Ghost/Hellboy Special

Ghost #8

by Mike Mignola, Various (Illustrator)

The world's greatest paranormal investigator meets the world's greatest paranormal! Word at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense says there's a ghost in Arcadia. A ghost that hunts. A ghost that kills people. Not the kind that pushes you down a flight of stairs or grabs the wheel when you're driving — the kind that cuts you in half with a pair of .45 automatics. If she's a ghost — a "real" ghost — then she's one of a kind, and the Bureau wants her. And if anyone can get her, you can bet it's Hellboy . . .

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Comic Book, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction

117 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1997

About the author

Mike 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.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually started reading Ghost this summer because of the Dark Horse freebies during lockdown.

This is a pretty good crossover. It's standard storyline, but a fun read.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Not bad but does seem to be one of those crossovers that happen "just because". There is a neat backstory at least, and Hellboy is funny as always.

So in a way this was a pretty natural crossover (she's a ghost, Hellboy investigates ghosts) so if you are a fan of either character it's probably worth a read.

[J.M. Giovine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I've never read–or heard– anything related to Dark Horse's 'Ghost' prior to this crossover. Never saw one single image of her, that I knew of, and I'm completely unaware of her comic book history. But, I do know Hellboy, and I just read a crossover that came a couple of years after this one, so why not? After all, this one was actually written by Mignola, leaving the artwork to Scott Benefiel, who I wasn't familiar with, but I was pleased to see how faithful to Mignola's style his artwork was, enough to deliver the same essence to the story, from a visual standpoint. The story starts with Hellboy, and the B.R.P.D. psychic Josephine T. Gant in an abandoned house in Arcadia, where plenty of mysterious crimes have taken place, most of them with supernatural characteristics; there's an entity that is killing criminals in that area of Arcadia, and that entity is non other than Ghost, who's been manipulated by an entity named 'Peace', who told her she needs Hellboy s hand in order to be released from her suffering. As expected, the two characters will clash before joining forces after a common threat.
Mignola's script isn't pretentious, and it's far from being his best, but he dominates the nature behind these characters, and this is a tremendously dark tale, from start to finish. I like how he handles mysticism, and dark themes. I enjoyed the "excuse" used to put Ghost against Hellboy from the start, and the villain in this was interesting, and pretty much in tone with the type of character Mignola often depicts. As for the character of Ghost, there wasn't much about her, aside from her abilities, but essentially, she's a female version of 'The Crow' with a couple of guns, and a provocative outfit that gives her the appearance of a 'Dynamite' femme fatale than a 'Dark Horse' one. But, in general, she was fine, and her chemistry with Hellboy was cool enough to make the interactions work.
In conclusion, I can't say I loved this, sure, it came at Hellboy's peak of popularity, and the characters in it work just fine, but the story still feels by-the-numbers, and not that ambitious, considering we're talking Mike Mignola, but I guess for what it was it does the job just fine. At least I got to be introduced to a new comic book character that I was totally unaware of, and visually, it was serviceable, with some panels looking better than others, but the general style was on point. I would've wanted a much thought-provoking plot, but overall, I had a good time with this.

[Storm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hellboy "A ghost that hunts, a ghost that kills people. That's what we're looking for ... the kind that cuts you in half with a pair of .45 automatics. I've been around a long time, and I've never heard of anything like her."

One thing DC has done very well in general is embracing other writers and asking them to do crossovers with DC characters. For example, Batman and many other Justice League or other DC heroes have met Morpheus, The Sandman. Such tie ins are a smart business decision as they expand BOTH fan-bases. Here, Hellboy meets the ghost, a vengeful spirit with unclear motivations who goes around physically gunning down bad guys. The BPRD wants her, and sends Hellboy to go get her, except they end up finding a pair of long ago murders.

The writing on this is average. For some reason despite the rage and anger I just couldn't find it in me to empathize or sympathize with the Ghost, as her motivations are as murky as the writing. Perhaps they are saving this for a big reveal in her series, but as a stand a lone there are way too many questions to make this Hellboy tie in anything better than average.

[Joseph R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hellboy goes to investigate a situation in Arcadia, a city that has had decades of rampant organized crime. The B.P.R.D.'s interest is in Ghost, a female spirit who wields two .45 handguns and deals out vengeance. The Bureau wants to recruit her or container her. Hellboy finds Ghost at the scene of a forty-five year old double murder that involved occult rites. Ghost is initially uninterested in Hellboy but she hears a voice that promises her freedom from the world of the living (something she desperately wants). She just needs to help the voice get Hellboy's Right Hand of Doom. Not good.

The story follows the classic two-heroes-fight-each-other-before-working-together routine. Mignola's visual style and writing give it some extra interest. The mythology behind the voice is a little random and non-sensical, making the story less compelling. I enjoyed this book but there is not a lot there.

