Hellboy: The Fury #1

The Good

If I could ask Mike Mignola for any favor, I would ask him to please never stop writing Hellboy. There's something about the tone of Mignola's Hellboy that is just so totally unique and his own; there isn't a series out there quite like it.

If you haven't been reading Hellboy, that's okay- this issue is written clearly enough that anyone familiar with the character can easily pick it up and understand what is going on.

After Hellboy quits the BPRD, he travels to Africa, and then eventually to England where he is invited by the Witches of England to be their King- an offer he turned down. Hellboy's refusal led the Witches of England to seek out Nimue, an exiled sorceress to be their Queen. She accepts and proceeds to declare herself a Goddess of War. Basically, way to go Hellboy, you could have prevented this mess. Oh, and Nimue, the Goddess of War also has an army, and their goal is to destroy the earth. During all of this, Hellboy discovers that he is a descendant of King Arthur- thus making him the rightful King of England. This revelation leads to a clash between Hellboy and Nimue, the self appointed Goddess of War. Both she and Hellboy gather their respective armies for battle, and that is where the story opens.

I have noticed with Hellboy comics that Mignola will often take elements of classical fiction or legend, and integrate those concepts and stories into his Hellboy's story. He does it in a way that is not only clear, but with a fluidity that in no way makes for an erratic reading experience. In this issue, Mignola mixes Arthurian legend into Hellboy's story- and it's fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed this issue.

The Bad

The concepts in this issue can seem very broad, and you are dealing with a lot of heavy stuff- but Mignola's storytelling is very clear. The reader must understand that this issue is a very small piece of a much bigger story.

The Verdict

Hellboy is always my go to comic when I want to read something I know I will enjoy. I really liked this issue; not only because it deals with Hellboy's relationship to King Arthur, but also because it is the perfect mix of action and suspense. The story isn't just good, it's also well written, plotted and executed. You know a comic is really good when the artist is able to depict 3 pages of story with little to no dialogue. I highly recommend this issue.