Examining Mike Mignola's Hellboy

The year was 1993. In comics, Superman had died, Batman's back was broken, Spider-man had clones, the X-men were becoming a convoluted mess, and dark and gritty ruled the day in titles like Spawn and Savage Dragon. It was in this climate that Hellboy was born. The lovable red demon became a household name and would eventually be the main part of Mike Mignola's Mignolaverse, a universe that, as of this writing, includes hundreds of comics and dozens of characters. Today, the Mignolaverse is the largest creator-owned comics universe, inspiring 3 live-action films, 2 animated films, toys, and even a video game or two.

But, where did it all begin? What inspired Mike Mignola to create Hellboy? Before this, he was an artist who was known for doing fill-in art jobs on major comics titles like Superman, as well as being a cover artist for various Batman comics. To hear him tell it, he got into comics to draw monsters and wanted to create something where he could just draw monsters all day, everyday, for forever. 

There was some initial hesitation on Mignola's part however, because, initially, he didn't believe that his concept was strong enough. Nor did he believe enough in his abilities to actually tell a story with his new creation. As a result, Mignola enlisted John Byrne to write and script the first Hellboy story, based on Mignola's own plot. This became the wonderful debut known as Seed of Destruction.

Hellboy's debut does everything an origin story should. It introduces the main character, gives a compelling backstory, introduces Rasputin (yes, that Rasputin), along with other supporting characters, and tells one hell of an adventure. Hellboy (who appears in 1944 during an American operation in Germany) loses his adoptive father, Professor Bruttenholm (pronounced "Broom"). He then goes to investigate a mystery at an old castle, along with Abe Sapien (a fish-man), Liz Sherman (a pyro-kinetic), and other members of the government agency, the B.P.R.D. (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense). Hellboy discovers his link to the Nazi occultists and must stop the resurrection of Rasputin as the ultimate evil to bring forth the return of Nazism.

Following Seed of Destruction, Mignola took over for 11 more stories (the main Hellboy canon) as writer/artist, publishing sporadically throughout the 90's and into the 2000's. Several now-legendary artists like Duncan Fegredo and Richard Corben sometimes helped with art chores. Throughout the stories, Hellboy encounters all kinds of monsters from folklore. He battles the Baba Yaga witch, corpses, demons, the troll witch, and others, until the Queen of Blood causes his death. Wow! From there, Hellboy enters Hell and has several adventures.  

Mignola moved on to scripting two spin-off series, B.P.R.D. that occasionally told stories of a young Hellboy and his relationship to the Bureau, and my favorite series, Lobster Johnson, Mignola's tribute to sci-fi/pulp crime fighters.

All in all, the Hellboy canon is incredible storytelling with varying quality in art. This is a gothic horror masterpiece that elevates the comics medium and has been compared to the best Jack Kirby characters. Mignola's art is very Kirby-esque at times. Fans of monster stories definitely need to check it out, if they haven't already.

Batman: Hush! Modern Classic or Mediocre Myth?

I was thinking of some of my favorite modern Batman stories and while there are many, I was thinking of one in particular that deserves analysis. Batman: Hush, as published in issue #608–619 in October 2002 until September 2003, is very polarizing. The story arc was written by Jeph Loeb with art by Jim Lee. Scott Williams did the inking chores and Alex Sinclair was the colorist.  

These days it seems that the Batman Hush storyline is derided more than it is praised due to Loeb increasingly being seen as a hack writer by many fans. It wasn’t always this way. When Hush first came out it was extremely well received, due in no small part to the slick artwork of Jim Lee, whose rendition of Batman began to appear on Batman merchandise outside of the comic books.

It is often said that Batman Hush is just an excuse to get many of Batman’s best known villains together in a single storyline [the same has been said lately with Loeb’s wonderful Long Halloween series] and that the identity reveal of the Jason Todd-Robin character at the end is a cheat. While that may or may not be true depending on your interpretation, there is a very decent mystery here.

Loeb and Lee manage to introduce a new villain in the Thomas Elliot/Hush character and add a new wrinkle to Bruce Wayne’s past in the process. We also get wonderful appearances from guest stars, including Superman. Unfortunately this is the only real story of note to feature Hush as no other writer, including the wonderful Paul Dini in his Hush Money story, can seem to get a handle on the character.

Despite those recent unfavorable reviews of Hush, a lot of original fans of this story hold it up as one of the best stories of the early 2000s era Batman comics and I can agree. The story is engaging and Jim Lee’s art is some of the best Batman art since the late 80’s and early 1990's when giants like Norm Breyfogle, Jim Aparo, Alan Davis and Dave Cockrum drew the character. Hush was a shot in the arm for Batman comics at the time as late 90's comics were often mediocre. The only thing to be aware of is that you should avoid the Hush Returns storyline or anything else that tried to resurrect Hush, as those stories are inferior.

In 2019, an animated film was released that updated the story for a Post-New 52 world. It's not a great adaptation as it waters down the lengthy story and sets it in the modern context of the New 52 era. 

Hush will forever be one of the first stories I recommend to new Batman fans as a gateway into Batman comics because it's very accessible.  I rate this 5 out of 5 stars. Have you read it? What's your opinion?