Before I talk about the awesomeness that is Hellboy, which goes without saying, I have a bit of news for you.
First, I failed to inform you, my wonderful readers, that last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. I must really be losing my mind because even I forgot to go! However, you still might be able to swindle some free comics out of Captain Nemo’s. They usually have a bunch of extras left over from perhaps the greatest event of the year.
Second, the new X-Men movie was wasn’t too awful. I’m not a huge Marvel fan myself and I know some of you die-hard X-Men/Wolverine fans out there were wholly disappointed by the changes to his origin, not to mention what they did with Deadpool (what the hell was that about?). But all in all, it was a pretty fun movie, though lacking in a substantial plot. I’d say it is worth a cheap matinee ticket or at least a rental when it comes out on video.
I’m fairly sure that Hellboy needs no introduction, but for all of you who may have been living under a rock, Hellboy is basically the most badass comic book character ever, created by Mike Mignola.
In essence he’s a huge, red, half-demon, half-man with an oversized right hand of doom. He also loves pancakes, cigars, cursing and kicking the living crap out of the supernatural. Oh yeah, he is also prophesized to be the harbinger of the apocalypse, but he’s not really into that sort of thing.
It’s no surprise that fellow comic book illustrators and writers are jealous of Mignola’s wonderful achievement and even wanted a bit of Hellboy for themselves. Well, that’s where “Hellboy: Weird Tales” comes in: A collection of the industries’ best artists and writers collaborating on an eight-issue series full of Hellboy short stories.
It may be, at first glance, a bit strange to see such different renditions of Hellboy in all of these comics. But after a while, you begin to appreciate the range these authors and writers bring to an already well-established character.
I mean, you can’t find many other examples of Eric Powell, creator of The Goon, writing a story of Hellboy when he was a little kid, living on a military base, eating hot dogs, pretending to be a cowboy and having his dog Mac turn into a strange mutant thing after eating some alien goo. Priceless.
The title, “Weird Tales” in fact refers to the 1920s pulp magazine that ushered in the great fiction writing of H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard and Ray Bradbury. As Mignola will willingly admit, he has been greatly influenced in his creation of Hellboy by the wonderful pulp fiction from Weird Tales, and this series is a tribute to that.
You know, I don’t feel I need to convince you to pick up this awesome series, in two volumes. If you aren’t already enthralled, then you might want to see a doctor or something, because there has to be something wrong with you.
Jon Monteith is a history senior and Mustang Daily’s comic book columnist.