Mike Mignola

Mignola and Golden's epic tale of vampire-hunting across a grim alternate Europe where the First World War ground to a halt due to an outbreak of mysterious plague and, also, vampires. For a vampire-hunting story it's impressively dour, not a quip in sight, its hero is deeply tragic and somewhat wretched, its monsters are nasty, and an obsessed priest of the new Inquisiton is the most annoying character I've encountered in ages.

I have always been a fan of the crossover, especially when it's done for the sake of storytelling and not a marketing scheme (although, sometimes the storytelling in those situations can still stand above the marketing). The crossovers in this collection don't seem to be for any other reason than the writers wanted to see these characters interact, and that's what I love.

First up we have Hellboy teaming up with Batman and Starman when a group of Neo-Nazis kidnap Ted Knight (the original show more Starman) to summon an Elder God. Dig seeing these characters work together while dealing with their differences, the conversation between Bats and HB is one of my favorite pieces of dialogue. Also, seeing Batman and the Joker drawn by Mignola was absolutely fantastic!

Then we have a story in which Hellboy meets the Ghost, a character from Dark Horse's run at creating a superhero universe. It didn't really stick, but characters like Ghost and Barb Wire should have stuck around. I liked them. Seeing Ghost and Hellboy duke it out due to some events that started back in 1939 and a manipulated misunderstanding was a great premise, and well done. Also, this was apparently the first time someone other than Mignola had drawn Hellboy in a full story, and I have to say, I thought they did a good job.

Good collection. Nice mix of Hellboy's supernatural kookiness with some more standard super heroics, but still retaining the pulp sensibilities that makes Hellboy what he is. show less

When Grant Morrison wrote Arkham Asylum to blow Bat-minds in 1989, he infused Gotham City with actual occultism, but in terms of the Yog-Sothothery suggested by "Arkham," he didn't make any significant impositions. He certainly didn't go half as far as Mike Mignola and Richard Pace's Doom that Came to Gotham. The latter is part of the DC "Elseworlds" imprint, and it reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602 with the full transposition of a multi-superhero character matrix into another setting show more and time. For Doom that is the Lovecraftian 1920s. Originally a three-issue limited series, the breaks between issues have vanished in the trade edition that collects them into a single graphic novel.

Besides Batman, Alfred, and Bruce Wayne's wards (none of whom have Robin or Nightwing identities or powers), key characters include Oliver Queen (not quite Green Arrow), Barbara Gordon (not Batgirl, but certainly some sort of Oracle), Jason Blood (every bit the Demon), Harvey Dent (who doesn't start as Two-Face), Talia al Ghul, and Ras al Ghul (this world's version of Abdul Alhazred). Alternate, Cthulhvized versions of such Bat-villains as Mister Freeze and Poison Ivy are also clever and outre.

Nixey & Janke's internal art is suited to the mood of the story, but it pales against Mignola's covers. To fully enjoy this book requires appreciation of both the Lovecraft source material and the Batman franchise as it has evolved into the 21st century. Once those are granted, it is a fast, broody, macabre, and worthwhile read. show less

Part two of my Halloween read, and as good as part one was, this was even better.

This volume contains the one story and there's a lot to it. The Nazis are back, and one of their experiments from the war is coming to fruition sixty years later. Hellboy and the homunculus—they named it Roger—are sent to a spooky castle somewhere high up in the Austrian Alps where said experiment was conducted and thought to be destroyed by a military expedition led by some vigilante named Lobster Johnson. show more Much smashing occurs.

This collection has everything: poetry samples from Poe, Lovecraftian nightmares, restless spirits of the damned, hordes of ghoulish creations, undead minions, transmogrified soldiers, subterranean lairs with steampunk machinery, and a Nazi mad scientist. What else could you want?

Ok, there's more. Hellboy has his usual witty responses to the situations he stumbles into. It's his coping mechanism. Loyalty and trust are two of his strongest traits. He's expects underhanded behavior from strangers and outright villains, but the BPRD does something to royally piss him off, and he's forced to reconsider his relationship with them.

Roger the homunculus gets plenty of screen time. There's some self-reflection on what he is and how he fits into this modern world, centuries after his creation.

This is probably my favorite of the Hellboy volumes that I've read so far. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. show less