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Hellboy (Ongoing Order) #2
Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #2
Things continue to get weirder for Hellboy in Seed of Destruction #2. The World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator continues his search for clues to the mystery of the lost arctic expedition and the secret behind the strange vampire frog creature he battled in his first issue. The mystery deepens inside the crumbling walls of an ancient mansion where we meet Hellboy's partners, Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman.
26 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 6, 2015
About the author
Mike Mignola
1,863 books2,607 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 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 2, 2016
Soooo good. Sooo buying the collection.
December 29, 2017
....
Okay, so this one starts picking up. There's some repeated information, but that's understandable even for such a short read. I look forward to finishing the four part series.
Okay, so this one starts picking up. There's some repeated information, but that's understandable even for such a short read. I look forward to finishing the four part series.
December 25, 2017
Hellboy
Story moving on. Seems a bit dated now but a great character, and interesting to see the tie in with the movie.
Story moving on. Seems a bit dated now but a great character, and interesting to see the tie in with the movie.
December 16, 2017
Issue 2, Hellboy and his team visit Mrs. Cavendish who financed the mysterious expedition that Hellboy’s father went on to the Arctic (or was it the Antarctic?). He came home with no memory of what happened and the only survivor. So Hellboy and his companions go to visit her and find out more about the expedition.
In this issue we are introduced to Hellboy’s two companions Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman with very brief backgrounds of them.
As they arrive things seem a bit off. As they are shown their rooms they realize that something isn’t quite right and set about finding out what it is.
In this issue we are introduced to Hellboy’s two companions Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman with very brief backgrounds of them.
As they arrive things seem a bit off. As they are shown their rooms they realize that something isn’t quite right and set about finding out what it is.
May 25, 2026
The pacing in this book is such a breath of fresh air, it only occurred to me as the issue was coming to an end that this is part of an original 4 issue mini and there is 0 time to waste. But with each new character introduction I am loving this more and more, in a world where our characters are surrounded by soulless bureaucrats it’s so legit to see Hellboy as the most human and on touch character just filled to the brim with flaws. I also love how the start of this issue immediately connects to the last cliffhanger with the mysterious old woman and the man in shadows, as Hellboy approaches the Cavendish House (built on haunted ground and literally sinking into the muddy lake around it) and you see the same old woman open the door alongside her butler…you immediately realize that all the pictures they showed at the end of the last issue are of the 9 generations of explorers that make up this family and that something is terribly wrong. Hellboy is joined by two companions from the BPRD, Elizabeth Sherman and the bearded trench coat named Doctor Abraham Sapien. Hellboy already talked to Mrs Cavendish yesterday but hoped to come here in person to get any sliver of information they could as aged all the man he called father went on an expedition with her sons and is now dead. Hellboy doesn’t hold back with the direct questions either, even though Emma doesn’t seem to understand what frogs has to so with anything, lol, or at least she plays it off well. Elizabeth shifts the conversation over to the of the Cavendish family and it’s long history of exploration. Emma talks about their fortune being founded on their ancestors whaling business where they mastered many great ships, but the thirst for travel was never satisfied. Their ancestor Elihu traveled everywhere he could, finding himself in all sorts of strange ports learning strange things where he found a scrap of ancient parchment pointing him towards the Arctic. But after this house was built and before he could depart he died of Typhus, the first in a long line of curses that have held a choke hold over the men in the Cavendish family…and now even her sons are gone and as they have no children the line dies here, as she will eventually die and then the house will be swallowed.
Hellboy is quite sympathetic to their plight, and I love that Emma continually refers to him as “Mr Boy.” It’s a calming title of respect for a woman hiding many secrets. The parchment itself which spurred their expeditions to the Arctic was lost long ago, and at this point the butler returns to inform them their rooms are ready. Emma sees them off as their journey was long, as Hellboy promises to ask more questions tomorrow morning. But as they leave the voice from the shadows whispers back out to Emma that she did well, and finally we see that super recognizable bald head of the priest which performed the ritual to summon Hellboy. Now that his work is completing sooner than planned, he keeps his promise to return her sons.
Elizabeth is placed in a different room from Hellboy and Abraham as Hellboy feels this is the proper time to give us an introduction to Liz. She was born in 1962 and developed pyrotechnic abilities at age 11 which uncontrolled resulted in a fire which leveled a city block and killed 32. Her only family were among the dead and she became a ward of BPRD within the year. Back on Hellboy’s room he is disappointed they haven’t come up with more, but then Abe points out the butler…he resembles the fifth man on the expedition, Sven Olafson, as if they are parading him around in front of them. Hellboy doesn’t intend to guess why, and asks Abe to drop down below into the lake for a more direct approach. Abe couldn’t be happier as he removed his fake beard and coat to reveal his amphibian side. Hellboy proceeds to explain that his name is a bit of a bad joke, as he was discovered by plumbers working in St Trinian’s hostal in Washington, DC when they broke open a sealed door and discovered a forgotten chamber containing Abe in a sealed tube. On the side was a note reading “Icthyo Sapien” and dated April 14, 1865…the same day President Lincoln died…so Abe Sapien, heh. Hellboy mentions that the foundation looked rough and there should be easy areas for Abe to slip through. As he dives from the window he doesn’t even make a sound when he hits the water.
