graphic novels

As a columnist at the comic book website Comixtreme.com, a few months ago I asked my readers to rank the best graphic novels I'd personally never read, with the promise that I would try to read some of them and come back with my comments. This was one of the books that topped the list, the introduction of Mike Mignola's "Hellboy," and since there's a movie coming out later this year, I thought this was the perfect chance to check it out.

This is a decent little action tale, with Mignola and scripter John Byrne presenting our hero, a strange, demonic creature found as a child and raised by humans to be an agent of a sort of supernatural secret service. We also meet several of Hellboy's comerades, including my personal favorite, the amphibious Abe Sapien.

At the end of this graphic novel, though, I'm not left feeling like I've really gotten to know any of the characters. This book exists mainly to set up the situation -- Hellboy's origin, his occupation, etc. Hopefully future installments will get more in-depth as to who he really is, and not just in your standard superhero sense, but in a deeper, character-building sense as well. Still, this is a fun read and a nice place to start. It's good enough to have me on the lookout for Hellboy Vol. 2.

If you're looking to get into the world of Hellboy, I would suggest any of the other better trade paperbacks as a starter--paticularly Right Hand of Doom, since it recaps Hellboy's origins.

First off, the main problem with this book is John Byrne's dialogue--not that it's bad in and of itself, but it doesn't "read" like Hellboy. Byrne chose to give the character the typical tough guy talk--not bad, but much better done by Frank Miller.

Another problem with this book is the colors--they're terribly green and dull, not evoking a mystical or scary look, just a ugly looking color job.

Mignola's gorgeous art is the saviong grace of this book--his brilliant character design and sense of storytelling are fantastic.

Okay, I just read picked this up because the movie was coming out, and I'm one of those people who does that (as probably are many of you reading these reviews). But I found myself thoroughly enjoying Mike Mignola's HELLBOY.

This first HELLBOY book is a little on the short side, and at times, Mignola probably gives too much attention to the mythology rather than the characters, but all in all it's a fun read.

It's not my favorite comic I've read (definitely not in the Alan Moore category) but it's fun and well worth your time.

The artwork is definitely top notch. Even if the story were no good (but it is good) it would be worth getting to look at.

Now that the movie's out (which was also very entertaining and worthy of your time) I'm sure I'll keep reading the rest of the series.

Happy reading!