Customer Reviews

HELLBOY Seed Of Destruction

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Seeds of Destruction is a nice place to begin because it deals with where Hellboy hails from, no pun intended, plus its actually one of Mignola's more heavily Lovecraftian tales. The coloration is also darker in graphic novel form, giving it more of more horror appeal than the pervious comic releases did. There are more than enough Nazis, plots leading into the next Graphic Novel (Wake the Devil) to want you to go on without stranding you in a half-read story, not to mention the fact that its so wonderfully dark.
Something that all other reviews seem to be leaving out, something that affected my purchase of this particular graphic novel for a while, is the fact that it isn't simply the Seeds of Destruction story. Included within it are also two other stories, earlier works of Mignola, that are oftentimes overlooked and are quite the pain to find in their original formats.
1) This is a story from San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2, a little tale involving squibs of storyline and drying up towns in the desert, not to mention Anubis.
2) There's another story from Comic's Buyer's Guide dealing with Herman Von Klempt, everyone's favorite Nazi "Nazi head in a bottle" and his Brutus, his super gorilla.
Also included is a little section entitled "Where did Hellboy come from?," a section delving into the early promotional art showing Hellboy off, plus some nice pictures by artists including Art Adams and Gary Gianni.
Tentacled things = Happiness!

First of all I'd like to advise people who are willing to get into Hellboy to start here. Besides from this being the official first story you also get easily introduced to Hellboy and what he's about here, and the drift into Hellboy-reality is very natural and gentle. Besides from that it's a very nice read as a stand-alone story. It doesn't end with something like a cliff-hanger that makes you need to buy continuing books. It's a book with a beginning and an end.

About the story: It's been over 35 years since Trevor Bruttenholm first found the creature that was later named "Hellboy", a big red creature over 7 feet high, strong as ten men, with a tail and an artificial stone arm. Nobody knows what he is or where he came from, including himself (a thing about which you get more and more hints as time goes by, not only in this particular volume). That was at the end of World War II on the scene of an occult experiment by a Nazi group trying to grab on to probably their last chances of enpowering the Reich. Now, the present, Trevor reaches out to Hellboy, who has since gone on to work for the "Bureau of Paranormal Investigation", because he desperately needs his aid. Weird extra-natural murders are taking place and it's up to Hellboy and his agency to find what kind of mystical powers are on a rampage and, even more important, who unleashed them.

What you have here is a title that especially people who like things like "X-Files" and "Planetary" will like a lot. It's about an agency that goes around the world to solve super-natural crimes and puzzles, but the members of the agency aren't that normal theirselves either. All this in a pretty gritty and dark atmosphere. It's very well-written, everything fits, and what also is really nice is that the creator (Mike Mignola) NEVER gave the story-writing or the art-job away in any of the following books. The creator sticks with his book and it really shows later on, when you see how things keep clicking and keep the same atmosphere. Must-buy for Planetary and X-Files fans and alike.

The story was great, fantastic art, much love for Hellboy, but that's all been covered already by other reviewers. Here's the thing: I love my books, and treat them all with special care in the hopes that they'll last forever. By the time I had read through this graphic novel ONE TIME, the cover had fallen off in my hands, and pages were coming loose from the binding! For the price they're charging, I'd expect a book that doesn't self-destruct after a half-hour. (To be fair, I also bought volume two, which did not fall apart...yet.)

In 1944, a team of specialized German Nazis gathered together with a powerful sorcerer on a strange mission to raise seven demons, while at the same time a group of rangers led by Sgt. George Whitman gather in an old church in East Bromwich, England with a team of paranormals, determined to discover what it is the Nazis are up to.

The Sorcerer, wearing some odd apparatus on his arms, powered by an electrical generator, casts a spell from a rocky hilltop resembling Stonehenge. A bolt of lightening-type power issues from the rod he holds in his hand, and strikes the church where the rangers are gathered along with their special forces. When the smoke and debris clear, a small being is hunched down on the floors, looking as though he were part demon and part little boy. It is Trevor Bruttenholm who names him: Hellboy.

Skipping many years into the future, Hellboy comes to visit Trevor, now an old man. Trevor, who had been like a father to Hellboy all these years, tells Hellboy of the failed "Cavendish Expedition" he has just recently returned from, way up in the Artic Mountains. He and the Cavendish "Boys" had found some ruins high up in the frozen cliffs, older than old, and inside beneath a mammoth carved pillar is a statue of a sitting man so perfect it seemed to be alive.

But Trevor has no further memory of what happened, though the Cavendish brothers did not return with him. During Trevor's narration of the expedition, Hellboy notices that Trevor's house is infested with frogs. When Hellboy mentions the frogs, Trevor freaks out and backs away from the frogs, out onto his balcony, from where he is suddenly and unceremoniously tossed back into the room at Hellboy's feet; quite dead. His body seems to be covered in odd marks that were not there mere seconds ago.

Hellboy brings in his friends to help him investigate the death of Trevor; Elizabeth Sherman and Dr. Abraham Sapien. Liz has highly advanced pyrotechnic abilities, and Abe...well, Abe is a really cool fish-man. Beginning their investigation at the old Cavendish mansion, which is slowing sinking back into the lake it was built over, the three friends are quickly separated and all hell breaks loose; pun intended. The nameless Sorcerer who originally summoned Hellboy is back to claim what he believes is his, but by now we know that Hellboy can't be forced to do anything he doesn't want to do.

This first Hellboy book reveals Hellboy's origin, and shows us the loyalty between him and his friends, and the lengths they will go to for each other. This was actually a very difficult review for me to write because I liked it so much, it is hard to describe in a non-gushing way just how much I enjoyed this book. The storyline is very intense and fast-paced, even for a graphic novel; the illustrations are superb, the cells formed and drawn just right, so that the eye follows the flow of Mignola's inspired tale of this devilishly good guy without staggering or stopping to search for the correct sequence.

