blogging by Andrew Wickliffe


Dark Horse Presents (1986) #90


Dhp90

Mignola looks good in black and white. There are some very effective panels in Hellboy. The writing helps. He knows when to write and when to just let the art do its work. Up until the end of this issue, it’s almost like Hellboy is a passive force in the story. He’s an unknown quantity. Then he starts kicking butt at the end. Oh, and horrifying werewolf transformation sequence. It’s short, but amazing.

As for Paleolove, the only thing Davis is worse at writing than narration is apparently scenes between two men. It’s hard to believe these cavemen could even follow what the other is saying since Davis seems to think dialogue is better the more confusing it gets. I wonder what Paleolove would be like if Davis could write or draw well.

Finally, there’s another Baden. Lots of technobabble. McCallum’s art is still fine, Alexander’s writing is still bad.


One response to “Dark Horse Presents (1986) #90”

  1. Another bizarre twist in Hellboy occurs much later when he incorporates Duncan Fegrado as the artist. At that point, Hellboy stories really hit an apogee for me. I take a lot of crap for it, but Mignola was never a favorite artist of mine, and Fegrado REALLY takes it to a new level with his presence, making Hellboy almost believable. This stuff just begins to scratch the surface, and the upcoming side stories of BPRD are icing on the cake. Mignola’s deep curiosity of the arcane is frequently evident, and those that are into this stuff will enjoy profusely the integration of magical lore in these episodes.

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