Images © Mike Mignola.

I’m behind in my reading of this series, reviewing the collection above published in 2006. The cast of characters in the Hellboy spinoff is a good one, from oddities like Roger the homunculus, a sort of living stone creature, to Abe Sapien, some kind of alien fishlike fellow, to the ghost in a spacesuit, Johann Kraus, to the more human characters Liz Sherman, the fire-starter, Dr. Kate Corrigan their own science wiz, and fairly new commander Captain Daimio, a disfigured warrior returned from the dead. With a cast like that you have a lot to work with, and writers Mike Mignola and John Arcudi are pitting them against an otherworldly infestation of giant froglike beings, apparently being fostered by a business tycoon who fancies himself a world conqueror. Lots of action, thrills and tense turns for our cast, with one of them meeting a dire fate.

The art by Guy Davis is certainly atmospheric, captures the tension and mood, and tells the story well. I have to admit I’ve never been a fan of his work, I think because his human faces are all too similar, and contain a collection of features I don’t find appealing, particularly the wide thick-lipped mouths which are usually turned down at the ends. I’m sure this is a matter of personal taste, but at times the characters are a bit hard to tell apart, particularly in mid-distance group shots. At least the non-human characters are no problem there! And I have to give him props for drawing some genuinely creepy and disturbing monsters:

Overall this is a fine series, and one I’ll be reading more of soon. Recommended.