I have only recently become immersed in the world of graphic novels, and Hellboy is the absolute crème de la crème of the lot. A brand new type of hero; ultra powerful, intelligent, witty humor and saucy quips, demonic appearance, and as icing on the cake, from Hell itself.

As a bonus, there are some added chapters at the back of the book that illustrate the evolution of Hellboy as he was created and drawn to life, plus some enjoyable Hellboy artwork to examine and appreciate.

Hellboy is a perfect graphic novel, and I am greedily looking forward to pouring over the rest of the series. Not to mention I'm dying to go see the movie now. Enjoy!!

This is the first book in the Hellboy series (soon to be a major motion picture). This is the only book I have read in the series, so far. It's an good start. The characters are intriguing and the artwork is fantastic. It made me want to read more of Hellboy's stories, which of course is what the first comic in a series is supposed to do. I would recommend this book to comics fans who like their heroes to be a bit out of the ordinary.

The stick-on emblem on this book says "The Book That Inspired The Motion Picture," but you need to take that with a grain of salt. What it really should say is 'the book that gave someone the idea of doing a Hellboy movie." While there are common themes, Seed of Destruction is, in many ways a different story. As you read the novel the differences will surprise you and give you some insight into why many faithful Hellboy fans were a bit irritated at the film.

Be that as it may, the book opens with the same elements - Nazis, weird ceremonies, Professor Bruttenholm, and, of course, a funny looking kid with red skin and a tail. But right after that it takes a twist which plagues of frogs and a whole set of different monsters. But the essence of the story remains the same even if the details are changed around.

The real question is who is this reformed demon called Hellboy. Not only has he been brought to this realm to execute the doom of the human race, but his roots are blurred. The unnamed (!) wizard who brought Hellboy into this world knows, but the price for finding out may be too steep for our hero. Seed of Destruction is the moment when Hellboy decides that what he makes of himself is more important that what he was. In addition to the main story, this book features several Hellboy shorts and an introduction by Robert Block.

Mike Mignola's artwork is unorthodox, but the imagery is strong, and hard to forget. If you are interested in Hellboy as Mignola intended him this is the way to go. But for all the great art and story, Dark Horse Books took the cheap route for production. Not only was a large portion of the book bound upside down, but it also did its best to disassemble itself as I read it. I admit that I was then able to fix the first problem, but I still find that irritating in something that is intended to be a keeper. Be warned.

Great story, great art, book fell apart in my hands on the first read through - something that's *never* happened to me before.

It's a mistake to divorce writing and art from each other in comics. A good comic needs to be a total package. Comics with great art but bad writing are failures, and vice versa. Hellboy is a great example of what makes good comics good.

In Hellboy, Mignola amalgamated horror, faeire tales, fantasy, and mythology in comics in a way that hadn't been done before, and brought back some stuff that hadn't been seen in the mainstream in a long time (Most especially a strong and unabashed H.P. Lovecraft influence), and did it with his own refined visual style (heavy Jack Kirby influence). Top it off with Mignola's sense of humor which irreverently loves all those elements, and you've got a standup start to a standout series.

As a columnist at the comic book website Comixtreme.com, a few months ago I asked my readers to rank the best graphic novels I'd personally never read, with the promise that I would try to read some of them and come back with my comments. This was one of the books that topped the list, the introduction of Mike Mignola's "Hellboy," and since there's a movie coming out later this year, I thought this was the perfect chance to check it out.

This is a decent little action tale, with Mignola and scripter John Byrne presenting our hero, a strange, demonic creature found as a child and raised by humans to be an agent of a sort of supernatural secret service. We also meet several of Hellboy's comerades, including my personal favorite, the amphibious Abe Sapien.

At the end of this graphic novel, though, I'm not left feeling like I've really gotten to know any of the characters. This book exists mainly to set up the situation -- Hellboy's origin, his occupation, etc. Hopefully future installments will get more in-depth as to who he really is, and not just in your standard superhero sense, but in a deeper, character-building sense as well. Still, this is a fun read and a nice place to start. It's good enough to have me on the lookout for Hellboy Vol. 2.

"Hellboy." I first heard the title quite a number of years ago when I saw the trailer for the movie adaptation in a theater. I pretty much scoffed, rolled my eyes, and said "Hellboy?" under my breath. Long story short, time passes, I got into comics, and began to hear a lot of good things about "Hellboy." I even read some quotes from the actual book that intrigued me. However, it was the trailer for the second movie--sheer, unadulterated awesomeness--that pushed me over the edge and made me buy the first volume of the comic series.

Creator and artist Mignola enlisted John Byrne to write the first script for this series, and the team works together very well. Hellboy's attitude and way of looking at things is very entertaining (which keeps his internal dialogue always interesting), but the mythology of this series is pure magic. The sorcerers, Liz, Abe, Hellboy himself, the Lovecraftian beasts, all of it works together, forming this very dark yet attractive story. The main story arc, "Seed of Destruction," is very much an origin story for Hellboy, but you can tell how well-read both Byrne and Mignola are from the brilliance they churn out here.

Apart from the main four issue story arc, there are two short Hellboy stories in the back, as well as a cover gallery. The two shorts were promotional pieces, and they were interesting little tidbits to give us an idea of who Hellboy is and what he does. That part of the TPB was great, but I also have a huge complaint that has nothing to do with the story or the art. The binding was horrible. As another reviewer mentioned, the cover simply falls off when you're reading it. There will be an audible crack, and the cover will simply separate from the book. As a fan of Dark Horse's books (I've gotten many of their TPBs and this has never happened before) I was quite upset with that.

7/10