Cream of the Comics – 5/2/2007

Hellboy: Darkness Calls #1 (of 6)
written (and covers) by Mike Mignola, art by Duncan Fegredo

No, I didn’t forget that World War Hulk kicks off this week. The prologue book hitting shelves tomorrow is written by Peter David and will be drawn by John Romita Jr. Those two are always awesome, and just in case you need proof, just check the image on the right. Now, I’m confident the decision of whether or not you’ll be buying this thing has already been made, so let’s get back to Hellboy.

It’s been two years since we’ve gotten any Hellboy books, and this Wednesday a 6 issue miniseries kicks off, much to my delight. It’s hard to put into words what makes this book such a treat – Is it the unique premise of a demon, raised by humans to fight other dark mythological creatures? Is it Mignola’s masterful use of his deep reservoir of knowledge of myths and legends? Is it Hellboy’s grimacing, dogged attitude in the most outrageous of situations? Or the dark, dangerous mood with sudden splashes of humor? Maybe it’s all of these… Yet the stories are so much more, so much richer than just the sum of these parts. And to top it off, the dark, moody, foreboding art that Mignola does so well (which Fegredo emulates and enriches beautifully here) is the perfect companion to the stories being told.

As for this specific story, I don’t really know where it’s going yet, but so far it seems that there’s a lot of witches looking for him, even old enemies like Baba Yaga and Hecate… And maybe they just want his help? Hey, even if that really is the case, as always, it looks like a rough time ahead for poor, battered Hellboy.

If you want to preview the first six pages, just follow this link, where (using the ingenious little interface) you can see the progression of each page from scripts to pencils to inks to colors to lettering. It actually provides a great picture of the process of constructing a comic. Or, you can just skip to the “LETTERING” tag and read the finished pages.

All in all, I’m excited. World War Hulk may be the big news among the Big Two, but a new Hellboy miniseries is the real event, in my book.