book are entertaining to read but the overall impression of Hellboy in Hell Vol 1 is of a fragmentary and unsatisfactory story. Which is a shame because after Batman and Superman, Hellboy’s my favourite superhero and I really wanted Hellboy in Hell to be the masterpiece I hoped it would be but it turned out to be an underwhelming next chapter in the Hellboy saga.
November 26, 2015
Hellboy in Hell is the proof that Mike Mignola’s imagination is inexhaustible! After 20 years he still manages to amaze us!
October 18, 2017
Ah, Hellboy in Hell... It's my third time reading this particular volume, and I still can't decide if I like it or not. On the one hand, it's pretty faithful to the story that came before, and it has a very unique atmosphere of quiet sadness and emptiness that is fitting for, well, Hellboy being in hell. It's also a joy to see Mike Mignola drawing a Hellboy comic again. On the other hand, It's not a particularly gripping read, because most of this volume is just Hellboy confronting various characters and repeating stuff we already know. He does get to fight some demons though, and the final issue in particular feels like a good old Hellboy story that we know and love. Still, The Descent is probably my least favourite volume of the series, which is a shame, because its unique setting combined with such a rich history of the character could have made for a much better book than this.
First read: November 2, 2015
Rating: ★★★★・
Second read: June 3, 2016
Rating: ★★★・・
Third read: October 18, 2017
Rating: ★★★・・
First read: November 2, 2015
Rating: ★★★★・
Second read: June 3, 2016
Rating: ★★★・・
Third read: October 18, 2017
Rating: ★★★・・
July 31, 2014
I loved this book as I was reading it. In some ways, it reminds me of the best of Hellboy. The dreamlike narrative, the eerie and half-glimpsed settings, the use of supernatural elements and way Mignola weaves in folklore and literature, all things that I'm always happy to see in Hellboy. And the art is as good as I've ever seen Mignola's. His style doesn't work for everything, but it's perfect for something like Hellboy.
But after the fact, I realized that I didn't really remember much of what happened here. That might be because not much actually did happen. Much of the book is Hellboy meandering through hell, without being terrible concerned that he's, you know, in hell. Maybe that's going to be the new status quo. Hellboy's dead and wandering through hell, deal with it. I was just hoping for more, you know? Not that it'll stop me from reading the next volume when it comes out, of course.
But after the fact, I realized that I didn't really remember much of what happened here. That might be because not much actually did happen. Much of the book is Hellboy meandering through hell, without being terrible concerned that he's, you know, in hell. Maybe that's going to be the new status quo. Hellboy's dead and wandering through hell, deal with it. I was just hoping for more, you know? Not that it'll stop me from reading the next volume when it comes out, of course.
February 15, 2019
This is something of an epilogue for Hellboy. He's saved the world, yet again, dying for it actually. Now he's in hell wandering around wondering where everyone's at. It seems hell's command structure has pretty much fell apart and most have died. The series gets very somber and introspective and more than a little odd from other depictions of hell. The one excellent thing is Mignola returns on art for the first time in years.
August 8, 2014
3.5, really; I might re-read and rate higher after I get a chance to experience the Hellboy series in full, as this was the first work of Mignola's I've ever read, and I enjoyed it, but feel that a familiarity with the narrative in its entirety might be needed to fully appreciate it.
July 17, 2014
Good stuff! I'm always happy to read Hellboy. That said, this book exemplifies some things about serial fiction that I'm going to rant about for a bit. It's nothing against this book in particular, so please don't take home the impression that I hate it, because I don't. So this book is actually something like the 6th or so in the series. But the only way one can possibly know that is if one consults a list of available Hellboy books. Heck, there's even a "1" on the spine, by which I take to mean that there will be at least one more volume titled "Hellboy In Hell", just with a different subtitle. Even Goodreads, which is usually pretty good about listing things in series order, thinks this is Volume 1. But, as one reads it, it quickly becomes apparent that there have been other books before, which is something of a problem because there are characters who show up and events referred to that the reader is clearly expected to recognize, but, in my case, didn't because I haven't read all of the previous volumes. So the general impression of this story, for me, was pretty random. And, dammit, Hellboy is better than that. I can sympathize with not wanting to scare away potential buyers by putting "Volume VI" or whatever on the cover. "Better not buy that one until I buy and read the previous five," they'll say, and buy some other book instead. But, if previous books are necessary for full comprehension of the story, then there must be some way of alerting people so that they know to, you know, READ them. I like the idea of Hellboy and Mike Mignola is a fantastic artist, but I have trouble reading them because, as I said, it's hard to know which one to read first. If one has been following the comics and buying each graphic novel as it comes out, that's great, but what about us latecomers, especially if we're browsing the shelves of a library that has a few random volumes of the series as opposed to a well-stocked comics shop or bookstore that has the whole series? Some digging on the internet is clearly in order ... It's not an insurmountable problem, sure, but it really shouldn't be a problem at all. It's not just Hellboy that does this, but quite a number of series, both graphic novels and prose. If you're going to write a series, especially one with strong continuity between the books, it's only common courtesy to make the reader aware of that fact.
