Quick Rating: Odd in a Very Good Way
Title: Various

Writer: Jill Thompson, Akira Yoshida and Kia Asamiya, Evan Dorkin, John Cassaday
Artist: Jill Thompson, Kia Asamiya, Evan Dorkin, Gary Fields with Michelle Madsen, John Cassaday
Color: Dave Stewart, Sarah Dyer, Nick Derington
Letters: Clem Robins, Jason Hvam
Editor: Scott Allie

Hellboy deals with a monstrous toy company, WWII fighter pilots, and a bevy of odd skeletons. The wonder of anthology comics is that they allow readers to uncover new aspects of familiar creators and to discover wholly new creators.

I have long been a fan of Jill Thompson. Scary Godmother is one of the greatest comics out there. And any project with her name on it is a must-have. So, you can imagine my glee upon seeing her name on this issue. The story is beautifully painted. Unfortunately, it does not offer much on the plot side. I’m not always a big fan of one-joke tales (even good-looking ones). I usually do like it when stories break down that fourth wall, but this just cried out for a touch more.

On the other hand, I have not been a fan of Evan Dorkin’s work, but I can’t give a reason other than being a bit put off by what little I have seen. Hey, Milk and Cheese might be my thing, but I don’t know. Here, I thought he did a fantastic job and I am probably going to seek out some more of his work.

Kia Asamiya is a Manga artist, perhaps best known to American audiences for his work on the Star Wars Manga adaptation. His studio has also produced Silent Mobius, Nadesico, and Steam Detectives. Although I’d actually read some of those, he still felt new to me. And I loved his work in Weird Tales. Enough so I have to go back and check those out again.

Why do they include pin-ups in comic books? If the point is to try out a new artist, then does the artist need to be tried out before the whole world? Does anyone actually cut them out and hang them on their wall? Are there college dorm rooms out there tastefully decorated in Top Cow portraits and beer cans wedged across the ceiling? Why not include a text page containing some non-contextual description? Surely, a Hellboy pin-up does not qualify as cheesecake or beefcake (perhaps pancake, for those who have read their Mignola).

May, 2004

Quick Rating: Four Scooby Snacks!
Title: The Corpse

Isn’t it time for a Scooby Doo/Hellboy crossover? At least in the movies?

Writer: Mike Mignola
Artist: Mike Mignola
Letters: Pat Brosseau
Colors: Matthew Hollingsworth
Editor: Scott Allie

The Corpse has been billed as Mignola’s personal favorite Hellboy tale. This low-priced issue serves as a tie-in to the movie. In Ireland, Hellboy helps a family whose baby has been taken by faeries (not the bright and cheery Disney type). The thieves demand Hellboy buries their dead friend, a drunken gambler, in hallowed ground. Unfortunately, one of the fairies decides to complicate the task. The back of the pamphlet includes some information showing how the story fits with the movie.

I really like Hellboy. I walked by it many, many times before I gave it a try… all those wasted years…
But (everybody has a but) I find that I enjoy Hellboy the most in collected format. The world of Hellboy interests me. I like the interaction of the characters. I consider the artwork outstanding. But it’s tough to read just one. It just feels like you’ve walked in on the middle of something. I think it was T.S. Eliot who compared life to a cocktail party that’s already started when we arrive and we have to leave before it’s over. That essence of missed opportunity and baleful accomplishment seems to pervade Hellboy more than any other piece of literature created in recent years.

And now the movie stride onto the screen. –Dark Horse deserves credit for this effort at cross-promotion.– I look forward to it with trepidation. No film could be so dark (in color, let alone tone) as the comic books and still appeal much beyond the borderlands of the comic field. It may have a large opening, which usually means nothing for staying power or quality. (Do you remember Dungeons and Dragons?) That alone may be a pleasant surprise, but I hope for something that succeeds because it is good.

The again, just once I want to read or hear those wonderful words: “I would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids… and that red guy with the really big hand.” It could be dark and yet light-hearted. It would have whimsy tinged with gore. It would be reassuring while you hide under your bed sheets late at night.

