Hellboy In Love #5 Spotlight

 

Hellboy In Love #5 concludes this series concerning Hellboy's growing attraction to archeologist Anastasia Bransfield. The two travel to West Bengal, India, to inspect a chamber unearthed by Professor Chadha. There the lovebirds will find artifacts relating to the Suaren Artea. Still, as you can imagine, things won't go without a hitch.

 

Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden's story features the return of a character from the first issue, an artifact that excites Anastasia, and miniature demons called Rakti. Matt Smith's art is attractive and energetic, and the temple scenes remind me of stories drawn by Hellboy creator Mignola. Chris O'Halloran's colors trend toward the grays, but the purple Rakti contrasts nicely with Hellboy's red skin. As always, Clem Robins's lettering is pleasing to the eye.

 

Hellboy In Love #5 takes place in 1979. Christopher Golden created Anastasia for his Hellboy novel The Lost Army, which takes place in 1986. So if you like seeing Hellboy and Anastasia together, you've got a prose novel to hunt down. This issue also leaves open the possibility of her return to Hellboy comics.

 

As I didn't cover this issue for Comic Book Dispatch, I'll refrain from rating it. But I enjoyed Hellboy In Love #5. I think you'll like it too.

Hellboy In Love #4 Review

 

Writer: Christopher Golden

Artist: Matt Smith

Colorist: Chris O’Halloran

Letterer: Clem Robins

Cover Art: Matt Smith

Publisher: Dark Horse

Price: 3.99

Release Date: March 29, 2023

 

Hellboy and archeologist Anastasia visit an excavation in Bursa, Turkey. That night puppet shadows attack the workers. Hellboy and Anastasia confront the puppet shadows only to get catapulted six hundred years into the past. What happens next, you ask? Let's leap into Hellboy In Love #4 and find out!

 

Story

In 14^th Century Bursa’s marketplace, Hellboy and Anastasia notice characters on a frieze drawn in the style of Turkish puppets. A local puppet maker tells them that Karagoz and Hacivat-- two laborers whose humorous antics distracted their fellow workers--died a couple of months ago. Realizing their interest in shadow puppets, he directs them to a puppet theater. When Hellboy bounds in like a bull in a Turkish porcelain shop, the puppeteer casts a spell on him. He and Anastasia join Karagoz and Hacivat on the man’s puppet stage!

 

Initially, Christopher Golden’s character dialogue confused me. On the first page, Liz Sherman tells Abe Sapien that Hellboy and Professor Bruttenholm are angry at each other. In the second, Anastasia asks Hellboy about something in which she has far more experience. I also felt that as no one had ever heard of or seen Hellboy in 14th Century Turkey, his appearance should have shocked and provoked the locals.

 

A second reading of Hellboy In Love #4 brought welcome clarity. I realized Liz felt abandoned, and Anastasia wanted Hellboy to feel like a partner. Given the page-length limits of the comic, I can also understand Golden’s decision to gloss over Hellboy's appearance in service to his overall story and leave the locals wanting to lynch the stranger in their midst for another story arc.

 

Art

Like Michael Golden, Matt Smith throws a lot at us in Hellboy In Love #4. Only on my third read-through did I notice that Abe Sapien delivered an envelope to Liz. But then, Matt packs ten panels into that page. Liz's expression changes as she greets Abe, reads Hellboy’s letter, and realizes how his growing interest in Anastasia could affect her future. Hellboy and Anastasia's transformation is also worthy of note. While Golden has the characters talk us through their change, Matt shows them become fanciful Turkish puppets. Hellboy and Anastasia look like they belong on the stage with Karagoz and Hacivat: two doomed souls cursed to reenact scenes of comic violence throughout the centuries.

 

While Matt Smith inks in shadows, Chris O'Halloran provides mood and nuance with his coloring. Liz Sherman and Anastasia look expressive and lifelike (except when the latter becomes a puppet), while Chris gives Abe glowing blue eyes and richly colored green skin. He loads the Turkish marketplace with personality (although perhaps not as much as the Troll Market in Hellboy II: The Golden Army). Hellboy’s skin color changed more understandably throughout Hellboy In Love #4 than in the previous issue and never transformed from red to blue. I enjoyed walking through his 14^th Century Turkish market packed with colorful fabrics and hand-painted puppets.

