Last month I got to review Itty Bitty Hellboy #3….I not only liked it. I loved it. So much so, that I told everyone I knew about it. I also picked up the other two issues. I was hooked. It was amazing, like a breath of fresh air… Awesome. Now here I am reviewing Issue #4 and I needed to confirm to myself if I was in fact crazy? Was Itty Bitty Hellboy as good as I thought it was? Did I have some bad tacos the night of the first review and it caused me to hallucinate? Do I enjoy the work of “kid friendly artist/writer Art Baltazar? Well the answers are…Yes. Yes!!!! Probably… And absolutely Yes!!!
Art Baltazar and Franco have me hooked even more. I can’t get enough of Itty Bitty Hellboy. It is funny, kid friendly (parents are you listening?), well written, with some of the most light-hearted artwork and story dedicated to some of the darkest subject matter in the comic world. It works perfectly and is done perfectly.
Issue #4 picks up exactly where #3 left off. The guys (and girl) are fresh from their visit to the “lower” place and now they are whooshed up to the “upper” place to begin training as angels. Meanwhile on Earth, Roger is literally torn between the love of Hecate and Baba Yaga and their realization of his nakedness. Add some aliens into the story and you have about as much fun and action as you can get in a standard 24 page issue. It’s a lot of fun.
I have been running into Art Baltazar’s work everywhere lately in my reviews and general reading. Shoot, he even appeared in arguably one of the funnier sequences of the recent Harley Quinn #0. I knew of him and his work, but I believe that I intentionally stayed away. Hey, I am in my 40’s. I’m too old for kiddie stuff (in my own goofy thinking). Well no more. I feel fortunate that I got to review his work and I can now say that I will be a lifelong fan. He’s got me. As for Franco, sequencing of the dialogue and story is exceptional with smooth transitions between the gang and Roger’s “separate” (pun intended) tale. It all ties in well and we are left with a total surprise at the end tying everything that has happened thus far (or so it seems right now. We still have one more issue).
All I can say is that Itty Bitty Hellboy is rip-roaring fun that can be shared by the entire family. It might just make an awesome Christmas gift as well for that kid that you would love to get him/her into reading comics, but your stuff is way to mature to introduce to them. Itty Bitty Hellboy is not and I think you too may help to create another lifelong comic fan.
Score: 5/5
Writers: Art Baltazar and Franco Artist: Art Baltazar Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $2.99 Release Date: 11/27/13