If you’ve been reading Hellboy at all in recent months, you will know that Hellboy is in fact, in Hell. I guess that you’d be able to figure that out by the title. I have to plead ignorance on this one though. I honestly didn’t know that this series was going to continue based on the ending of the last issue. I’ll ask my editor for forgiveness later, but I’ll just get to the review for now. Anyway, I’ll save you some time by just straight up telling you to get a hold of these books right now. If you like Hellboy at all, or you used to like him, and you think that you’re too old for comics now, you better get your butt in gear and stop messing around. Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart bring us a great dialogue and backstory driven tale about a wandering soul in Hell. Of course Mike Mignola writes and draws this issue, but his stuff wouldn’t be what it is without the colors of the very experienced and talented Dave Stewart.
So we’ve got a deceased military officer wandering around Hell looking for a cemetery. He happens to come across a very brooding Hellboy and asks him for directions. The events that shortly follow take us on a journey through time and hell in an attempt to get this man where he needs to be. But why exactly is he trying to get to a cemetery? Why are there cemeteries in Hell in the first place, and who is he meeting there? The truths attached to these questions actually make for some very interesting reading.
Mike Mignola’s script is terrific. The combination of his words and art usually make for a top-notch book regardless, but for some reason that I’m not exactly sure of yet, he manages to outdo himself with this current series. I think that it may have something to do with the fact that I thought Hellboy’s story had ended, at least for a while. I wasn’t sure what else could possibly be done in this universe, but what was I thinking? We have an entire world beneath our feet to fill with fascinating and horrifying tales by Mike Mignola.
In closing I would just like to reiterate that if you’ve been at all on the fence about spending an extra $2.99 for your monthly pull list, stop wasting time. This is going to be yet another groundbreaking era for the Mignolaverse. Dark Horse’s cash cow is going to be delivering for a long time to come.
Score: 5/5
Writer/Artist/Creator: Mike Mignola Colorist: Dave Stewart Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $2.99 Release Date: 12/4/13