April, 2004

Quick Rating: Excellent!

It’s Grendel – what more do you need?

Writer: Matt Wagner
Artists: Bernie Mireault and Jay Geldhof
Editor: Diana Schutz
Cover art: John K. Snyder III

Review: Let me begin by invoking the Bacchus of rock criticism, Lester Bangs. He once began a review by describing how he had discovered true love while attending a Barry White concert. The object of his affection, as I recall, was the silken soul singer himself. Lester made it sound as though he was tempted to slip off his skivvies and treat Barry White like so many have treated Tom Jones.

I have attended a few concerts in my time, but I have never been enticed to send my cotton personals on a long arc toward the stage. For that matter, I have never seen anyone else’s underwear land on the stage. The panties may be willing, but the arms are unable. Joey Ramone and Lyle Lovett and Bill Monroe just do not attract their fair share of undergarments, anyway.

Besides, I am very close to my underwear. You and I probably do not have much in common, but we are likely to share that quality. And I do not speak of mere proximity. Even the old, raggedy stuff in the back of your sock drawer is difficult to part with. Let’s face it. Your underwear goes where few others have traveled. I know the truth. You love your underwear.

When I rediscovered comics in the 1980’s, it was Matt Wagner and Dave Sim and Alan Moore that led me back. Sim and Moore and so many others are for another day. Today, let us praise Matt Wagner.

Grendel: God and the Devil #8 (Dark Horse) is a reprint of Grendel #31 (Comico) from May 1989. The entire God and the Devil is a reprint of a run from that original Grendel series. It has been re-colored, which it needed. It also sports a snappy new cover by John K. Snyder III. I can tell you much about the original, because it was sitting in the back of my sock drawer with those lucky boxers that I save for long airplane flights. These are a few of my favorite things. (Grendel in comics and whiskers on kittens; bright lucky undies and warm woolen mittens; brown paper packages tied up with strings… my god! What was in those anyway, Julie?)

Grendel is a true anti-hero. He accomplishes heroic ends through non-heroic means. Essentially, the various Grendel comics trace the passing of the Grendel mantle through time, leaping across generations on occasion. In each age, the populace interprets the character of Grendel differently, funneling that understanding through one focal point.

So, what’s happening here? The series takes place in a future America, devastated by ecological contempt and dominated by a twisted version of the Catholic Church. And vampires are real. Orion Assante, a rich man who has always lived outside of the church’s purview, has taken on the church and been forced to flee. This issue tells how he is lured back to the Church’s territory and the tragic consequences that follow. Meanwhile, Grendel wages his own battle against the Church. And vampires make an appearance.

This is not for those who are easily offended. This is not for children. Interestingly, the original issue includes an unsigned letter, which expresses great unhappiness with Wagner’s treatment of the Catholic Church. Diana Schutz, editor then and now, commented at the time that it was the first condemnation they had received. No such letter appears in the reprint. Perhaps that is progress of a sort.

Matt Wagner demonstrates an incredible capacity for epic storytelling here. He is one of the few writers who have written anything that could keep me interested for ten months or more. He has a multitude of clearly delineated characters within a web of sub-plots. He knows enough to close some story lines each month just so the reader feels justified in having bothered. And still, this issue ends with a classic cliffhanger.

The art by Bernie Mireault and Jay Geldhof remains stunning. Need I tell you that the improved coloring and superior paper quality make the pictures shine? These artists threw everything they knew about comics into these books. You should own this issue just so you can take it out and show the bottom panel on page nineteen to your friends.

Diana Schutz also deserves Excelsior for drawing readers into the world behind the pages. This side of Brian Bendis, no one else captures the essence of a Bullpen Bulletin, as well.

If you don’t have the original issues or you do but they have gotten a little gross in your underwear drawer, then you need to buy these. I understand that there may have been some concerns about how Dark Horse originally solicited this series. It is not new Grendel. I don’t care. I know the truth. You would love Grendel.

2003