In issue #2 of Hellboy: Wake the Devil, Hellboy's quest to find the vampire Vladimir Giurescu is interrupted by a battle with the flying metal fist of a bald Nazi supermonster! Danger lurks in every corner of Castle Giurescu, and Hellboy's prepared to meet it head on! Don't miss the next installment of Hellboy's epic struggle against the paranormal monstrosity that is Vladimir Giurescu!
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.
My sarcasm is the very least of your worries, sorcerer. You promised the führer a miracle. Something which would reverse the course of this war and ensure the victory of the Reich.
Herr Hitler does not take kindly to failure.
Having enjoyed the 2024 free-comic-book-day one-shot, I found myself in a Hellboy mood. With Amazon offering me a free trial of Kindle Unlimited, and with the Hellboy single issues being included, it felt rude not to start from the beginning.
Following the two one-shot stories, we now move onto the next story arc, which reunites us with Nazis, project Ragna Rok, the full B.R.P.D. team, and a potential unstoppable evil that will test them to the limits.
Back on the chase of the mad-monk, who is finally revealed as Grigori Rasputin, for those who had not worked it out already, Hellboy is once again in at the deep-end and fighting for his life.
The issue includes a few flashbacks which, although revealing, make the story slightly disjointed. It is not yet clear where this is heading. Overall 4 stars.