December 1, 2018
While I generally felt this to be an overall enjoyable read, criticisms concerning a lack of coherency, well-spoken of by another reviewer, are legit. With Hellboy in his titular Hell, a vast panorama of the hallucinatory and illusory spool forth all across this subterranean plane. With something of a dark Beatrice to guide him along (I’ll let that surprise you) all depths of this HellScape are plumbed for dramatic effect.
Of course, fists fly, all sorts of the demonic and occultic show up, and a real healthy application of the mind-warping variety will crash against your cranium. While ultimately enjoyable (especially nice to see Mignola back in the illustrating seat) it bears repeating that after the dust settles (literally here) I’m still not sure if anything made any sense. And I’m sure you’ll feel the same way after you finish this first offering in the HellBoy in Hell series.
Of course, fists fly, all sorts of the demonic and occultic show up, and a real healthy application of the mind-warping variety will crash against your cranium. While ultimately enjoyable (especially nice to see Mignola back in the illustrating seat) it bears repeating that after the dust settles (literally here) I’m still not sure if anything made any sense. And I’m sure you’ll feel the same way after you finish this first offering in the HellBoy in Hell series.
September 2, 2018
This is pretty cool. It's like a slo-mo Hellboy with fewer colors. Which sounds awful, but I guess you've gotta be there. "There" being hell.
It seems like this whole thing is a good excuse to tell a bunch of little creepy stories, and I'm into it.
It seems like this whole thing is a good excuse to tell a bunch of little creepy stories, and I'm into it.
February 17, 2022
"It leaves a mark, doesn't it?"
April 16, 2014
Hellboy is actually in hell for this story, which had Hellboy creator Mike Mignola return to write and illustrate, and it serves as an odd sort of origin/family tale for our anti-hero. But the focus of this comic was more on mood than plot. It had an ever-present muted macabre feeling to it, aided by the stunningly beautifully minimalist art and equally beautiful coloring work, a lot of classic literary illusions -- from Shakespeare to Milton to Dickens, and only an ethereal whisper-thin thread of a plot. This is not the action-packed, quick-with-a-joke Hellboy from the Guillermo del Toro movies, but this comic is no worse off for it. It also has one of the creepiest realizations of hell I've ever seen. Highly recommend.
Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.
Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.
January 21, 2016
This latest collection in Mignola's ongoing HELLBOY saga is essentially a tour of Hell by way of Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL. There's not a lot of drama to be witnessed, it's more spectacle than story in these five issues, but Hellboy is such a great character and Mignola's concept of Hell as a place is so compelling that I kept turning the pages with mounting interest. The art is some of Mignola's most evocative, especially in Hell's capitol city of Pandemonium, and each panel succeeds in offering something spooky or beautifully rendered (or both). I look forward to more adventures of Hellboy while he's in Hell, although I hope future issues will be less episodic and offer stronger, more definitive storylines.
November 27, 2016
Δε διαβάζεις Hellboy για την ιστορία και ευτυχώς, γιατί έχω χάσει κάτι τόμους (6 για να είμαστε ακριβείς) στο ενδιάμεσο και δεν είχα ιδέα τί γινόταν σε μεγάλο μέρος του GN.
ΟΜΩΣ έχεις τον Mignola στο σχέδιο, οπότε δε μπορείς να μην εντυπωσιαστείς από τα layouts και τα χρώματα και την αστείρευτη φαντασία του. Η κόλαση που αποδίδει (σε χρώμα μαύρο, κόκκινο και πολλές αποχρώσεις του γκρίζου) είναι ένα μέρος ξένο, εχθρικό, τρομαχτικό και ταιράζει τέλεια με το τι θέλει να αποδόσει. Δεν έχει βέβαια την φρενήρη αίσθηση δράσης που υπήρχε στα πρώτα Hellboy αλλά και η ίδια η ιστορία δεν θέλει να αποδόσει κάτι τέτοιο.