Hellboy then turns around to call Liz as he mentions the info about the butler, something she also immediately picked up on and is now worried about the power they are dealing with when they are this confident…but then she is distracted as a few frogs enter her room. Hellboy freaks out and immediately runs down the hall to break open her door…only to find Liz gone. The butler appears behind Hellboy to ask if there is a problem as Hellboy slams him into the nearby wall. But the butler has no answers and begins to shift in front of Hellboy into one of the giant frog monsters! Hellboy hits him. Hard with the stone hand mysteriously grafted to his arm but is still thrown into the ceiling. When Hellboy registers what he happening and lands on his feet, he lands mad and pounces on the creature knocking it into a nearby courtyard. As it isn’t talking and doesn’t seem to be able to, Hellboy ends it by crashing a statue over its head as Hellboy suddenly begins to realize why Abe may be taking so long, lol. Once again I love the shift of perspective, as without any change in dialogue box format just from the narration and personality alone we know we have shifted to Abe’s perspective. He has found a way into the manor through the foundation but he is having a hard time navigating the thick water filled with death. He swims towards the surface where he seems to find some kind of alter, or at the very least a very large statue as even Abe is worried about what has been happening here.
Hellboy’s next move is to find the lady of the house, except she is now dead sir the same marks on her body as his adoptive father. But then a voice creeps from the darkness as the priest steps forward. Hellboy recognizes the voice and he should as this is the voice which brought gin to this world and now wishes to command him. Hellboy isn’t going to see that happen, but the moment he pulls out his gun the floorboards crack under him as a large set of tentacles with the same suckers which causes numbing as the frog’s tongues completely surround him as drag him below. The voice of the bald priest echos that he knows the destiny of Hellboy and wishes to harness the power he unknowingly holds in his right hand…or to kill Hellboy in the process.
Hellboy is quite sympathetic to their plight, and I love that Emma continually refers to him as “Mr Boy.” It’s a calming title of respect for a woman hiding many secrets. The parchment itself which spurred their expeditions to the Arctic was lost long ago, and at this point the butler returns to inform them their rooms are ready. Emma sees them off as their journey was long, as Hellboy promises to ask more questions tomorrow morning. But as they leave the voice from the shadows whispers back out to Emma that she did well, and finally we see that super recognizable bald head of the priest which performed the ritual to summon Hellboy. Now that his work is completing sooner than planned, he keeps his promise to return her sons.
Elizabeth is placed in a different room from Hellboy and Abraham as Hellboy feels this is the proper time to give us an introduction to Liz. She was born in 1962 and developed pyrotechnic abilities at age 11 which uncontrolled resulted in a fire which leveled a city block and killed 32. Her only family were among the dead and she became a ward of BPRD within the year. Back on Hellboy’s room he is disappointed they haven’t come up with more, but then Abe points out the butler…he resembles the fifth man on the expedition, Sven Olafson, as if they are parading him around in front of them. Hellboy doesn’t intend to guess why, and asks Abe to drop down below into the lake for a more direct approach. Abe couldn’t be happier as he removed his fake beard and coat to reveal his amphibian side. Hellboy proceeds to explain that his name is a bit of a bad joke, as he was discovered by plumbers working in St Trinian’s hostal in Washington, DC when they broke open a sealed door and discovered a forgotten chamber containing Abe in a sealed tube. On the side was a note reading “Icthyo Sapien” and dated April 14, 1865…the same day President Lincoln died…so Abe Sapien, heh. Hellboy mentions that the foundation looked rough and there should be easy areas for Abe to slip through. As he dives from the window he doesn’t even make a sound when he hits the water.
Hellboy then turns around to call Liz as he mentions the info about the butler, something she also immediately picked up on and is now worried about the power they are dealing with when they are this confident…but then she is distracted as a few frogs enter her room. Hellboy freaks out and immediately runs down the hall to break open her door…only to find Liz gone. The butler appears behind Hellboy to ask if there is a problem as Hellboy slams him into the nearby wall. But the butler has no answers and begins to shift in front of Hellboy into one of the giant frog monsters! Hellboy hits him. Hard with the stone hand mysteriously grafted to his arm but is still thrown into the ceiling. When Hellboy registers what he happening and lands on his feet, he lands mad and pounces on the creature knocking it into a nearby courtyard. As it isn’t talking and doesn’t seem to be able to, Hellboy ends it by crashing a statue over its head as Hellboy suddenly begins to realize why Abe may be taking so long, lol. Once again I love the shift of perspective, as without any change in dialogue box format just from the narration and personality alone we know we have shifted to Abe’s perspective. He has found a way into the manor through the foundation but he is having a hard time navigating the thick water filled with death. He swims towards the surface where he seems to find some kind of alter, or at the very least a very large statue as even Abe is worried about what has been happening here.
