Mike Mignola

Mike Mignola is somehow able to tell a dark story with occult rituals and limb-severing violence but give it the innocent charm of a TinTin comic. He doesn't usually let us in to the minds of the primary characters in Garden of Souls, but he endears us to them by portraying with no grandiosity whatsoever - just a self-destructive dedication to ridding the world of evil. The story is well paced, and gave me the same quality of pleasure as watching an episode of a good television series.

If these short story collections are teaching me anything, it's that I find Hellboy comics a lot more interesting when dealing with an ongoing story, rather than a one off adventure.

Hellboy is such an interesting and complex character, the stories that are only a few pages long and consist of some sort of monster throwing him through a wall only for him to get up and KO the badie with one punch seem like such a waste.

Which is probably why Right Hand of Doom and Box Full of Evil are my show more favourite stories from this collection. Hellboy struggling with questions of who he is, how does he cope with having evil literally grafted to him, and what does it mean that he fights against monsters when he's a monster himself? Plus one of my favourite "snap out of it hero" lines of all time: "Well then, boy, it's not your name is it? Is it?" 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

Drinking heavily in Mexico after losing his good friend (and local masked wrestler/luchador) to vampire infection Hellboy gets forced to fight the mysterious challenger. I say forced because Hellboy is clearly told that his rejection of the offer will have consequences.

And so the story begins. What I liked the most is dream-like quality of the story. Art is done by Richard Corben and when it comes to this part you either like Corben's art or you don't.
For me his style was exact match with show more the story atmosphere but some may be put off by his caricature-like drawings (I know I had issues while reading Corben's comic Den).

Being a homage to Universal's monster movie universe, story contains them all - vampires, Frankenstein-like scientist and his creation together with werewolf. Some have greater, some minor roles (vampire scene made me laugh out loud :)) but in overall all the villains have that B-horror movie feeling (and this is why Corben's art style is excellent here) and you just feel good when they get what they deserve (although for vampire I was expecting Leslie Nielsen to show up :)).

As for Hellboy, his path is not one of peace or tranquility no matter how hard he tries to blend in the human world.

In summary very interesting setup with different art approach than what you might be accustomed to. Recommended to all fans of Hellboy universe. show less