Δεν ενθουσιάστηκα, με έκανε όμως να θέλω να γυρίσω και να διαβάσω τους έξι τόμους που είχα προσπεράσει...
ΟΜΩΣ έχεις τον Mignola στο σχέδιο, οπότε δε μπορείς να μην εντυπωσιαστείς από τα layouts και τα χρώματα και την αστείρευτη φαντασία του. Η κόλαση που αποδίδει (σε χρώμα μαύρο, κόκκινο και πολλές αποχρώσεις του γκρίζου) είναι ένα μέρος ξένο, εχθρικό, τρομαχτικό και ταιράζει τέλεια με το τι θέλει να αποδόσει. Δεν έχει βέβαια την φρενήρη αίσθηση δράσης που υπήρχε στα πρώτα Hellboy αλλά και η ίδια η ιστορία δεν θέλει να αποδόσει κάτι τέτοιο.
Δεν ενθουσιάστηκα, με έκανε όμως να θέλω να γυρίσω και να διαβάσω τους έξι τόμους που είχα προσπεράσει...
January 22, 2015
Hellboy goes to Hell, and nothing much happens! Mignola throws in lots of allusions to Milton, Shakespeare & Dickens as Hellboy just wanders around for five ponderous issues. Some nice nods to his past such as how he got his giant hand, but there just weren't any moments that grabbed me. As always, Mignola's art is amazing, but I found the story, or what little there is of one, quite uninteresting.
August 2, 2016
Liked it, but before this I'd mostly run across the short story collections where continuity wasn't that important. I think I need to go back to the first Hellboy series, then come back to this and I might like it more.
I'm not a huge fan of the art style, but it's decent.
I'm not a huge fan of the art style, but it's decent.
July 7, 2016
Actual rating: 3.75
I'm a little let down by this tbqh. Something just felt off, but maybe that's the point? I hope Vol 2 comes out soon...
I'm a little let down by this tbqh. Something just felt off, but maybe that's the point? I hope Vol 2 comes out soon...
July 14, 2020
За артом та сюжетом це - бомба. Знайшлось місце і для замовчування відповідей на давні загадки, і для несподіваної появи кількох персонажів, що здавалися лише побічними для цього світу.
Використання символів та алюзії тепер скрізь. Це почалося ще зі "Бурі та люті", але ж у пеклі складно втриматися та не розійтися наповну. І головне - все так неквапливо, бо куди вже Червоному поспішати...
Використання символів та алюзії тепер скрізь. Це почалося ще зі "Бурі та люті", але ж у пеклі складно втриматися та не розійтися наповну. І головне - все так неквапливо, бо куди вже Червоному поспішати...
November 27, 2022
Mike Mignola returns to draw in this peculiar Hellboy tale that is weird and uncanny by miles, but still fits the Hellboy mythos.
August 23, 2017
A wonderful weird ride of a book that hearkens back to Mignola tales of old both narratively and visually.
Wow I've not read something like this from Mignola for a while, sure there's been Hellboy stories but it's been a long time since we've had Mignola illustrated stories that read and felt like this.
World: There is nothing much more I can say about Mignola's art, the colors the framing the lines are stunning and all his own, and man does this book look like his stuff. It's amazing. The world building here is also magnificent, it's not only in the narrative but also in the visuals, just read the book and you'll know what I mean. The world building is a tour de force when you look at what Mignola has created and what he sees Hell as. There is so much influence from Milton and also Dickens that this world feels twisted and familar, stunning.
Story: Structurally it's very Mignola, where there are bits and pieces of narrative tissue that tie the tale together but as a whole it's very free flowing and jumpy much like a dream. This is the type of Mignola story that I enjoy the supernatural the odd and the sometimes disorienting feeling of those types of stories, that's what you will get here. I don't want to ruin anything as there are some huge spoilers and also pieces that are tied to character and world building that are found in the narrative, so just enjoy the ride.
