Hellboy Animated: The Judgment Bell #2
© Dark Horse
Mania Grade: B+
Issue: 2
Authors: Jim Pascoe, Rick Lacy, Michelle Madsen, Tad Stones
Publisher: Dark Horse
Price: $6.95
Issue: 2
Authors: Jim Pascoe, Rick Lacy, Michelle Madsen, Tad Stones
Publisher: Dark Horse
Price: $6.95
Hellboy Animated: The Judgment Bell #2
By: Kurt AmackerDate: Saturday, June 16, 2007
The Hellboy Animated series of manga-sized comics doesn’t adapt either of the straight-to-cable films, but tells new stories in a similar visual style. I appreciate the series all that much more because, well, it means new Hellboy material. Though Hellboy creator Mike Mignola only contributes a pinup (not that kind of pinup) image in this volume, The Judgment Bell retains the same combination of mythic resonance and action thrills that make Mignola’s work so good. While the volume aims a little younger both with its manga-digest format and more cartoonish artwork – courtesy of Rick Lacy, storyboard artist from The Venture Brothers – it explores surprisingly adult territory, with plenty of blood, soul-selling, and children in peril.
It seems that in 1935, Professor Trevor Broom botched a spell helping a friend reclaim his soul. Part of the ritual included grabbing the mythical Judgment Bell from a demon. The Judgment Bell rings at every man’s death, but the one that possesses it has power over mortality itself. Broom should’ve grabbed the bell and failed to do so, leaving his friend to burn somewhere. In the present, Hellboy and Abe Sapien have been summoned to a castle in Poland, where the owner’s daughter has gone missing. In fact, many children have gone missing at the castle. Though Professor Broom didn’t take the Judgment Bell, it still sits somewhere on the castle grounds, where it calls to children from the village. Monster ass-kicking ensues.
It seems that almost every cartoon inspired by a comic generates another comic of its own, like Teen Titans Go!, the old X-Men Adventures, or the new Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century. Usually, these comics-turned-cartoons-turned comics aim for the younger set that may only be familiar with the characters via the show. In this case, Hellboy Animated indulges in the same macabre, mythical mayhem that the regular series does. Granted, Mike Mignola’s presence is always missed, but Jim Pascoe does a fine job of capturing the right atmosphere and the essence of the characters. He even indulges in a little bit of moral ambiguity with Broom’s revelation about the botched spell from all those years ago. It’s nice to see an animated series for fans older than ten, and even nicer to read a tie-in that retains the old series’s substance while keeping it fun. Pick this one up.
