Hellboy - The Sleeping and the Dead #1

[sherkahn]

Hellboy once again reminds us why vampires are not to be tolerated to walk amongst the living.

*modified by request for context


And when they get bored, things get very ugly

Context, as request.

1966, Suffolk, England (feels like a Hammer horro movie) - Hellboy is investigating vampire attacks on the local guests at a nearby inn. Mortally wounding the vampire attacker, Hellboy follows her white bat form into the woods, and comes upon a human hunter at night overlooking her fallen body. He checks to examine it, but gets a face full of shotgun for his troubles.

When he comes to, Hellboy follows the blood trail to a house, where in the main room his attacker and the wounded vampire sit. His attacker was defending her, and explains that Hellboy has unleashed something terrible. Our narrator explains that European vampires had gone into hiding, after the epidemics of vampirism had created generations of master vampire hunters. For their safety, the head of the vampire covens decided to go underground, their new-borns never to be raised from the earth until "memory of us" had been wiped away. One particular vampire hid himself with the narrator's family.



"They made Mary their plaything."

With his story told, the old man leads Hellboy to the confrontation with his vampire master, only to booby trap him and send him into her care.

There is a phone at the bottom of the trap, and the old man apologizes to Hellboy.



Hellboy sees the skeletons of the Mary's victims and the toy wooden coffins that lead from the trap door to the cavern below. The old man apologizes one more time and hangs up.

"She needs to be locked away. And she needs to be fed."

Something that the vampires can't control.





The whole issue is a great one. Once again, the Hellboy formula still delivers. Lots of little Hellboy stumbles onto a case that is bigger than he suspects, things go wrong, and in his usual modus operandi walks into a fight he may not be able to walk away from.

Comments

[stubbleupdate]

Perhaps I'm being particularly dense, but it's really tough to get shivers without the appropriate mood and context

[nezchan]

Agreed. I really have no clue what's going on in the last panel, so any emotional reaction gets lost.

[blackruzsa]

I'm confused, but the shivers are still kinda there.

Any context, poster?

[venatosapiens]

For some reason, without Mignola drawing this, I'm not feeling it. I love Richard Corbin, but this style just....doesn't do it for me. The signature "Hellboy Look" doesn't mesh with it at all.

[venatosapiens]

And I meant to say that this artist, who is NOT Richard Corbin, isn't working. In case it wasn't clear.

[lissa_quon]

Enh the style works okay until you slap in Hellboy. He just looks really out of place, whether it's the color palate or what I can't quite put my finger on.

[venatosapiens]

I think it's that Hellboy looks like he was drawn by Mignola or someone aping the style, and it clashes horribly with the rest of the figure drawings. And you're right; the color palette is wonky as hell.

I really do Mignola or Corbin or even Davis had taken a spin at this.

[cainofdreaming]

I'm sorry but as the self-appointed prophet of The Hampton I can't let this slight pass with anything less than pistols at dawn. Feel free to choose the day and field of battle at your convenience.

I have to say, though, that if Hampton had taken a bit more freedom with the iconic look of Hellboy it might have worked a bit better with his painting-esque style, but... well, that's the trouble with iconic characters and their looks, isn't it? Too much respect can in fact hamper the artist.

[blackruzsa]

I like the art.

Also, who else thinks the bells rhyme is blatantly creepy? I read it when I was ten, and the chop off your head bit still gets me.