Mike MIgnola continues to build the Hellboy universe and franchise every year. What started as his monumental Hellboy comic over a decade ago has now spawned two movies, dark fantasy novels, and the spin-off B.P.R.D. series. Focusing on the other Hellboy characters at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense in Hellboy’s absence, this title is joined by Abe Sapien: The Drowning, Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus and the recently released B.P.R.D. 1946.
1946 #1 gives readers a much desired view of Hellboy’s adoptive father, Trevor Bruttenhom, and his involvement with the Bureau in the years after World War Two. Stationed in the American sector of Berlin, Bruttenholm is trying to uncover the occult research and mystical artifacts the Third Reich was experimenting on. While he’s doing this for his country, he is mostly concerned with any information he can find on young Hellboy, who is currently at an air base in New Mexico.
It appears as though Bruttenholm has stumbled upon an asylum where Nazi scientists were experimenting on vampires. While the full extent of the mystery has yet to be presented, Mignola does an excellent job of painting a picture with his characters - like the delinquent band of soldiers or the Russian head of occult studies, a little girl, which seems reminiscent of The Boys‘ Nina Namenko, a Russian mob-boss who is also a little girl. (I’m not saying there was copying as both series have been in the works for enough time that this is probably a coincidence, but it is interesting that both The Boys‘ writer Garth Ennis and Mignola portray a Russian leader as a little girl).
While this story won’t be essential to understanding the entirety of the Hellboy universe, I think many people want to see more of Bruttenholm because he has had such an important impact on Hellboy, yet died at the beginning of the first trade paperback. What these spin-off series do is give us a look at important characters that are usually in the background. They are important because they make up Hellboy’s character and his story.
Image courtesy Dark Horse
Matt Knicl: My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.
Comments
There are no comments yet. Be the first to comment on this post...
Add your comment
the217
Buzz Magazine
Matt Knicl
My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.