Ryan Day
Jun 23, 2005, 02:47 am
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dh/Hellboy_island_1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dh/Hellboy_island_1_t.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Hellboy: The Island #1"></a>Reviewer: Ryan Day Dreamhunter00@hotmail.com
<I>Don't mess with me, lady. I've been drinking with skeletons.</I>
Written & Illustrated by: Mike Mignola
Lettered by: Clem Robins
Colours: Dave Stewart
Editor: Scott Allie
Published by: <a href="http://www.darkhorse.com" target="new">Dark Horse Comics</a>
There's just nothing like a Hellboy comic.
Sadly, they've been pretty scarce lately. That is to say, completely non-existent, as Mike Mignola's been busy gallivanting about Hollywood and schmoozing with Selma Blair. The various B.P.R.D. series are nice enough, but they're just not Hellboy. There's just something about Mignola's "Indiana Jones meets Godzilla by Jack Kirby and Edgar Allen Poe" vibe that's nearly impossible to replicate. Many have tried, and most have failed.
Just as Hellboy the comic has been M.I.A. for the past few years, so, too, has Hellboy the character. The Island begins with Hellboy climbing out of the ocean, his resting place for the past two years. He finds himself on an island (didn't see that coming, did you?), surrounded by shipwrecks and skeletons. Hellboy, never one to panic, adapts quickly to the situation and goes drinking with a bunch of sailors.
From there, the usual weirdness and craziness kicks in: Singing ghosts, ethereal visitors, a heretic executed by the inquisition 500 years ago, and, of course, a huge-ass monster. If you've read Hellboy before and hated it, The Island won't likely change your opinion. The book is relatively accessible to newcomers - though it picks up from past events, there's enough exposition, and even editorial footnotes, to explain what's what and who's who. The editorial notes will even tell you that Hellboy is quoting the film version of Moby Dick, as opposed to the novel, as he stabs at the heart of his latest adversary.
The high point of any Hellboy story is inevitably the art. Mignola remains one of the most distinctive artists in the industry. A few artists have tried to match his dark, angular and gothic style, but none of them have done it particularly well. It's fairly minimalist, relying more on shadows and shapes than details, and it makes the most of Hellboy's horrific surroundings and ghastly characters. If you've never read a Mike Mignola comic - and, quite frighteningly, there do see to be people out there like that - you owe it to yourself to at least check out an issue of Hellboy, as Mignola remains one of the most important and distinctive artists of the last decade.
The Island continues the story of Hellboy that only his creator could tell; it's telling that while Mignola will let others play with the likes of Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien, Hellboy generally remains solely in his hands. It's genuinely creepy at times - the sailors' song about the mermaid is haunting - and balances the profound revelations of cosmically evil beings with Hellboy's deadpan quips. Any true comic fan should read at least one issue of Hellboy, and The Island makes a perfectly reasonable starting point. Get it while you can, before Mignola runs off to be a movie star again.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhhalf.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhhalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhnone.jpg
'Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save!’ (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=792&cat=HELLBOY)
<I>Don't mess with me, lady. I've been drinking with skeletons.</I>
Written & Illustrated by: Mike Mignola
Lettered by: Clem Robins
Colours: Dave Stewart
Editor: Scott Allie
Published by: <a href="http://www.darkhorse.com" target="new">Dark Horse Comics</a>
There's just nothing like a Hellboy comic.
Sadly, they've been pretty scarce lately. That is to say, completely non-existent, as Mike Mignola's been busy gallivanting about Hollywood and schmoozing with Selma Blair. The various B.P.R.D. series are nice enough, but they're just not Hellboy. There's just something about Mignola's "Indiana Jones meets Godzilla by Jack Kirby and Edgar Allen Poe" vibe that's nearly impossible to replicate. Many have tried, and most have failed.
Just as Hellboy the comic has been M.I.A. for the past few years, so, too, has Hellboy the character. The Island begins with Hellboy climbing out of the ocean, his resting place for the past two years. He finds himself on an island (didn't see that coming, did you?), surrounded by shipwrecks and skeletons. Hellboy, never one to panic, adapts quickly to the situation and goes drinking with a bunch of sailors.
From there, the usual weirdness and craziness kicks in: Singing ghosts, ethereal visitors, a heretic executed by the inquisition 500 years ago, and, of course, a huge-ass monster. If you've read Hellboy before and hated it, The Island won't likely change your opinion. The book is relatively accessible to newcomers - though it picks up from past events, there's enough exposition, and even editorial footnotes, to explain what's what and who's who. The editorial notes will even tell you that Hellboy is quoting the film version of Moby Dick, as opposed to the novel, as he stabs at the heart of his latest adversary.
The high point of any Hellboy story is inevitably the art. Mignola remains one of the most distinctive artists in the industry. A few artists have tried to match his dark, angular and gothic style, but none of them have done it particularly well. It's fairly minimalist, relying more on shadows and shapes than details, and it makes the most of Hellboy's horrific surroundings and ghastly characters. If you've never read a Mike Mignola comic - and, quite frighteningly, there do see to be people out there like that - you owe it to yourself to at least check out an issue of Hellboy, as Mignola remains one of the most important and distinctive artists of the last decade.
The Island continues the story of Hellboy that only his creator could tell; it's telling that while Mignola will let others play with the likes of Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien, Hellboy generally remains solely in his hands. It's genuinely creepy at times - the sailors' song about the mermaid is haunting - and balances the profound revelations of cosmically evil beings with Hellboy's deadpan quips. Any true comic fan should read at least one issue of Hellboy, and The Island makes a perfectly reasonable starting point. Get it while you can, before Mignola runs off to be a movie star again.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhhalf.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhhalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dhnone.jpg
'Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save!’ (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=792&cat=HELLBOY)