Book Review: Young Hellboy: Assault on Castle Death by M. Mignola et al.

Young Hellboy: Assault on Castle Death story by Mike Mignola and Thomas Sniegoski, art by Craig Rousseau, colors by Chris O'Halloran, and letters by Clem Robins

In 1947, the B.P.R.D. Headquarters moves from the New Mexican army base to an abandoned movie studio complex in Connecticut. Young Hellboy is not so comfortable there. He even gets some sort of sickness. A fever dream has him as a sidekick to Lobster Johnson, who needs his protege's help to stop a Nazi attack on America. Hellboy gets out of bed and starts wandering around the buildings. Meanwhile, an agent from the Brothers of Desolation (an order founded to stop the Apocalypse, which they assume Hellboy will cause) has come to the new HQ to kill Hellboy. The agent sneaks onto the base the same night that Hellboy goes wandering around.

The story is charming for the most part. The agent trying to kill Hellboy has got to be the slowest moving assassin ever. Other than that, the fever dream action is a fun excursion into childhood fancies. The art follow the lighter tone of the previous Young Hellboy even with a somewhat darker storyline. 

Recommended, highly for Hellboy fans.

Book Review: Frankenstein: New World by M. Mignola et al.

Frankenstein: New World story by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, and Thomas Sniegoski, art by Peter Bergting, Colors by Michelle Madsen, and letters by Clem Robins

In this sequel to Frankenstein: Under Ground, the Monster has been living for decades, maybe centuries, as an oracle to the small colony of humans who made it into the hollow earth before the surface world was overwhelmed. He's been sitting around getting old. Things change when a young girl's prophetic vision shows her a doom coming for them. Defying the tribe's elders, she approaches Frankenstein, who sets out to investigate the girl's claims. She tags along (against the wishes of both the elders and Frankenstein). Their fantastic journey leads them into a conflict between some frog people and some fish people. A deeper problem is hinted at as a new enemy, hungry for the power that makes Frankenstein immortal, appears.

The deeper problem is only hinted at, as if preparing readers for a sequel. Unfortunately, that's the most interesting part of the story. The world looks amazing but the story is very so-so. If the conflict got going later on, I'd be interested in more. 

Barely recommended. I hope there's a better sequel coming.

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.