From Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #2 (1994)
Though Hellboy had officially first debuted in two short stories a year before this miniseries was released, Seed of Destruction was the first full story starring the supernatural investigator. Here, readers were given a fleshed out version of Hellboy, a demon battling against the horrors plaguing humanity. His origins, his supporting cast members, and his job as a member of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense were all introduced to readers for the first time here.
Created, drawn, and designed by Mike Mignola, this first Hellboy series was scripted by John Byrne. Having never written dialogue before, Mignola asked Byrne to step and do the final version of the script. That’s not to say that Mignola gave up much control over the final product. Everything was still plotted and overseen by Hellboy’s creator.
This gorgeous splash page, which has Hellboy being surprise-attacked by a giant tentacled monster, shows off Mignola’s extraordinary skill for drawing the supernatural. It is a skill that he continues to hone to this day in the pages of Hellboy’s various adventures.
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Only trade I read of Hellboy so far, but man it’s worth picking up! Art is gorgeous and the story is good!
Believe it or not, the rest get even better!
I know! I just lack the time to read them. I’m actually behind on my reading stack for about a month and then I got the Walking Dead Compendium Vol. 2 to finish, then B.P.R.D. Vol 1 and it just never seems to end… Truly! 0_o
I hear that, I’m behind on too many and just cut my pull in half, only keeping up with what I enjoy the absolute most and am honestly more interested in plenty of oats stories in trade, omnibus or absolute…..and Hellboy does get better, Hellboy & BPRD are two of my always reads that are purely consistently good.
Just re-read this last week. It may sound odd but, I love the yellow backdrop.Hellboy and the tentacle leap off the page.
I still love Mignola’s pencils, but this is when he was at the top of his game. His Hellboy these days looks a bit scrawny. I much prefer the thicker, blocky look of the 90’s version.
On thing I loved about the Seed of Destruction mini – black borders! He’s never gone back to black borders. I thought it really lent so much to that first mini.
I recently lent this book to a woman in my biology class, she said she liked it but preferred Jeff Lemire’s Animal Man (women, LOL). As long as she liked it tho I don’t hold anything against her. It’s been awhile since I read this, must been my Junior year in High School? This was the book that got me hooked, and now I have every Hellboy story except Weird Tales and Masks and Monsters. Wonder what it would taake to get Del Toro working on Hellboy 3 ASAP?
Millions of dollars would probably do the trick.