Hellboy Library Edition Volume 1: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil [Hardcover]

 

 

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Near the end of World War II, the evil Rasputin summoned a creature from another world -- a little red demon baby.

And so starts Mike Mignola's distinctly offbeat "Hellboy Volume 1: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil," two interconnected action-factory stories with a bright-red demon as its anti-hero. Mignola happily crams this rather brief tale with Lovecraftian horrors, mythic demons, a cursed mansion, a vampire in an old castle, and a truly malevolent villain who wants to destroy the world.

Decades after Hellboy was summoned into this world, his adoptive father Professor Bruttenholm recounts what little he can remember of a doomed expedition to the north pole, along with the three Cavendish brothers. Then a grotesque frog creature attacks Bruttenholm, killing him instantly -- moments before Hellboy returns the favor.

Soon after, Hellboy and his companions Abe Sapien (fish-man) and Liz Sherman (pyrokinetic) arrive at cursed Cavendish Manor, unaware that the mansion's owner is in league with Rasputin. Then ghastly frog-creatures kidnap Liz and attack Hellboy, as Rasputin reveals his presence to the demon/man that he considers his servant -- and if Hellboy won't serve him, he'll used Liz's power instead.

But that adventure is not the end of Hellboy's clashes with Rasputin. Sent to find an ancient vampire in Romania ("Paprika chicken, baby!"), he runs afoul of a bunch of Nazis who serve Rasputin's spirit -- and a bunch of mythic creatures, including the vampiric Giurescu, who serve a ghastly, immortal lamia in the depths of his castle.

Elsewhere, Abe is falling into a trap of Rasputin's, and Liz's powers run amuck when her team finds an alchemist's lab with a seemingly dead homunculus. And Hellboy's fight with the lamia has shocking repercussions, when he finds himself hurtling into a darkness where his true purpose is revealed -- and he must choose what his destiny will be.

Vampiric snake-women, Baba Yaga, immortal sorcerers, grotesque frog monsters, disembodied heads, a Nazi woman in an iron maiden, and a walking skeleton. Oh yeah, and a Lovecraftian lake monster with way too many tentacles.

Mike Mignola knows how to craft a monster-filled universe, where a demonic anti-hero seems downright normal. And the first two books about him are technically separate stories, but they're more like two halves of the same tale -- and while each starts relatively quietly, they rapidly escalate into haunting, grotesque action-adventures set in half-ruined buildings where only monsters and statues still dwell.

And while a few plot threads are left hanging in the second half of the story, Mignola does a solid job plotting these. He also knows how to use dialogue for atmosphere as few authors can ("Witches, striges, vampir... ghosts come forth from their tombs..."), but also utilizes Hellboy's acid wit to lighten the mood ("Not gonna happen... 'cause you're very very ugly and YOU HAVE A GIANT SNAKE BODY!").

Hellboy himself is a classic anti-hero -- despite his red skin, bulky body and sawed-off horns, he's very human in attitude, with an understated love for his friends and his adoptive father. Throughout these stories he's faced by hints of what he truly is and what he's expected to become by the infernal players, but his good heart won't have it. And his snappy wit ("Insolent beast! Troglodyte!" "Big talk for a guy with no pants") only makes him more lovable.

It's also worth mentioning that this edition is simply beautiful. The heavy cloth binding gives the book plenty of resilience to repeated readings, especially since the paper it's printed on is thick and glossy. It makes Mignola's art -- with its vivid colours and heavy, thick shadows -- even more vivid.

"Hellboy Volume 1: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil" compiles the first two books of Hellboy's adventures, and shows why Mike Mignola is such a well-loved, well respected graphic novelist.

My sister bought this for me as birthday present. The first thing I marvel at is the format. This over sized Vol is unlike any Absolute, Deluxe Ed, or Omnibus. It doesn't fit uniform with all my other hard covers, but I don't care. This is one the most beautiful put toghether comics you have ever seen. The sketches, and extra art included is quite extensive and it's nice to see they Dark Horse didn't throw in a few just to say they did. The colour, and the quality of paper is some of the best I have seen. The cover is fabric, with an inlayed print. This makes the book feel even more special. Anyone who complains about the book "gathering lint" really doesn't care about their comics, and has no issues throwing them in with their dirty laundry, or in their gym bag. This book is meant to be read and put away. If you don't care about the condition of your books than buy the trades.

The price point here is absolutely unbelievable, almost 50% off retail. That is a fantastic deal.

Honestly I have only read the 1st arc of this vol. I do plan on getting to the next chapter ASAP. Even though I love this collected Ed for all of it's esthetic pleasures I have to admit I am not a huge fan of Hellboy. I love the origin, I love the idea of the character, but I find that as a whole the 1st story did not leave me with a sense of connection, or concern for the characters. I think that was just the 1st story arc setting up the series, and I don-t doubt that I will be editing this review right after I finish it.

So if I love this vol, and I'm still not a big HB fan then imagine what a HB fan like yourself will think of this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this oversized edition of Mike Mignola's Hellboy: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil. This is an excellent start to the series that introduces and develops the characters and concepts of Hellboy and BPRD (the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense). This large hard-cover is beautifully done on quality paper. My only complaint is the choice of fabric for the cover. The fine velvet-like material works well if you ever require a lint brush. Otherwise, I wholeheartedly recommend this fine edition and have already pre-ordered Hellboy Library Edition Volume 2 ( due for release in October 2008).

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3.0 out of 5 stars unsealed
The 3 stars is NOT for the story but rather the quality of the material -- the cover does collect lint and it was not sealed when I received it.

Published on Feb 11 2009 by JnC

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