Hellboy in Hell #1
Story & Art by Mike Mignola
Colors by Dave Stewart
Letters by Clem Robins
Cover by Mike Mignola with Dave Stewart
Designers: Mike Mignola & Gary Grazzini
Assistant Editor: Daniel Chabon
Editor: Scott Allie
Publisher: Mike Richardson
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 5, 2012
Cover Price: $2.99

Hellboy in Hell #1 was the first Hellboy comic that I’ve ever read. Ever. I have nothing against the character, is just seemed that it was one of those books that never interested me. That being said, what I found when I read this comic surprised me.

Mike Mignola packs a LOT of humor in this story, and frankly, I really wasn’t expecting that. Again, I’m not familiar with the Hellboy character or universe, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it sure wasn’t this. As a character, Hellboy is very tongue in cheek and quite a wise-cracking badass. Unfortunately, I found the story a little hard to follow. This is obviously aimed at Hellboy fans, so I’m sure I missed a ton of “in jokes” and references to past stories, but that’s OK. It’s an entertaining read with a couple of really good, funny parts to the story.

The story, which I understand fans have been waiting quite a while for, is just what the title describes. Hellboy going to Hell. But, there is a LOT of mystery about who’s out to get him and who’s there to help him. I have to be honest, a lot of the characters have a very similar look, and I was a bit confused at times.

I’m a sucker for Mike Mignola‘s art. I love his lack of detail while adding just enough to make sure that you know what things are. And NOBODY draws better monsters and creatures than him. This issue was filled with great art, but I did find the story told by the art a little hard to grasp. There’s tons of panels of Hellboy falling and crashing into a rock, but where is he? I have no idea. Other than, in Hell. As mentioned earlier there’s a group of characters that look a lot alike. Some of them are good guys, some villains, the problem is they’re really hard to tell apart.

It sounds like I’m trashing this comic, but I’m really not. It’s a good, solid comic that Hellboy fans will, I believe, love. After reading this I’ve discovered, unfortunately, I’m just not a Hellboy guy.