Characters: Hellboy is pretty much fully fleshed out as a character, but there are still some things that Mignola was able to pull out of this to make it great. Little bits and pieces of his origins and his journey and the coming pieces are in place here and it's great to see HB react to it. There is another character here that's making his appearance after a long absence and the way he is used is wonderful and ties into the greater Mignolaverse wonderfully. Great!
I can't really say anything without spoiling the book, so here's what I can say. This book is about feeling, it's not about the story, it's not about the narrative, it's about the feeling it creates for HB as he journeys into hell, and that feeling gave me the tingles.
Onward to the next book!
Wow I've not read something like this from Mignola for a while, sure there's been Hellboy stories but it's been a long time since we've had Mignola illustrated stories that read and felt like this.
World: There is nothing much more I can say about Mignola's art, the colors the framing the lines are stunning and all his own, and man does this book look like his stuff. It's amazing. The world building here is also magnificent, it's not only in the narrative but also in the visuals, just read the book and you'll know what I mean. The world building is a tour de force when you look at what Mignola has created and what he sees Hell as. There is so much influence from Milton and also Dickens that this world feels twisted and familar, stunning.
Story: Structurally it's very Mignola, where there are bits and pieces of narrative tissue that tie the tale together but as a whole it's very free flowing and jumpy much like a dream. This is the type of Mignola story that I enjoy the supernatural the odd and the sometimes disorienting feeling of those types of stories, that's what you will get here. I don't want to ruin anything as there are some huge spoilers and also pieces that are tied to character and world building that are found in the narrative, so just enjoy the ride.
Characters: Hellboy is pretty much fully fleshed out as a character, but there are still some things that Mignola was able to pull out of this to make it great. Little bits and pieces of his origins and his journey and the coming pieces are in place here and it's great to see HB react to it. There is another character here that's making his appearance after a long absence and the way he is used is wonderful and ties into the greater Mignolaverse wonderfully. Great!
I can't really say anything without spoiling the book, so here's what I can say. This book is about feeling, it's not about the story, it's not about the narrative, it's about the feeling it creates for HB as he journeys into hell, and that feeling gave me the tingles.
Onward to the next book!
May 3, 2016
Hellboy has always been a comic concerned with rejection and reduction. Introduced as a man fated to do terrible things, Hellboy has shed his inevitable future piece by piece, pushing aside everything the plot wants him to do, unless he has no choice. (And often he finds a choice anyway.) At the same time, Mignola's art has become more and more pared down, his lines and marks weightier, his use of colour more stark. Now Hellboy is dead, ragged and diminished, and wanders around a gloomy, silent and surreal Hell, only to find he's still being nudged into action by friends and family - the two are very different - with an eye on destiny. He performs perhaps his most consequential action of the whole twenty-year series - except he can't remember it, and it might not have been him anyhow.
As you might guess from this description, Hellboy In Hell is not likely to satisfy in terms of conventional plot and action. The character has been writing himself out of his central position for most of his published life, and now he approaches its end in idiosyncratic style. Instead, Hellboy In Hell is a miracle of atmosphere, a comic which feels like some apocalyptic, ancient but forgotten set of woodcuts. Its storytelling has been stripped back to its bones, and every considered panel feels worth lingering on. When things to happen they happen explosively and ruthlessly, but Mignolaverse comics have always been attentive to setting and detail, and it's that side Mignola gives full rein in Hellboy In Hell. His lead has never been more passive, but this tour of a tumbledown Victorian afterlife still feels like the ultimate Hellboy comic, in more than a literal sense.
As you might guess from this description, Hellboy In Hell is not likely to satisfy in terms of conventional plot and action. The character has been writing himself out of his central position for most of his published life, and now he approaches its end in idiosyncratic style. Instead, Hellboy In Hell is a miracle of atmosphere, a comic which feels like some apocalyptic, ancient but forgotten set of woodcuts. Its storytelling has been stripped back to its bones, and every considered panel feels worth lingering on. When things to happen they happen explosively and ruthlessly, but Mignolaverse comics have always been attentive to setting and detail, and it's that side Mignola gives full rein in Hellboy In Hell. His lead has never been more passive, but this tour of a tumbledown Victorian afterlife still feels like the ultimate Hellboy comic, in more than a literal sense.
April 26, 2014
This volume is a pretty good place to jump into 'Hellboy,' seeing as it begins right after his death.