Mildly recommended.

[Etain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually really, really enjoyed that. If you compare it to the mainline hellboy series then it's pretty average but considering it's a random non canonical spin-off focusing on a character I've literally never heard of before then it's amazing. It feels really grounded in the rules of the hellboy universe and ghost is framed as just another weary soul that connects with hellboy but is still forever disconnected from him like Rodger or Johann or Liz or Ben. Hell you could replace ghost with Liz and it would probably be a fan favorite story. Sadly this doesn't really give me any indication of what the ghost series is like but it has interested me enough that I might take a look at her first special.

[Luana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was ready to dismiss it as an early bit of HB-marginalia, but while it might be that, it's also tremendous fun in the classic Hellboy style.

I didn't know anything about Ghost (she comes across as someone thought Marvel's Cloak and Dagger should just be one character), but you get her deal well enough for this two-issue story arc to work.

While Mignola isn't the penciller, he did do a rough sketch and panel layout, which, along with his usual dry humor, makes it feel pretty in line with a "normal" Hellboy book.

"I am he who toppled ur! Razed Nineveh and put her citizens to the sword!"

"Aw ya didn't do any a dat stuff!"

[Rizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a bit better than most of the Hellboy crossover specials, probably because Mignola had a bigger part in its creation than usual. I knew nothing about Ghost going in, but she's certainly more interesting than Painkiller Jane. This is one of the few crossovers that actually feels like it fits perfectly fine into Hellboy canon. In fact, the mythology of Hellboy is used as a central plot device. Good stuff overall. Nothing super complex, but it was fun enough.

[Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hellboy visits Arcadia to investigate a ghost who is killing bad guys. He finds the ghost and she isn’t happy with him. She kidnaps him to another realm where a being is trying to take his fist.

This was an enjoyable little story in the Hellboy universe. The ghost was cool but looked like she was a superhero for Marvel or DC. I liked that she killed bad people and wasn’t wowed by Hellboy.

TW: murder; gun violence; threat of rape;

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark horse horror.

Mike mignola does a good job of horror writing. The ghost is an sacred icon, her theme music should be lady madonna by the beatles. Hellboy is a tough pi, his theme should be Elton John 's Saturday night is alright for fightin. The story seems as if it was scripted from front to back? This would make an ok tv movie.

[Greg Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like I know less about this Ghost character than I did coming in and I don't fully understand the plot at all. Art was a neat change and well done and Hellboy was amazing as always. Not remotely useful as a Hellboy comic, just a company crossover from the 90s.

[Ned Netherwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

Suffers from the typical fault of most "special" crossovers. Two main protagonists. They meet and butt heads. Realize a greater enemy. Part vaguely.

It's never been a satisfying formula for storytelling but it shifts units so it continues

[Alle Bücher müssen gelesen werden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die Story ist sowas von egal, aber ich möchte anmerken das die Protagonistin sehr schön gezeichnete Brüste hat.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I miss Hellboy. I should read the entire run of Hellboy again.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not familiar with Ghost, but it was fun seeing the personalities clash.

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 4 out of 5]

In den 30er Jahren ermordet ein Mafiaboß einen Geisterbeschwörer und mauert in in einer Badewanne ein. Viele Jahre später entdeckt Hellboy diesen, als er Jagd auch einen Rachegeist namens Ghost macht. Die Behörde möchte diesen Geist rekrutieren.
Wirklich viel passiert in diesem Hörspiel nicht. Mit diesem Teil ist eine endgültige Abslösung von der Filmvorlage passiert. Man spürt die amerikanische Comicvorlage im Hintergrund, die agierenden Personen sind großteils andere als in den ersten 5 Teilen. Hellboy steckt eine menge Prügel ein und ist nicht mehr so möchtig wie man es kennt, er hat Gegner gefunden, die es mit ihm aufnehmen können.
Wir sind an der Stelle in der Hörspielserie, in welcher sie ihren Schritt, ihr Tempo finden wird und muss. Die Personen, die in Zukunft das Hörspiel beherrschen werden, werden jetzt wohl Teil für Teil eingeführt und rekrutiert, so dass dieser Teil wunderbat als einzelne CD gehört werden kann ohne dass einem irgendetwas fehlen würde.

[Lady Entropy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ... okay. Mostly. Ghost and Hellboy function much differently, with Ghost being close to cheesy badgirl comics, and Hellboy being far more Cthonic in nature. The issue was that they sorta neutralized each other to the point I don't remember the story even though I only read it a couple of weeks ago.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid team up story.
No re-inventing the wheel, no trying to be relevant or innovative. Just two characters teaming up and fighting a monster.

Fluffy and fun with good interaction between the two heroes.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great. I don't care for the ghost character or her issues.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun but not essential.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty fun!