Hellboy: The Wild Hunt

Bought at Boocup, Kerry Parkside, Pudong, Shanghai, China.

Title: Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Date: October, 2018
Writer: Mike Mignola
Artist: Duncan Fegredo
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Clem Robins
Editor: Scott Allie

Hellboy is recruited to join the Wild Hunt to defeat a gang of six giants who have awakened from their tombs. But the battle with the giants leads to betrayal and plunges Hellboy into a rapidly-brewing war between the forces of mythical Britain.

This was a beautifully atmospheric deep dive into Arthurian mythology with Hellboy's own distinctively snarky viewpoint laid over the ancient forces a play.

There is a lot going on in terms of plot and characters, and much of this volume is simply putting pieces onto the board for the game to come, but the setup is lovely to watch unfold.

Duncan Fegredo does a great job with the art, incorporating the mythical elements while keeping the distinctive look of Hellboy.

Rating: 8.5/10

Dark Horse: 20 Years

From the Random Stack of Unread Comics.

Title: Dark Horse: 20 Years
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Date: 2006
Artist: Adam Hughes, Art Adams, Doug Mahnke, John Sommariva, Sean Parsons, Mark A Nelson, Cary Nord, Sergio Aragones, Paul Chadwick, Chris Warner, Kilian Plunkett, Eric Powell, Matt Wagner, Jason Alexander, Thomas Yeates, Tony Millionaire, Rick Geary, Joss Whedon, Buzz Parker, Stan Sakai, Frank Miller
Colorist: Michelle Madsen, Edgar Delgado, Dave Stewart, Tom Luth, Dan Jackson, David Nestelle
Editor: Matt Dryer, Matt Hollingsworth, Jim Campbell
Cover: Mike Mignola, Dave Stewart

This is an anniversary pinup book, distributed as a $.25 promo from Dark Horse Comics, celebrating 20 years of their history.

Lots of classic characters and stories are represented here, with some great-looking artwork. What's really fun about this book, though, is getting to see artists do characters by other creators. Highlights included Adam Hughes on Hellboy, Matt Wagner's rendition of the Goon, Frank Miller drawing Usagi Yojimbo and Stan Sakai's take on Sin City, Paul Chadwick's Groo, and Sergio Aragones bringing a very Groo-style take to Conan the Barbarian. There's even a rare art credit for Joss Whedon, who drew Emily the Strange.

Nice way to celebrate 20 years.

Rating: 7.5/10

Baltimore / Criminal Macabre

Missed yesterday's review due to technical difficulties with our internet connection. Fortunately, we seem to have solved the problem (by changing providers; bye-bye Verizon!). Here's another selection from Free Comic Book Day 2011.

Title: Avatar: Baltimore / Criminal Macabre
Date: May, 2011
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Steve Niles, Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden
Artist: Christopher Mitten, Ben Stenbeck
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot, Clem Robins
Colorist: Michelle Madsen, Dave Stewart
Editor: Scott Allie
Cover: Christopher Mitten, Michelle Madsen, Mike Mignola, Dave Stewart

Flip book. First up is Baltimore, a well-executed but somewhat generic alternate history monster-hunter story by Mike Mignola. It's set in 1916 in Germany, where war has given way to a plague of monsters that threatens the land. Two boys observe the arrival in their town of a stranger, a mysterious monster-slayer who just might be exactly what the citizens need to deal with the local vampires. And giant spiders. Decent introduction didn't deliver much in the way of surprises but featured good storytelling from start to finish.

Flip over the book and you get the supernatural noir comedy Criminal Macabre. The plot for this one-shot story involving Frankenstein's monster was resolved a bit too quickly ( a function of the format of this FCBD freebie to some extent), but the dialogue and narration were very entertaining.

Neither book showed much depth, but they were both fun.

Rating: 7/10