I haven't really read any of these in years and years, but this really reminded me why I liked them so much. The story is moody and interesting, with plenty of references to history, mythology and literature (a la 'Sandman'). The graphics are just beautiful - a wonderful sense of composition and the dark color scheme is rich and gorgeous.
Hellboy's matter-of-fact, bad-ass attitude when faced with high drama is played well.
My one complaint is one I have with most comics: I want more content! More story... it's over too fast. Still, I really enjoyed this - would recommend.
I haven't really read any of these in years and years, but this really reminded me why I liked them so much. The story is moody and interesting, with plenty of references to history, mythology and literature (a la 'Sandman'). The graphics are just beautiful - a wonderful sense of composition and the dark color scheme is rich and gorgeous.
Hellboy's matter-of-fact, bad-ass attitude when faced with high drama is played well.
My one complaint is one I have with most comics: I want more content! More story... it's over too fast. Still, I really enjoyed this - would recommend.
June 2, 2014
Of course, I'd already read all five issues on Dark Horse Digital, but actually holding the first Hellboy trade written and drawn entirely by Mike Mignola (with phenomenal coloring by Dave Stewart, as always) in almost a decade was a whole other feeling. Mignola is my favorite creator, and this is him working at the top of his game, both artistically and as a storyteller. It really doesn't get any better than this!
October 22, 2016
HELLBOY RETROSPECTIVE 2016
In volume 12 Hellboy triumphed at the cost of his own life. Now he is dead and in Hell, navigating it with the help of what's left of Sir Edward Gray and encountering old enemies and his extended family. Unsurprisingly, he does not appear to be enjoying himself. Dark and fascinating as this is, I really didn't understand why Mike Mignola killed his wonderful creation just wander Hell, or at least I didn't until I read Hellboy in Hell Volume 2...
In volume 12 Hellboy triumphed at the cost of his own life. Now he is dead and in Hell, navigating it with the help of what's left of Sir Edward Gray and encountering old enemies and his extended family. Unsurprisingly, he does not appear to be enjoying himself. Dark and fascinating as this is, I really didn't understand why Mike Mignola killed his wonderful creation just wander Hell, or at least I didn't until I read Hellboy in Hell Volume 2...
December 20, 2016
Mignola writing, Yes!
Mignola also ART, Sqweeeeeeeeee!
That is the sound of sheer (geek) delight!
Or is it the sound of bat-winged demons descending on our tasty souls?
I read this awhile ago, ... guess I did not review it, but when I got vol 2, I gave this one a re-read,
...
still love it!
.
Mignola also ART, Sqweeeeeeeeee!
That is the sound of sheer (geek) delight!
Or is it the sound of bat-winged demons descending on our tasty souls?
I read this awhile ago, ... guess I did not review it, but when I got vol 2, I gave this one a re-read,
...
still love it!
.
December 29, 2018
Seriously?
I keep hearing how Mike Mignola's Hellboy is the bee's knees, but whenever I read it, I come away with the impression that it's more like the bee's armpits. I guess given a bee's anatomy it's easy to get those two confused. But when I hear that a comic is "one of the best of all time," I expect more than... this.
I read the previous stories, and some of them grabbed me, some of them didn't, but the overall arch left me feeling empty. They seemed at turns overblown, at turns flat, at turns somewhat moving. The idea that Hellboy is the beast of the apocalypse and his struggles with that role and his rejection of that role are kind of interesting at times, but honestly? He tends to just walk around saying "jeez" and dourly quipping. Not exactly a paragon of depth and personality.
And so he finally gets himself killed and sent to hell. And we get what might be the least interesting story yet.
He is in hell, so does that mean anything? Apparently it means... he is basically the same as he was on earth. Same powers, same weaknesses, same everything. The world itself... looks like a dour and gothic old England. So hell basically looks like... Mignola's version of earth again. Oh, boy. (I guess there are a bunch of giant bugs, but they don't stick around or really do anything.)
Satan shows up, but he is so weak and pointless that Hellboy apparently just kills him without even meaning to, and doesn't even remember doing it, and that all happens off screen for some reason. Apparently anyone can just waltz right up behind Satan and slip a blade across the devil's neck, and, zoop, death and pandemonium results (pardon the pun). But again, apparently Hellboy didn't even MEAN to do this. The whole event is drained of all narrative interest and of all character agency and it's just so BORING.
