Hellboy's creator gets top billing, but the writer, and often artist or colorist, of most stories in this collection is
Ren and Stimpy animator Bill Wray, who brings that TV show's depraved humor to Hellboy's diaper days. As a baby demon still ensconced in Hell, H-b's hobgoblin is that all he's allowed to eat is roasted maggots. His adventures arise from trying to add flesh to his diet, though he doesn't pass up smokes when offered--much to his chagrin in "The Devil Don't Smoke." His quests are complicated by such sidekicks as a fly, a bird-demon, Donnie (a junior devil), and Hitler. Half the stories actually star not Hellboy but twisted variations on famous Hanna-Barbera and Harvey Comics characters, such as Yogi Bear's doppelganger, Sparky, and Baby Huey's outrageous double, Huge Retarded Duck. (Incidentally, isn't Hellboy Junior a takeoff of Hot Stuff?) Standout artists besides Wray are Dave Cooper and--in a Wally Wood mode (see
Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood [BKL Ja 1&15 04]).
Ray OlsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
Ottakar's Outland Magazine Issue 31, Autumn 2004 : "Rather like an X'-File' investigating the 'X-files', the lantern chinned, wisecracking Hellboy is one of the most endearing heroes to have emerged in comics for a long time, coming across as fresh, inventive, and, above all, highly entertaining."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.