Hellboy: Animated Volume One: The Black Wedding

Take a Look at the Newest Spin-Off of the Hellboy Universe

Sep 4, 2008

After conquering the big screen and the small screen in equal measures, Hellboy makes the leap back to comics with this Animated Series style comic book series.

Before Hollywood got their hands on him, Hellboy was a relatively unknown character. Since the release of the Hellboy movie in 2004, which was greeted with moderate success and eventual cult status when it was released on DVD, the empire that at one point only stretched to comics has reached out and dug its claws into other mediums, giving us the Hellboy Animated universe, a cross between the comic book universe and that of the Guillermo del Toro film.

Thus far, there have been two Hellboy Animated features, Hellboy: Sword of Storms and Hellboy: Blood and Iron, but what’s really interesting is the fact that the cartoon has proven popular enough to garner a comic spin-off of its own.

A Comic Book, Based on a Cartoon, Based on a Movie, Based on a Comic Book.

The idea behind the Hellboy Animated comic book series is a seemingly lighter, more ’kid-friendly’ version of the original Dark Horse Comic from Mike Mignola. The characters are the same, but there isn’t nearly twenty years of mythos to catch up on. It’s an easy ‘in’ for the new fan who may only be familiar with the 2004 movie. The book’s style is the same as the two Animated movies that came in 2006 and 2007 (Hellboy: Sword of Storms and Hellboy: Blood and Iron, respectively), which is a crossbreed between the character’s looks from both the original comic and the live action movie.

There are differences between the Animated incarnation than those that came before it -- Professor Bruttenholm is still alive, for example, whereas he died in both original comic and film -- but these divergences are small enough to still keep the title new-fan friendly. Each of these differences is explained in the first volume’s introduction, making it even easier for a ‘newb’ to pick up the book and dive right into the story.

Hellboy: Animated Volume One: The Black Wedding and The Pyramid of Death

The first part of the new Hellboy series (The Black Wedding) picks up with the world’s greatest paranormal detective investigating strange goings on in France. Everything seems to be as routine as any other Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense possibly can be until Liz Sherman, a pyrokinetically gifted woman and one of Hellboy’s closest friends and teammates, is kidnapped for use in a nefarious ritual.

The second part of the volume, a short story about a Young Hellboy (The Pyramid of Death) making trouble on the military base where he grew up as he fashions himself after the 1930‘s radio serial hero Lobster Johnson, is even more entertaining than the main event.

Both stories are told by different creative teams, and the contrast between them is great. The Black Wedding is more along the lines of a tradition Hellboy comic book story, dealing with darker themes such as witchcraft and demonology and The Pyramid of Death is a much lighter, cuter and funnier slice-of-life piece. Fans who have come to expect a good story from the Hellboy franchise won’t be disappointed and neither will those expecting a good laugh.

True, The Black Wedding stumbles in a few places--the story feels like it sags a little in the middle, even though it’s so short--but whatever faults it has, The Pyramid of Death more than makes up for with its perfection.

All in all, Hellboy: Animated Volume One: The Black Wedding is a good, solid debut for the new universe.

The copyright of the article Hellboy: Animated Volume One: The Black Wedding in Graphic Novels/Comics is owned by Lydia Ballard. Permission to republish Hellboy: Animated Volume One: The Black Wedding in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.