The one part of the story that COULD have been interesting is when Hellboy meets his half-brothers who are pretty ticked off at their half-human sibling and want to steal his great big funny fake hand because that will let them inherit the throne of hell.
So we hear their grievances very briefly, we hear that Hellboy's pa got himself frozen in a big rock forever in order to bless Hellboy with that there fake hand, and we have our one big fight of the book. But since these characters were JUST introduced, it's not exactly a fight fraught with emotional resonance. We as the readers don't exactly CARE about these lame-butt demons who have crawled forth and are waxing on about how HB has failed them. The fight itself is rendered in such a way that it's hard to tell what is going on or who is winning or even really understand where each of the characters are in physical relation to each other, and the demons themselves are drawn in such a murky fashion I had trouble figuring out which was which.
So the fight really has very little emotional heft. It has even less excitement from the execution of the fight. So the fact that the fight just ENDS with a completely random giant monster appearing from nowhere and eating HB's brothers and his uncle or... whoever that was... well, it all basically has no impact. Of COURSE it doesn't! Characters we knew next to nothing show up and complain for a little while, then have a largely incomprehensible fight only to just die, not out of anything HB did, but because a previously unmentioned giant monster shows up? No, let me correct myself. The uncle killed one of the two brothers before the leviathan makes his appearance because that brother--the one who actually stood more of a chance of actually defeating HB--said something insulting towards HB's dad. So then the other bro, who is depicted as a total wuss, is supposed to take out HB.
AS IF that will ever happen.
SO we basically have NO NARRATIVE TENSION at all. Hellboy is in NO DANGER whatsoever from these characters that we DON'T CARE ABOUT AT ALL, and then those incredibly lame demons are just eaten by the NEVER PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED giant leviathan monster, which COMPLETELY IGNORES HB and adds nothing to the story. The demons could have just died from an aneurysm or a sudden case of explosive diarrhea or randomly decided to turn to a life as dancing mimes on the outskirts of heaven for as much meaning that would have resulted.
Why did they even show up? HB doesn't care. He just wants to go wander off and mope and drink again, but he was always that way. No character progression here, folks.
I understand Mike Mignola is a legend in the comics industry, and I bear him no ill-will. I just don't think his comics are very interesting. To me, reading some of the reviews about how wonderful this book is supposed to be, it feels more like a case of celebrity worship, as if every comic that drips from Mignola's pen is automatically fantastic.
It's not. And the end story was freaking boring, too. A lost soul asks HB for help. That soul had sold itself to a demon for a magic whip and now it was looking for a way out of the deal. HB and the soul wander around and stumble on the magical old crone who can help them, and by coincidence happen to overhear exactly what they need to in order to save the soul from his (probably deserved) destruction. I mean, again, I don't know who this character is. HB doesn't add anything to the story--he basically adds nothing to the story and just... wanders through it. It would have actually been... a better story without him, because he doesn't actually DO anything.
Gosh. This was incredibly disappointing stuff.
I keep hearing how Mike Mignola's Hellboy is the bee's knees, but whenever I read it, I come away with the impression that it's more like the bee's armpits. I guess given a bee's anatomy it's easy to get those two confused. But when I hear that a comic is "one of the best of all time," I expect more than... this.
I read the previous stories, and some of them grabbed me, some of them didn't, but the overall arch left me feeling empty. They seemed at turns overblown, at turns flat, at turns somewhat moving. The idea that Hellboy is the beast of the apocalypse and his struggles with that role and his rejection of that role are kind of interesting at times, but honestly? He tends to just walk around saying "jeez" and dourly quipping. Not exactly a paragon of depth and personality.
And so he finally gets himself killed and sent to hell. And we get what might be the least interesting story yet.
He is in hell, so does that mean anything? Apparently it means... he is basically the same as he was on earth. Same powers, same weaknesses, same everything. The world itself... looks like a dour and gothic old England. So hell basically looks like... Mignola's version of earth again. Oh, boy. (I guess there are a bunch of giant bugs, but they don't stick around or really do anything.)
Satan shows up, but he is so weak and pointless that Hellboy apparently just kills him without even meaning to, and doesn't even remember doing it, and that all happens off screen for some reason. Apparently anyone can just waltz right up behind Satan and slip a blade across the devil's neck, and, zoop, death and pandemonium results (pardon the pun). But again, apparently Hellboy didn't even MEAN to do this. The whole event is drained of all narrative interest and of all character agency and it's just so BORING.
