I've been waiting for Hellboy in Mexico for a long time. Mike Mignola talks about the convention card he drew years ago that inspired the story, and yeah, I've got one. I believe it was a Chicago con, if I remember correctly.
In any case, factor in monster-fighting luchadores with some beautiful Richard Corben art and this first story was just fantastic. I really hope there are some follow-ups on the way, either featuring the surviving luchadores OR the bat-monster dude. Just more Hellboy in Mexico! Corben does a great job with the wrestling moves too; this is a fun issue.
Double Features of Evil has the kind of high-concept BPRD case that I wish we could see more of. With Hellboy's own path in sort of a weird place these days, I relish these chances to see glimpses of his old cases. And that haunted house story! Wonderful!
The Sleeping and the Dead is surprisingly sad, given the amount of smashing and vampire-punching involved. Mignola provides a pretty neat explanation why there aren't many blood-suckers in his world. Heck, when they do pop up, Hellboy just kills them anyway. I also liked seeing some more random field agents in this story. The BPRD is staffed by government shlubs who know about monsters. They're not so good at killing them, but at least they know monsters exist!
Richard Corben returns for the Bride of Hell. Another fantastic short story featuring Hellboy's background at the BPRD. It's always neat seeing Hellboy mix it up with crusaders and religious nuts, so I dug this one too.
Buster Oakley gets his wish is just plain silliness. That's what I used to love about Hellboy in the beginning. It was fun seeing him bust heads when reality wasn't on the line! Kevin Nowlan handles the fun art and horror mix perfectly.
Good
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