 

There’s plenty to read in Hellboy In Love #4. Occasionally Clem Robins shrinks easy-to-read uppercase dialogue to eye-straining tiny letters when characters lower their voices. Words grow louder to express shock, and spherical dialogue balloons change shape to suggest outrage or confusion. Clem Robin's colored narrative boxes locate us in time and space. Colorful sound effects provide contrast and energize fraught action scenes.

 

Final Thoughts

Before reading became the norm, oral storytelling grounded people in their cultural history. Cosplayers provide a modern equivalent by dressing up as their favorite characters and reenacting scenes from popular movies and TV shows. As society changes with the times, so do the stories it celebrates. Hellboy In Love #4 reminds us how popular stories shape our outlook and influence how we relate to others.

 

Rating 9/10

 

To preview the interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Hellboy In Love #3 Review

 

Hellboy In Love #3 Review

Writer: Christopher Golden

Artist: Matt Smith

Colorist: Chris O’Halloran

Letterer: Clem Robins

Cover Art: Matt Smith

Publisher: Dark Horse

Price: 3.99

Release Date: February 22, 2023

 

After attending a black-tie reception at Anastasia's London museum, Hellboy accompanies her to Turkey to investigate the origins of Shadow Puppetry. Can their budding romance survive the horrors of the supernatural? Let's dig into the mysteries and mayhem in Hellboy In Love #3 and find out!

 

Story

Impish archeologist Anastasia likes to get her way. Friends and fellow scientists urge caution in her work and associations, but Anastasia shrugs aside danger. She arouses Hellboy's interest with witty innuendo and breadcrumbs from her research. Enthralled, he accompanies her to Turkey without knowing the reason for their trip. By the time they reach an excavation site near Bursa, she’s briefed him on what roused her interests. Neither knows what they'll find there.

 

Having watched a shadow puppet performance in England, I can imagine how the ancient Turks embraced this unique art form. Set in 1979, a brief interchange with his father underlines Hellboy’s growing maturity. The chemistry between Hellboy and Anastasia eases you through Golden’s story of history, magic, and the supernatural. If only it didn’t end on a cliffhanger!

 

Art

Characters are appealing and consistently represented. Heavy inking and silhouettes create mood and enliven foreground action. While art can vary widely in Hellboy stories, and this issue lacks a heavy emphasis on occult architectural details, Smith's representations of Hellboy and other characters remind me of Mike Mignola’s.

 

Chris O’Halloran’s limited color palette imbues each page with a Bronze Age comic sensibility. The only thing that drew me out of Hellboy In Love #3 was how light variations affected objects and people. While colors usually darkened, sometimes characters take on a blue--or even ultraviolet--cast. I found the differences striking and wondered how Hellboy could rapidly transition from bright red to maroon to ultraviolet. Aside from that, I thought O’Halloran did a fine job.

 

Clem Robins also gives this comic an old-school vibe with simple upper-case block lettering. Spherical dialogue balloons and rectangular narrative boxes—most with a white background—don't distract from the story. Colorful sound effects are infrequent and restrained. Thus, when he exaggerates the sound effects and the dialogue balloons, both enhance the sense of danger.

 

Final Thoughts

After reading trade paperbacks and omnibus editions on Hellboy, the B.P.R.D., and Abe Sapien, I thought I’d read enough of the Mignolaverse. But Hellboy In Love #3 lured me back in, and Hellboy’s engaging relationship with Anastasia also helped the issue stand out. I appreciated how I could jump into the middle of this five-part series, readily identify with characters and their situations, and effortlessly accompany them on an adventure that explores the supernatural dangers of Human imagination.

 

Rating 8.2/10

 

To view the preview pages see my review at Comic Book Dispatch