Book Review: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1957 by M. Mignola et al.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1957 stories by Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson, art by Laurence Campbell, Stephen Green, Shawn Martinbrough, Alison Sampson, Mike Norton, and Mike Mignola

Another set of random adventures from the old days of the B.P.R.D.

Family Ties--Hellboy and field agent Sue hunt down a paperback copy of Gustav Strobl's "Witchcraft and Demonology," an authentic text of occult practices. This particular copy is in a Dayton, Ohio, suburb, where a family is suffering from one of the members being possessed. That particular demon causes a lot of trouble. The telling has creepy atmosphere and a build-up that pays off well.

Forgotten Lives--Professor Bruttenholm and Hellboy set out to investigate a haunted graveyard. This particular cemetery has mass graves for the indigent, so finding the right unsettled spirit is much tougher. They wind up at an auction of personal effects from the indigent, which indirectly solves the problem. The story is charming in its way. There's an old security guy who is completely unphased by ghosts since he's seen 'em all already, unlike the newer interment crew. I liked this one a lot.

Falling Sky--Hellboy and cryptozoologist Woody Farrier go on a field assignment to investigate a flying saucer sighting that has resulted in a monster in the woods. Woody has been work for a few years with the Bureau and is dissatisfied, since any weird creature they find has been either a hoax or a demon-crossed regular animal, not an actual new species. Hellboy tries to cheer him up but that is not Hellboy's core competency. They discover the UFO is just a downed weather balloon. The locals are still fearful of something in the woods, so the investigation continues with a mixed-blessing ending. This story is a nice character study, mostly of Woody, but a bit of Hellboy too.

Fearful Symmetry--Hellboy visits an old college friend of Bruttenholm's in India. He teams up with Ginny Payne who had been something like a summer intern for the Bureau seven years earlier. They investigate some animal attacks in a remote village, probably a were-tiger but people aren't sure. It's another monster-of-the-week story for Hellboy.

From Below--Hellboy, Bruttenholm, and Agent Archie go to investigate a noisy, abandoned saw mill in Oregon. The spot has had sporadic sightings or, more precisely, sounds of the supernatural. Archie had investigated seven years ago and came up with nothing. This time, they discover a trap door leading to a basement full of arcane equipment and a symbol of the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra. So something bad is down there. It's another fun venture that uses Archie's background well.

Happy New Year, Ava Galluci--Hellboy attends a New Year's Eve seance where a shyster medium, the titular Ava Galluci, is guest of honor. The locals want to summon a discredited ancestor with the usual unhappy results. This is a quick story that hits the typical Hellboy horror vibe, with art by Mignola as well as the story.

This collection is a lot of fun, with Forgotten Lives being the standout.

Recommended, highly for Hellboy fans.

Book Review: Lobster Johnson Vol. 6 by M. Mignola et al.

Lobster Johnson Volume 6: A Chain Forged in Life stories by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi with art by Troy Nixey, Peter Snejbjerg, Toni Fejzula, Stephen Gree, and Ben Stenbeck

Five one-shot stories in one volume!

A Chain Forged in Life--An inebriated donation-collecting Santa is found in a snowy rural area of New Jersey. The cops that find him get quite a story. The sodden Santa was collecting toy gifts from patrons at one of New York City's department stories. His shift ended when the store closed, which is also the time a trio of robbers burst out with the Christmas Eve sales money. Lobster Johnson appears out of nowhere and tries to stop the thieves. They kidnap the Santa and hightail it to Jersey with the loot and the hostage. Even with all that effort, the Lobster is still after them. The story is exciting and focused on the Santa character (he's narrating, so it makes sense). It follows in the Christmas-action-story tradition of Die Hard and works quite well.

The Forgotten Man--Some pretty massive plot holes ruin an otherwise interesting story of homeless people disappearing in 1935 New York City. The Lobster is drawn in when no one else (the cops or the papers) will help the indigent who face danger from the sewers and a fake preacher. The action is also standard and less interesting than it could be.

The Glass Mantis--The cops and the Lobster are tipped off about a hit happening at an art museum. Someone is supposed to kill a visiting Turkish artist who has made many beautiful glass sculptures for a visiting exhibit. The best is a glass mantis; a lot of other ones are much lesser works. The assassin turns out to be a Turkish woman who shouts "Imposter!" as she shoots. The cops have dressed up one of their own as the artist, but wearing a bulletproof vest and beard keeps him alive. The woman surrenders and escapes from the cops. When the Lobster catches up with her, she tells the story of what's really going on. The mystery of the story works really well along with the action. This is my favorite in this collection.

Garden of Bones--Lobster Johnson investigates a graveyard (the titular garden of bones) with his assistant Harry, hunting down a cop-killer who has an M.O. very similar to mob enforcer Big Benny Jeunot. The only problem is Benny is supposed to be six feet under and voodoo magic doesn't work on consecrated ground. They do have a run-in with Benny, leading to a small cult of Fimbakonu, which is not voodoo. The cult follows all the voodoo rules, leading Harry to save the day at the end. It's a fun story but pretty short.

Mangekyo--The Lobster and his crew stop a prison break set up for a German spy. A bunch of monkeys in kabuki masks tried to dynamite the prison wall. The crew follows the monkeys back into the forest where they confront the Crimson Lotus, a Japanese magic-weaving woman who lays traps for them, some psychological or mystical. The story is a lot of fun.

Recommended.

Book Review: Hellboy and The B.P.R.D. 1954 by M. Mignola et al.

Hellboy and The B.P.R.D. 1954 written by Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson, art by Stephen Green, Patric Reynolds, Brian Churilla, and Richard Corben, colors by Dave Stewart

Four stories from Hellboy's early career at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense!

1. Black Sun--Hellboy and a team go to the Arctic to investigate a possible yeti sighting, though the scientific team there is divided over whether it was just a polar bear. The menace turns out to be neither after the team discovers a downed saucer (as in flying saucer). Hellboy gets inside and it sinks, leading to an even weirder adventure. I liked how the story kept shifting ground with each twist.

2. The Unreasoning Beast--A man's brother died in a fire and the brother's pet monkey (who also died) is haunting him. The story goes by quickly and is not nearly as weird as a typical Hellboy tale. It does deliver the melancholy, though.

3. Ghost Moon--Hellboy is sent to China as a favor to Lady Cynthia Eden-Jones, head of the British equivalent of the B.P.R.D. In Hong Kong, it's the seventh month of the Chinese calendar, the titular Ghost Moon. The locals celebrate a "Hungry Ghost Festival" where spirits come back from the afterlife in search of food and entertainment. A local British import/export business had been looking for a Hunping, a funerary urn or spirit jar, and they have run into trouble. Usually, there's one jar per spirit, but this particular jar is collecting lots of spirits, especially in this month. The story has a lot of fun mythology and a typical Hellboy ending.

4. The Mirror--Hellboy goes in search of the Mirror of Saint-Bouget. Saint-Bouget is a lost French town where a rich man's daughter became a witch who consorted with demons. When the dad came with the local priest to confront her, the demons fled with the girl into a mirror. The priest blessed the mirror and trapped them inside. The story isn't much more than that--just a showcase for Richard Corben's moody and evocative art.

I liked Ghost Moon the best. All the stories are fun and spooky--typical Hellboy storytelling.

Recommended.