Hellboy’s next move is to find the lady of the house, except she is now dead sir the same marks on her body as his adoptive father. But then a voice creeps from the darkness as the priest steps forward. Hellboy recognizes the voice and he should as this is the voice which brought gin to this world and now wishes to command him. Hellboy isn’t going to see that happen, but the moment he pulls out his gun the floorboards crack under him as a large set of tentacles with the same suckers which causes numbing as the frog’s tongues completely surround him as drag him below. The voice of the bald priest echos that he knows the destiny of Hellboy and wishes to harness the power he unknowingly holds in his right hand…or to kill Hellboy in the process.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2016
Killer of a last image. THAT is a cliffhanger.
January 4, 2017
nice
again, enough to make me want to keep reading. well do so far. my only complaint would be that it is too short.
again, enough to make me want to keep reading. well do so far. my only complaint would be that it is too short.
March 16, 2017
Keep it coming.
I love these wish it could last longer. I have always loved a well written story. Very different from the movie that it was source material for.
I love these wish it could last longer. I have always loved a well written story. Very different from the movie that it was source material for.
October 21, 2017
Super good
Incredible how much great stuff in such few panels, the Cavendish manor and back story plus the introduction of Liz and Abe. Creative genius at peak maturity.
Incredible how much great stuff in such few panels, the Cavendish manor and back story plus the introduction of Liz and Abe. Creative genius at peak maturity.
October 25, 2017
Hellboy is worthy of the name
Hellboy says it all and this setup to a longer take at large is awesome. I recommend it to any horror fan
Hellboy says it all and this setup to a longer take at large is awesome. I recommend it to any horror fan
July 23, 2024
The story so far...
In the closing days of World War Two, as the Nazi hierarchy saw its plans for a world-dominating Reich crumble, a last desperate effort was made to summon forth powers from beyond the earthly pale—an effort which succeeded in drawing a mysterious child into the world, a child who came immediately under the influence and guidance of the Allied powers. Now, fifty years later, grown to powerful adulthood, the creature still known as Hellboy functions as the World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator—and his greatest case may be discovering who or what unleashed the terrible forces which killed the man he had come to call his father..
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.
The Occult, Nazis, Demons, Lovecraftian horrors, (At the Mountains of Madness vibes), Poe-esk villains (think The Fall of the House of Usher), and good old Hellboy (who will forever be Ron Perlman in my eyes); what's not to love! 5 stars.
In the closing days of World War Two, as the Nazi hierarchy saw its plans for a world-dominating Reich crumble, a last desperate effort was made to summon forth powers from beyond the earthly pale—an effort which succeeded in drawing a mysterious child into the world, a child who came immediately under the influence and guidance of the Allied powers. Now, fifty years later, grown to powerful adulthood, the creature still known as Hellboy functions as the World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator—and his greatest case may be discovering who or what unleashed the terrible forces which killed the man he had come to call his father..
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.
The Occult, Nazis, Demons, Lovecraftian horrors, (At the Mountains of Madness vibes), Poe-esk villains (think The Fall of the House of Usher), and good old Hellboy (who will forever be Ron Perlman in my eyes); what's not to love! 5 stars.
July 12, 2018
Yup. I've found a comic I thoroughly enjoy.
November 20, 2018
Loved it
Short read and it leaves you on a cliffhanger. Great way to end an issue. Highly recommend for any lovers of Frank Miller or Alan Moore.
Short read and it leaves you on a cliffhanger. Great way to end an issue. Highly recommend for any lovers of Frank Miller or Alan Moore.
April 18, 2019
Good story
Good book. The dark, stylized artwork matches the tone of the tale. I like the noir style first person narration.
Good book. The dark, stylized artwork matches the tone of the tale. I like the noir style first person narration.
May 12, 2019
Excellent
This was a good continuation from the first and introduces Abe and Liz. I wish these were in one big omnibus rather than broken up.
This was a good continuation from the first and introduces Abe and Liz. I wish these were in one big omnibus rather than broken up.
January 16, 2020
I love the art in this issue so much. There's so much aging around wish shadow, and some excellent fights, as well as the fact that I love this storyline too!
June 13, 2020
Decent
Introduces more characters and gives some information about them. Good dialogue, but overall a vague plot/narrative with mostly forgetable antagonists.
Introduces more characters and gives some information about them. Good dialogue, but overall a vague plot/narrative with mostly forgetable antagonists.
May 26, 2026
are we aware whether the pretty fire lady is single and if shed be interested in hanging out with me sometime?
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews