|
|
2.0étoiles sur 5
Interesting Concept Can't Make Up For Flawed Execution, Jui 14 2003
I've been a fan of Paranormal investigator Hellboy ever since he burst onto the comic-book scene courtesy of creator Mike Mignola and publisher Dark Horse Comics, so needless to say I was thrilled when Dark Horse announced that he would be the star of a series of Novels by Horror author Christopher Golden. The enthusiasm waned a bit (Actually it died...) after I read the first book, Hellboy: The Lost Army; I didn't care for it, so I saved The Bones of Giants and the short story collection Odd Jobs for later. Guess Odd Jobs will get put on the back-burner AGAIN, 'cause I really didn't think Bones of Giants was much better. The concept is great- Hellboy is called in to investigate the discovery of a gigantic corpse in Sweden, which turns out to be the remains of the Norse God of Thunder, Thor; Hellboy picks up Thor's hammer Mjollnir, is struck by the lightning the hammer can summon, and finds that not only is the hammer now fused to his right hand, but he's now also the unwilling host for the essence of the "Thunder-Bearer"; Good thing, though- It seems as if Thor isn't the only Norse Deity to be making a comeback; Thrym, a vengeful Frost Giant, has also risen from his grave, and he's looking for a do-over of Ragnarok, the legendary "Twilight of the Gods", and it looks like only Hellboy and his fish-man partner Abe Sapien can stand in his way. If Mignola had handled this in the comic, it would have been solid-gold. Here it just seems stagnant. I really have nothing bad to say about Christopher Golden's writing; He gets the job done, but his style just didn't do anything for me. Avid readers will know what I mean- There are some Authors whose books you just hate to put down, and some whose books you just hate to pick up. For me, Golden falls into the latter category. The only reason I was even able to muster up the resolve to finish the book is because I had no choice! (I finished the last 50 or so pages in the Dentist's office waiting for the Novocaine to kick in.) To his credit, Golden did manage to make the final showdown interesting, but it still wasn't enough for a recommendation. The book has dozens of spot illustrations by Mignola, and although he's hands-down my ALL-TIME FAVORITE artist, they're not his best work, and serve more as mood-setters than actual representations of what is going on in the story at any given time. Kudos to Dark Horse for trying something different, though. The paperbacks are a great idea, especially with the Hellboy movie looming for Summer of 2004, and I'd love to see more, but please give another Author a try...? Maybe Poppy Z. Brite, Edward Lee, or Jack Ketchum?
|
