Three Enjoyable Tales from The Hellboy Winter Special 2018
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
The Hellboy Winter Special 2018 brings us three tales from the past. Firstly, in 1957, Hellboy joins the Wakefield Manor in summoning the spirit of an ancestor. Hellboy has a bad feeling about this, and, to make things worse, Ava Galluci is participating in the ritual. Next, in Bulgaria, 1954, a village goes out to ward off the forest spirits from killing their crop in the winter. However, the forest spirits are getting tired of their ritual and let them know how they feel about it. Finally, in New York City, 1930, a trio of crime lords want to run off the competition, a man by the name of Pretty Boy Calory. They decide to mimic the crimefighter, the Lobster, and use his brand while rubbing out all of Calory’s men. The Lobster isn’t happy about this.
Hellboy Winter Special 2018 is a breezy read spanning three points in the history of Hellboy in the Mignolaverse.
Each story flows in and out pretty quickly, but each is a fun and quirky little tale. The first is likely my favorite, and it is the one in which Hellboy is the most prevalent. His wit and foresight make for a pretty entertaining short tale.
If I had more knowledge of the Mignolaverse, the second two stories might have hit more of a chord for me, but I’ll admit to my own ignorance here.
The second story having forest spirits just telling the people holding the ritual to get over themselves is some good fun though, and the final story’s riffing on the Prohibition-era gangster style and the Lobster’s motif is enjoyable.
Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon, Ben Stenbeck, and Tonci Zonjic make up the artist crew on this issue. Each one does good work and keeps a consistent aesthetic framework. It’s grim and shadow-heavy, but keeps enough of the traditional comic book style as to keep things pretty light still. Dave Stewart and Tonci Zonjic provide the color work, and that looks damn good, too.
Hellboy Winter Special 2018 is a fun and festive read centering around various aspects of Hellboy and the Mignolaverse. Each story flows smoothly and is accompanied by solid artwork. This one is worth a recommendation to any Hellboy and/or Mignolaverse fan. Feel free to check it out.
Hellboy Winter Special 2018 comes to us from writers Mike Mignola, Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon, and Tonic Zonjic, artists Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon, Ben Stenbeck, and Tonci Zonjic, color artists Dave Stewart and Tonci Zonjic, and cover artist Mike Mignola.