Before being a film, Hellboy is above all a superb series by Mike Mignola. Is this reissue by Delcourt of the same author at the level of the main series?
Get out of your habits
Beyond the big Marvel and DC companies, there are other universes that are often overlooked. JustFocus often tells you about Valiant published in France by Bliss Comics but we have another darling in the newsroom: Mike Mignola. This genius author almost single-handedly created an entire world. The superb design and its unique style is recognizable from the first box. Mignola loves filled with black the background of the images, mixing very precise real faces and simplified shapes, simply evoked but we plunge into another world. We see that he rethinks the first photos for Lincoln for example. Delcourt includes in this volume many sketches and a short page where Mignola explains the origin of each story by Mignola.
Science and magic
The Screw-headed Man is an android who pursues the zombie emperor and his vampire wife in search of absolute power. Like Indiana Jones, these two opposing groups are looking for an artifact but it will result in a big surprise. The reader travels the world through legends like here in Russia.
This longer narrative is followed by several other shorter stories. This gothic comic is made alone or with his daughter. We find the fetishes of the author with his passion for thenineteenth century but revisited in steampunk fashion, the beginnings of espionage, esotericism through foreign mythologies … Steampunk is not just a setting but it is at the heart of the story. The author seeks to understand the origins of the United States by reinventing the past of industrial society. Indeed, he is not only interested in the magical past or the technological future but mixes the two in the narrative and the characters.
A touch of humor
Mignola winks at his favorite hero because the devil looks a lot like Hellboy. Unlike other stories, there is more humor like the pathetic ridiculous character of the zombie emperor. Without the pressure of having to integrate this story into a universe, Mignola lets go and draws up a gallery of characters. He mixes all genres – ghosts and Martians in the same narrative – but never gets lost. The screenwriter, however, can not help in the last boxes to gather all these stories.
The man with the head of the screw is therefore a good introduction to discover a major author creator of the universe of Hellboy. This compilation of short stories shows that Mike Mignola is a creator of universes passionate about certain themes such as the struggle for absolute power. You can then only look to read Hellboy.
