Giant Robot Hellboy #2 Review

Giant Robot Hellboy #2 Review

It’s an anime Hellboy, no, it’s a giant robot that looks like Hellboy, no—it is Hellboy! It is Hellboy on the pages of Giant Robot Hellboy #2 of 3 in this mini-series, or at least part of it. If the last few pages are any indication of what’s in store for this Kaiju-smashing Hellboy story, then we could see Mignola and Fegredo come back for round two.

Who knows? It’s all subjective, but I remain optimistic. When I saw the cover, I knew I had to catch a peek at what the story was all about. Despite it not being an Iron Giant, a Hellboy Robot was enough to tickle my intrigue.

My first question was, “Why was he a robot?” While I can’t tell you who sponsored this H.P. Lovecratian-style robot hardware, the methods behind it are, of course, metaphysical. Our dear Hellboy is strapped in snug to a chair plugged up to an Enkeladite device—the stuff that seems to make monsters—or at least that is the connection I’m assumed to make.

After all, Hellboy is somewhat of a monster hunter, so where there are monsters, you can be sure to see a faint red shadow in pursuit. While Hellboy is strapped to a chair somewhere in London, a mysterious woman affiliated with the same people searches a Cherynoble-like town, chased by overgrown spiders. Jian, the mysterious woman, seems to have stumbled upon an important book of answers, which I assume might explain all the giant monsters.

 I enjoyed Hellboy’s metaphysical robot counterpart as he fought against a giant rock dragon (Godzilla wannabe), a centipede-like sea serpent, followed by a giant octopus, and a praying mantis. Missles, flamethrowers, and big metal punches were enough to keep most of them at bay, but when the machine goes wonky, it’s no longer being controlled by Hellboy, so who’s controlling the Hellbot now?

Aside from a few names, you most definitely will have to get issue one to get a little context on the characters in this issue. Overall, I believe it’s anti-climactic, but it works as a story. The colors and art style feel very Dark Horse-driven, which I don’t have a problem with, but it’s more of a household ranch kind of thing I see from titles from Dark Horse. Maybe the art style is popular among the artists that publish there, but it doesn’t compare to the contrast and colors used in previous works that put Hellboy on the map.

The series feels like a raw attempt to capitalize on the Kaiju market, as Kong and Godzilla rip ass through the revived pantheon of giant monsters.

Might we see an absence of Hellboy in the near future? Is there even a future for Hellboy going forward? What struck me most was that the dialogue in the story seemed to carry the same ambiance. Aside from Sam or Jian, most of the characters felt stale. For the classic 22-pager, I’m not sure this issue would be worth buying alone without its predecessor and the grand finale.

I could be wrong, and the bigger picture escapes my understanding. Stepping into a writer’s shoes underneath an editor’s hat, I see a lot that could be done. We did get quite a few pages of giant fight scenes, so as far as high concepts go, the artist carried his solo well. Now run on over to your nearest comic shop, kids, if you want to see what happens in the next issue of Giant Robot Hellboy.

As always, stay geeky, share the network, and don’t forget to catch me on the latest episode of Comics’N’Poptarts.