Book Review: Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land by M. Mignola et al.

Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land story by Mike Mignola and Thomas Sniegoski, art by Craig Rousseau, and colors by Dave Stewart

Adolescent Hellboy travels with his father figure Professor Trevor Bruttenholm to South America where they will investigate a recently discovered Incan underground city. On the way, their plane crashes in the ocean when a fellow passenger, a religious zealot, tries to kill Hellboy since he is the spawn of the Devil. Hellboy and the Professor escape on a raft to a mysterious island where they are befriended by a jungle woman who turns out to be the real-life pulp hero Scarlett Santiago. She's also marooned on the island, fighting dinosaurs and hanging out with an intelligent simian tribe (though they don't speak English). The zealot also washes up on the island where the local baddies taken him to a temple and use his blood to revive their vampire queen. She quite naturally wants more blood to become more powerful. Hellboy's blood is extra special and she really wants it. Action ensues.

The story is a fun homage to the old movie serials. An action scene is always just a page or two away. The environment is lovingly rendered in much brighter colors than is typical for a Hellboy comic. This is more action adventure than brooding horror. Hellboy is young and idealistic, hoping to see mummies at the Incan city and reciting Scarlett's backstory as the pulp hero Sky Devil. She's a fun character too, I wouldn't mind seeing a spin-off series of her adventures, like the Witchfinder series or Lobster Johnson.

Highly recommended--a fun time in a lost world setting.