[Comic Book Review] 'Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1954' TPB from Dark Horse Comics

[Comic Book Review] ‘Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1954’ TPB from Dark Horse Comics

Joshua Winchester

November 29, 2017

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PopCultHQ received a review copy of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1954 TPB from Dark Horse Comics. Available January 10^th, 2018, the creative team for this series features writing from Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson, art from Richard Corben, Stephen Green, Patric Reynolds, and Brian Churilla, colors by Dave Stewart, and lettering from Clem Robins.

Here’s PopCultHQ’s spoiler-free review of…

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1954 TPB

Writers: Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson
Artists: Richard Corben, Stephen Green, Patric Reynolds, Brian Churilla
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Clem Robins
Cover Artist: Mike Mignola

Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
Publication Date: January 10, 2018
Format: FC, 144 pages; TPB, 7” x 10”
SRP: $19.99

No longer a rookie, Hellboy joins other Bureau agents in a series of far-flung mysteries that take them searching for yetis terrorizing an Arctic research team, into the American suburbs where a family is haunted by a phantom monkey, and to a Hong Kong showdown with demons drawn to a Chinese artifact.

iZombie co-creator Chris Roberson teams with Mike Mignola and a group of artists to uncover the horror and intrigue of a growing occult Cold War. Mignola also reunites with legendary artist Richard Corben for the short story ”The Mirror.”

Collects Hellboy and the BPRD: 1954 #1-#5 and ”Hellboy: The Mirror” from Free Comic Book Day 2016.

PopCultHQ’s Comic Book Review:
Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1954 TPB

Writing:

Mike and Chris teaming up together to write this series was a good partnership. Mike’s work on Hellboy is legend, the stories and characters he’s created over the years. Infusing his writing style with that of Chris brings extra fresh perspective to the Hellboy universe and to its lead character. Hopefully they will team up again in the future on other Hellboy mini-series, because these two worked well together.

Art:

These four artists working alongside Mike and Chris made the series pop. Each issue readers were treated to a new Hellboy story, with different art styles to accompany the script. Fans of each of their respective styles will recognize and applaud the work they do working to bring these stories about a new chapter in Hellboy’s career to life.

Dave had a lot of work for this entire book. Coloring each artist’s work meant that he had to go the extra mile on this one. Colors to suit every story, to match the different art styles, to help bring the scripts to life. This is a challenge and he rose to the occasion and knocked it out of the park on this one. Hellboy fans will love what he has done working with this team.

Clem’s work as letterer also meant he had a lot of work as well. Different characters means not just different styles of lettering, but infusing that lettering with something more. The ability to make each figure, hero or villain or civilian, have their own distinctive voice. Such a task could have been done by no one else and Clem’s ability shined throughout the book.

PopCultHQ’s overall assessment:

Hellboy is a figure in comics who’s fame is vast and his fans legion. So when Mike Mignola teams up with Chris Roberson, a team of varied and dedicated artists, plus a heck of a colorist and dynamite letterer, the end result is this book. It’s chock full of Hellboy goodness and the sort of stories and art that make this character so enjoyable for readers both old and new.