Hellboy Vol. 11: the Bride of Hell and Others
Publication
Date: October 05, 2011
Format: FC,
200 pages, TP, 7" x 10"Price: $19.99
Age range: 16
ISBN-13: 978-1-59582-740-1
The current volume of Hellboy is a collection of one-shots.
The first being Hellboy
in Mexico. Mignola gives a short foreword about the story which came about
because of a quick sketch and he’d decided that he liked the idea of Hellboy
running around Mexico, drunk with wrestlers. Stuck out in the desert, Hellboy
and Abe Sapien come across a picture from nearly 30 years previous, and he
begins the tale of the worst thing he’s ever seen, and when its the worst thing
Hellboy has seen, you know its bad. Hendricks and Murphy couldn’t hang, but the
wrestlers, they were butt kicking machines, the same wrestlers as from House of the Living Dead( review here).The story touched upon there is
expanded here where Hellboy has to deal with Camazotz, and even knowing how the
story would end took nothing away from the journey.
“Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil,” Mignola is vague about
the inspirations for this one, or his memory just isn’t what it use to be,
either way, it takes nothing away from his work. A house possessed, or a man
spinning a tall tale, Hellboy has to weed through the story to find the grain
of truth and stop the culprit who’s murdering innocent people. The man, Mr.
Sullivan, was a drunk, down on his luck, he’d lost everything until he received
an anonymous person gave him a gift, the house. He found so long as he brought
people into one of the rooms of the house his addiction remained dormant, and
the house rewards him with golden coins. Not Hellboy’s strangest case, but
certainly up there as he finds the heart of the problem. The second part of the
feature focuses on a gift shop worker with a God complex, which would be so bad
except for all the dang Mummies.
“Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead” Ever notice a lack of
vampires in the Hellboy world, apparently Mignola did too, and even though this
story rattled around in his head for awhile, it wasn’t until Scott Hampton was
willing to draw it, that it was given life. Eerie and poignant, it’s a wonderful
tale. I loved the nostalgia, the classic Dracula bride in white, the horror and
the all out vengeance, a truly stand-out piece.
“Hellboy: The Bride
of Hell” A mix of legend, history and imagination makes the Bride of Hell one
of the best of the anthology. A big Monster, a damsel in distress, Hellboy to
the rescue, all makings of a classic story, but Hellboy is no knight in shining
armour, and the story isn’t as it would first seem. Great twist, and very
clever story telling.
“Hellboy: The Whittier Legacy” This one has all of the classic
Hellboy elements without the finesse. It’s a very short piece that doesn’t
really do the Hellboy world justice especially for an introduction into the
smart, funny, witty and sometimes horrific adventures of Hellboy, but it’s
still a fun romp.
“Hellboy: Buster Oakley Gets His Wish” There’s more than a
little probing being done, and the
classic be careful what you wish for could not have been illustrated better. The
phenomenal Kevin Nowland did the artwork, and it compliments and enhances the story.
The sketch book at the end is almost as fun as the stories.
Some great insight to not only the story, but the process of sketching as well.
As a whole, what I absolutely love about Mignola is how
familiar he makes everything, and his continuity, even when he’s embellishing a
piece of Hellboy’s history he’s just discovering. It’s always like sitting down
with a friend who we think we know everything about and then he goes, yeah that
happened but did I tell you about this? All the while we hang onto his every
word. Few writers can spin such entertaining tales, but Mignola manages to do
it consistently. His wit is addictive, and the art work is fantastic, as
always, definitely a collection for old and new Hellboy readers. In stores now, don't wait to snag a copy!
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