HELLBOY COMPANION TP
What did the
iFanboy
community think?
Pulls
Size: pages
Price: 14.95
I spent this past weekend devouring all of this. Fantastic! The only complaints that I have concern the bios section and the size. I was expecting more characters in the bio section. I was really hoping to see a write up on “Varvara” and some added details about the demon in this form. I guess we’ll have to see this unfold more in future BPRD stories. I was hoping for a demonology-type of section. Not a serious nitpick, but I wish it was formatted in a standard trade size that fit with the Hellboy/BPRD tpbs on the shelf. I can live with all the art in b&w. Personally, I find it looks great in both color and b&w. The timeline section was a treat. I was suprised at how much i really enjoyed this part. Nice to know when exactly Hellboy experiences his first taste of pancakes (pamcakes!) and how it fits in with everything.
I can forsee that my copy is going to be taking a beating in the next few years. I don’t have the greatest memory and this book will remain at arms reach when every new Hellboy/BPRD issue comes out. Hopefully, this gets revised every 5 years or so to stay current. I would keep buying it.
Who doesn’t want to everything that goes on in the Hellboy-verse?
Art: 4 - Very Good
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How have I not heard of this?! Want!
It’s important to state what this book is not. It’s not a listing of every appearance of the character, or hit points, or much fan obsessive detail that makes up more mainstream encyclopedias. I’m not putting those down, it’s just that this isn’t that sort of thing. But what it is is pretty cool.
There’s plenty of black and white Mignola art which really emphasizes his use of shadow and his contrast of detail to open space. There’s the character bios that were mentioned above but I also enjoyed the timeline because there are stories that Mignola included that he hasn’t written or drawn yet like the barn haunted by a giant ghost cow and Hellboy’s lost year in Mexico where he fought the supernatural with a group of masked luchadores.
There’s also a nice chapter about the literary heritage of Hellboy which talks not only of folklore but of pulps and comics. Then there’s a peek at Mike Mignola’s bookshelf listing books he references and some that fall in the category of "If you like this try these." All in all a classy package.
A note about stickers: Most copies will have a yellow sticker mentioning the motion picture. Dark Horse went to a lot of trouble to try to make it easily removable but, alas, batches of glue evidently vary. They also picked the best spot for the sticker and the angle at which it should be applied. I left mine on. It marks it as a 08 edition and fits right in with the overall design.