Hellboy: The Lost Army [Import] [Paperback]

Christopher Golden (Author), Mike Mignola (Author, Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Titan Books Ltd (January 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840235691
• ISBN-13: 978-1840235692
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,458,878 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the award-winning, bestselling author of such novels as The Myth Hunters, Wildwood Road, The Boys Are Back in Town, The Ferryman, Strangewood, Of Saints and Shadows, and (with Tim Lebbon) The Map of Moments. He has also written books for teens and young adults, including Poison Ink, Soulless, and the thriller series Body of Evidence, honored by the New York Public Library and chosen as one of YALSA's Best Books for Young Readers. Upcoming teen novels include a new series of hardcover YA fantasy novels co-authored with Tim Lebbon and entitled The Secret Journeys of Jack London.

A lifelong fan of the "team-up," Golden frequently collaborates with other writers on books, comics, and scripts. In addition to his recent work with Tim Lebbon, he co-wrote the lavishly illustrated novel Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire with Mike Mignola. With Thomas E. Sniegoski, he is the co-author of the book series OutCast and The Menagerie, as well as comic book miniseries such as Talent, currently in development as a feature film. With Amber Benson, Golden co-created the online animated series Ghosts of Albion and co-wrote the book series of the same name.
As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies The New Dead and British Invasion, among others, and has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, the online animated series Ghosts of Albion (with Amber Benson) and a network television pilot.

The author is also known for his many media tie-in works, including novels, comics, and video games, in the worlds of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, Angel, and X-Men, among others.

Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His original novels have been published in more than fourteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Golden captures the spirit of Mignola's creation, August 10, 2004

By 

A. Sandoc "sussarakhen" (San Pablo, California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Army (Hellboy (Pocket Star Books)) (Mass Market Paperback)

Mike Mignola's Hellboy character and the universe he inhabits is one of the most engaging and interesting comic creation. Mignola took a large helping of H.P. Lovecraft, added in a healthy dose of James Bond and finished it off with a good dash of European folklore and mythologies and he comes up with Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.

Hellboy was originally just in comics and graphic novels, but Christopher Golden was given a chance by Mike Mignola to try and come up with a novel-lenght story to give Hellboy a new medium to appear in. Golden succeeds with this first Hellboy novel titled The Lost Army. It helped that Mignola drew some illustrations for the book and these illustrations help explain some of the words Golden has wrought.

There really is no need to explain the plot since Amazon has conveniently copied the back cover summary to explain the book. The story is very Lovecraftian in its tone as most of Hellboy's comic book exploits have a tendency to be. Unlike the comics, Golden's novel allows more of Hellboy's inner personality and feelings to come through. It has only been hinted in the comics, but in Golden's story Hellboy's past history and his current unfolding situation are allowed for some romance.

The Lost Army is very much more adult than the comics, but the overall theme and story fits well with the canon that Mignola has created for Hellboy and his universe. I have to admit that the ending has abit of Deus ex Machina to it that lets off Hellboy and crew too easily, but it is really just a small quibble on the overall satisfying read The Lost Army turned out to be.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great transition from comics to prose, January 2, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellboy: The Lost Army (Paperback)

More monsters than you can shake a giant stone hand at! I loved this adventure - especially the constant tension provoked by Hellboy's recurring realization that he's a monster fighting monsters. It was also a treat to discover that Hellboy has a sex life. Who woulda guessed?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Army That Marches On Its Bandages, April 4, 2005

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Lost Army (Hellboy (Pocket Star Books)) (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm going to have to read the Hellboy comics. I've seen the film and loved it, now I've a Chris Golden novel and loved it, it's really time to jump into to world of the next closest thing to Indiana Jones since, well... since Indiana Jones. Assuming the Indiana Jones had red skin, a tail, weighed a quarter ton, and shave his horns. And lived in Fairfield, Connecticut, of course. Yes, ladies and gents, this irascible romantic and charming human wannabee is the foremost occult investigator on the planet - the poster child for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Development. When a team of British archeologist vanishes into the desert sands where 2500 years before Cambyses the Persian lost an army of 50,000, there's only one guy to call.

Fresh from crashing a Bentley, Hellboy is parachuted into the Egyptian desert to find himself with his old flame Anastasia Bransfield, a team of archeologists, and a hardnosed egomaniac MI5 team. In no time, the missing archeologists aren't missing any longer, they are dead, their pieces decorating trees in the oasis. And Hellboy finds himself going mano a mano with some very skilled, very dead Persian soldiers. Never has the phrase "it doesn't get any better than this," been more true. The soldiers are pushovers compared to the seam monsters, spiders, and diabolical wizards that are next on the agenda.

As you can probably tell this isn't a loving adventure story told with infinite detail and character building. Hellboy's basic strategy is to find the badness, get an arm free, and punch it into the next solar system. When you are that big and strong this works most of the time. And when it doesn't, well, that's what this story is about, because Hazred the magician has what it takes to stand off the US Army, slam Hellboy down on an altar and call Mar Ti Ku (another, even bigger, bad guy) back to life. Does our red-skinned hero find a way out? Find that out for yourselves (hint: this is a series).

I'm not going to quibble over whether this is a true presentation of the comic Hellboy. Suffice it to say that Mike Mignola, Hellboy's creator, drew some 75 illustrations for this story, so it can't be all that bad. Chris Golden certainly manages to put capture the spirit of crazy adventure and sarcastic, in your face dialog that is Hellboy's signature style. So open the book, grab some popcorn and get read to root for the hero and boo the villains. This is just plain fun.