The one part of the story that COULD have been interesting is when Hellboy meets his half-brothers who are pretty ticked off at their half-human sibling and want to steal his great big funny fake hand because that will let them inherit the throne of hell.
So we hear their grievances very briefly, we hear that Hellboy's pa got himself frozen in a big rock forever in order to bless Hellboy with that there fake hand, and we have our one big fight of the book. But since these characters were JUST introduced, it's not exactly a fight fraught with emotional resonance. We as the readers don't exactly CARE about these lame-butt demons who have crawled forth and are waxing on about how HB has failed them. The fight itself is rendered in such a way that it's hard to tell what is going on or who is winning or even really understand where each of the characters are in physical relation to each other, and the demons themselves are drawn in such a murky fashion I had trouble figuring out which was which.
So the fight really has very little emotional heft. It has even less excitement from the execution of the fight. So the fact that the fight just ENDS with a completely random giant monster appearing from nowhere and eating HB's brothers and his uncle or... whoever that was... well, it all basically has no impact. Of COURSE it doesn't! Characters we knew next to nothing show up and complain for a little while, then have a largely incomprehensible fight only to just die, not out of anything HB did, but because a previously unmentioned giant monster shows up? No, let me correct myself. The uncle killed one of the two brothers before the leviathan makes his appearance because that brother--the one who actually stood more of a chance of actually defeating HB--said something insulting towards HB's dad. So then the other bro, who is depicted as a total wuss, is supposed to take out HB.
AS IF that will ever happen.
SO we basically have NO NARRATIVE TENSION at all. Hellboy is in NO DANGER whatsoever from these characters that we DON'T CARE ABOUT AT ALL, and then those incredibly lame demons are just eaten by the NEVER PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED giant leviathan monster, which COMPLETELY IGNORES HB and adds nothing to the story. The demons could have just died from an aneurysm or a sudden case of explosive diarrhea or randomly decided to turn to a life as dancing mimes on the outskirts of heaven for as much meaning that would have resulted.
Why did they even show up? HB doesn't care. He just wants to go wander off and mope and drink again, but he was always that way. No character progression here, folks.
I understand Mike Mignola is a legend in the comics industry, and I bear him no ill-will. I just don't think his comics are very interesting. To me, reading some of the reviews about how wonderful this book is supposed to be, it feels more like a case of celebrity worship, as if every comic that drips from Mignola's pen is automatically fantastic.
It's not. And the end story was freaking boring, too. A lost soul asks HB for help. That soul had sold itself to a demon for a magic whip and now it was looking for a way out of the deal. HB and the soul wander around and stumble on the magical old crone who can help them, and by coincidence happen to overhear exactly what they need to in order to save the soul from his (probably deserved) destruction. I mean, again, I don't know who this character is. HB doesn't add anything to the story--he basically adds nothing to the story and just... wanders through it. It would have actually been... a better story without him, because he doesn't actually DO anything.
Gosh. This was incredibly disappointing stuff.
December 30, 2019
5
Interesting storyline and one of the best since Hellboy has been living in the past since his departure from the universe he helped launch. This storyline keeps things punchy with nostalgic characters and a strong artistic style. I tend to think Mignola regrets losing the Hellboy character for the core ongoing storyline, but I think it was fitting.
Why the 5?
Mignola has crafted another strong entry to the Hellboy universe. This is the first of the two volumes and this is definitely a final goodbye to the character. Loved the art and the character's. Highly recommended.
Interesting storyline and one of the best since Hellboy has been living in the past since his departure from the universe he helped launch. This storyline keeps things punchy with nostalgic characters and a strong artistic style. I tend to think Mignola regrets losing the Hellboy character for the core ongoing storyline, but I think it was fitting.
Why the 5?
Mignola has crafted another strong entry to the Hellboy universe. This is the first of the two volumes and this is definitely a final goodbye to the character. Loved the art and the character's. Highly recommended.
September 18, 2019
I've always had a soft spot for Hellboy. I love comics and movies that deal with the occult and supernatural things. This volume was super creepy and I loved that. There seemed to be less action than I would have expected from a Hellboy comic, but it was still entertaining and kept my attention. I liked the mysterious nature of the story while Hellboy is wandering through hell with his "A Christmas Carol"-esque guide. We get to see a little backstory for Hellboy as well.
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