How could I forget about this coming out!? With a dry spell of Hellboy comics coming out (sans BPRD) I was so excited to see a longer story come out instead of just one-shots or long released mini’s. Plus you have Richard Corben as artist! How can this get any better!?

Two Words: Mexican Frankenstein

Mike Mignola starts the book off with thanking the classic Universal monsters and the actors who played them. It’s key to read this first because you’ll understand why Mignola literally throws everything but the kitchen sink when it comes to the monsters in this book. You mainly get a entertaining wrestling match with Hellboy against a Frankenstein-like creature. But then you have gun carrying werewolves, revived vampires, and even some horny ghosts. It all sounds like a clusterfuck I know, but trust me, it all works. There is a great mix of humor and action in this book. While the humor is more dry then anything else, it’s nice to see that Mignola still has the touch of writing an entertaining story without going all moody and dark like before. But he does tie into the recent developments of Hellboy even though this takes place in the past. (Plus if you didn’t read the brilliant ‘Hellboy in Mexico’ one-shot, I would recommend it. Not because of continuity sake but because it’s also amazing.)

What’s also great about this book is the art by Richard Corben. I’ve always been a fan of his work but he really got my attention with Hellboy. I don’t know which God to pray and thank to but his art fits perfectly for the character. He puts a lot of attention to the mood of the settings. He gives us a lot of space into each setting, so when you see the empty lair of the Frankenstein creature, you do feel a bit unnerved about the whole place. He also does a great job with the places having a lot of decay or rot around it. The same goes for his skeletons and he definitely flexes his muscles with the creatures in this book. Finally a lot of credit should go to Dave Stewart with his brilliant coloring as always. He’s already won the Eisner in my mind for ‘The Fury #3’ but damn he continues to deliver with each Dark Horse book he works on.

Yes it is a bit of a cheat but I have to say: This was my POTW. It’s a graphic novel and not a single issue, but at the end of the day I really loved this book to death. It has a lot of things going for it from gorgeous art, a fun story, and more monsters then you will see in a comic book. Plus with the Hellboy dry spell ending with this graphic novel; it made me appreciate the character a lot more. This also proves once again that the one and done stories seem to be the best for Hellboy rather then the epic storylines Mignola has planned. If you’re a big fan of Hellboy then I’m sure you bought this. But if you haven’t, boy are you missing out.