Love Mignola's volume heavy style, and all the weird Lovecraftian vibes mixed with old school horror matinee tropes. It's silly, kinda spooky, fun. ( )

I don't even know is the story is that great. Lovecraftian elder gods etc. A
are okay, but what really stands out is Mignola's art. Artists with a strong inking background make a unique and powerful visual style that's unique to comic books. It's not just an homage to Jack Kirby either but also a perfect marriage of heavy blacks to occult subjects. ( )

I can't believe I'm only getting around to reading these now. It's obvious from 20 feet away that they're gorgeously drawn, and the premise of demons & mutants working for a goofy spy agency is always fun if not original, but Mignola adds loads of nifty mythological detail to the mix and it's really funny too. I'm rating this first one lower than the rest just because John Byrne's script, though OK, isn't as interesting as the later ones that Mignola wrote. ( )

If I have a real name, I've never known it. I'm called Hellboy.

I recently discovered comiXology (mostly for reading [b:Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 1|870|Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 1 (Fullmetal Alchemist, #1)|Hiromu Arakawa|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388179331l/870._SY75_.jpg|1959820]). Hellboy was one of the comiXology Unlimited suggested reads. Free trial? Let's do it.

I greatly enjoyed the movie movie (the 2004 one, I haven't seen the 2019 one)... but as good as that was, the comic is better.

It's got ACTION!



MYTHOLOGY!



Creepy tentacles!



And even touching moments.



It's a bit creepy and violent, so maybe not for you if that's not your thing. But if those are? Give it a go! I don't think you'll regret it.

I'd be the first to admit that I have no shortage of faults.
But if I had to pick one, the one that's gotten me into the most trouble over the years...

...it would be that I sometimes get angry.

Overall, graphic novels have a lot of potential for telling a different sort of stories than books, audiobooks, movies, or TV and I really should read more of them. This seems like an excellent place to start. ( )

This is kind of weird for me, because I was totally ready to give this 5 stars when I finished, but as soon as I got here, I instantly hit 4. I've read other Hellboy collections, and liked them a lot, so I wanted to start at the beginning. You can tell that this is early on, as there's a lot of those "hello new reader who just picked up issue 4, here is what is happening" expository moments. Hellboy doesn't seem to have developed that distinct gruffness that ensured Ron Perlman would be headlining the movies, and the supporting cast doesn't seem to be filled in quite yet. Mike Mignola's art is still spectacular, though, and the villains are suitably creepy.

What the hell, I'll change it back to 5. ( )