Story and art by: Mike Mignola
Colored by: Dave Stewart
Lettering by: Clem Robins
Cover by: Mike Mignola
Published by: Dark Horse Comics
Summary:
The Descent to hell starts with Hellboy falling while wrestling a dragon. To catch readers up to speed, Hellboy has died after dueling against a Dragon during a trek to Britain. Hellboy lands in the abyss, which is a limbo-like state between hell and the life he had before.
Hellboy travels throughout the abyss with a being that has its face covered by a mask, and Hellboy is being taken to different scenes of “life” that show him previous partners, previous enemies and previous adventures that he’s managed to experience within his lifetime. Hellboy is launched into Pandimonum, which is a city in the heart of Hell. The spirit tells him that many provinces, kings, princes and important demonic figures have hidden themselves away from him as they were expecting his coming.
The spirit takes him to the Cocytus river, where damned souls are. The “fisher of souls” takes those damned souls and hammers them out into soldiers for an army of hell. Hellboy finds out that this army is supposed to take directions from him, along with other surprises that delve into his family history and how he came to Earth. The story goes deeper as Hellboy fights various demons such as the Leviathan and his brothers.
Mike Mignola’s choice of using three primary colors in his artwork gives Hellboy a melancholic feel, but the story never goes too far into the Gothic as Hellboy himself gives off grounded dialogue that anchors the story. Black is the color that anchors the design, along with grays, greens, reds, blues and yellows. The lettering stands out in response to the color choice that Mignola has always stuck with, to its advantage; One of the themes that stuck out to me in this book was the connection that Hellboy had with Hell, and why he was sent to Earth. Great graphic novel and a must-read for Hellboy readers.
Overall: 8/10
India Williams is a comic writer and reviewer based in Florida. She is a lifelong comics fan, with favorites including Thor, Conan, G.I. Joe, and Speed Racer. When she’s not writing comics or reviewing them, she enjoys toy photography.
