Written by: Mike Mignola & John Arcudi
Art by: Alex Maleev
Publisher: Dark Horse
Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1952 returns this month, and it has been a very long month waiting to see what happened with Hellboy and that treacherous grenade. While this is, technically, a flashback story, so we know Hellboy survives, Mignola and co. still do a great job of ratcheting up tension and suspense. Hellboy will live but almost anyone else could end up on the proverbial chopping block.
The beauty of this miniseries is that anyone can read it and thoroughly enjoy it. If you’re a diehard “Mignolaverse” fan, then you’ll find myriad nods and easter eggs connected to the later stories. If this is your first Hellboy experience (I hope for your sake that it’s not) then you can still immediately understand who Hellboy is, who he works for, and all of the aspects of his young personality.
It is hard to believe that after 20 years of Hellboy stories, this is one of the first times we have gotten an extended look at Hellboy’s past prior to his life in the 90s. Mignola and Arcudi do a fine job here of presenting a Hellboy who is brash, violent, and even a bit naïve. It would be easy to make Hellboy boorish or perhaps childish here, but instead he is headstrong and brave even at his young age, but sometimes that bravery costs him (a fact that Mignola has been reiterating for two decades now). The supporting characters of the B.P.R.D. all have their own personalities and faults as well, and I hope they stick around past this miniseries. Before Liz and Abe, Hellboy had another cast of coworkers and friends, so it’s interesting to finally delve into this phase of his life.
Worst compost pile ever
What can be said about Alex Maleev’s artwork that hasn’t been written before? His expressive line work and use of shadow make the sleepy town in Brazil look both depressing and ominous; a perfect balance for Hellboy’s first mission outside of the B.P.R.D.’s walls. I have been aching for more Maleev in my life since the end of his run on Moon Knight, and this newest miniseries does not disappoint in the slightest.
If you already love the Hellboy universe, then I’m positive you’re already reading this long-gestating miniseries. If you haven’t read Hellboy before, fear not—pick up the first three issues of this miniseries and you can start to love Hellboy beginning with his very first mission—a treat that longtime readers will no doubt be jealous of. Seed of Destruction was published way back in 1994, and fittingly some seeds from those earliest stories are now coming to bear fruit in these newest arcs. Realistic character development, flashbacks and fast forwards, budget-less set pieces, the freedom to tell origin stories twenty years later—I love comics for these reasons and so many more, and Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1952 delivers on all fronts.
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