Hellboy, Vol. 2: Wake the Devil [Paperback]

Mike Mignola (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 9, 2003

A murder in a New York wax museum and a missing corpse lead Hellboy into ancient Romanian castles on the trail of a sleeping legend: the original nobleman vampire. Nazi scientists prepare for the return of their occult master and the end of the world, and Hellboy confronts his purpose on earth.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Sound like something out of the X-Files? Well, it's one better; it's Hellboy, the world's greatest paranormal investigator. A mysteriously conjured demon, he's essentially a big red guy who goes looking for trouble. The catch is that he's not really the best investigator; let's face it, he's no Agent Mulder. But Wake the Devil always manages to maintain its creepy edge, in no small part due to Mignola's art, which may seem familiar. He did the set designs for Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse; 2nd edition (December 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593070950
• ISBN-13: 978-1593070953
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 6.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Mystery
  • #56 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Dark Horse
  • #76 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Horror

More About the Author

Mike Mignola is best known as the multiple award-winning creator, writer, and artist of "B.P.R.D." and "Hellboy", but has fostered several other projects like "The Amazing Screw-On Head" and "Baltimore" with Christopher Golden. Although he began working as a professional cartoonist in the early 1980s, drawing 'a little bit of everything for just about everybody' - including characters like Batman and Wolverine - he was also a production designer on the Disney film "Atlantis: The Lost Empire". Mignola also acted as a visual consultant to Guillermo del Toro on "Blade 2" and the film versions of Hellboy, which were broadly adapted by del Toro from the original comic series. Mike Mignola currently lives in southern California with his wife, daughter, and cat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Homunculus + Horror, Adding To the Cast, June 15, 2002

By 

TastyBabySyndrome "Matthew Lewis, author of M... ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hellboy: Wake the Devil (Paperback)

Wake the Devil is a superb second take on the Hellboy saga and is just as good, if not better, than Seeds of Destruction (its hard to compare the two because both are so good). Its a bit more bleak/darker than its prior, introducing even odder concepts and distortions of myth to weave a story all its own. Yes, it seems there are Nazi plots galore for everyone's favorite paranormal investigator to deal with, not to mention the addition of Roger, B.P.R.D.'s first "contact" with a human-sized homunculus. Also included is a five-page epilogue dealing with Baba Yaga and The World Tree, a concept introduced in the comics but only added to the in this graphic novel forum. The graphic novels also clean up the coloration, giving you more crisp images than the comics could ever dream of.
A word of caution to those thinking that the numbered books can be taken out of sequential order without hurting the storyline. It can indeed be done, but Wake the Devil should be a second step taken in the reading "evolution" of the Hellboy saga because of some of the characters/events/plot lines started have either been groomed or are birthed here.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mignola takes control of Hellboy's writing and succeeds, August 10, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Hellboy, Vol. 2: Wake the Devil (Paperback)

Wake the Devil is the second Dark Horse Comic issued 4-issue series about Hellboy and the difference between the writing from Seed of Destruction to Wake is substantial. Mike Mignola took over sole writing duties for Wake the Devil after John Byrne's stint on Seed of Destruction. Mike Mignola never really wrote a full-scale plot and story for any comic he's drawn, but his inexperience in Wake the Devil is minimal. Hellboy is his creation and the world around him as well. He's lived and breathed the character since he is also the creator. Who else but the person who created the idea would know how to write the stories properly.

Wake the Devil has less of the Lovecraftian-theme that was Seed of Destruction. Instead Mignola treats his fans and readers to a story about a Romanian aristocrat is is reputed to be a vampire sired by the Greek demoness, Lamia. In addition, Mignola mixes in a healthy dose of Nazi's leftover from WW2 who have ressurected from an icy slumber to try and return the Third Reich to prominence through occult and vampiric means. Mignola's heady mix of the occult, European folklore mythology and plain old 30's style detective noir give Wake the Devil a better written story than Seed of Destruction. Mignola as a writer is not bad and since Hellboy is his creation there really is nowhere for Mignola to go but improve.

Wake the Devil is a perfect blend of a well-written story and great artwork. Having Mike take over as writer in addition to continuing as artist earns Wake the Devil 5-stars that Seed of Destruction failed to reach.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nazis and vampires and ghosts, oh my!, February 13, 2004

By 

Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hellboy: Wake the Devil (Paperback)

This is the second Hellboy graphic novel. It is an improvement over the first one, as we get to know the old characters better, and interesting new characters are introduced. Creator Mike Mignola's Kirbyesque artwork is terrific, and this time he handles the writing himself (the first graphic novel was scripted by John Byrne). I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but I will explain that Hellboy is a paranormal investigator who appears to be a demon. This book is dedicated to Dracula, which should give you a clue as to what he encounters this time. This book should be especially appealing to people who like The X-Files or Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but I would encourage anyone who is a fan of sophisticated comic books to check it out.