Customer Reviews

Hellboy, Vol. 5: Conqueror Worm

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One long story throughout. Hellboy and Roger the homunculus investigate strange Nazi goings-ons in Austria, only to find out that there's a new Nazi conspiracy trying to re-connect with a horror set in motion in 1939 that aims to give Lovecraftian ectoplasmic elder gods earthly form so that they can bring about the end of the world (sure, why not?). There's a Rubezahl and the first appearance of the totally bitchin' Lobster Johnston (an early Captain America, to be sure), and some really spooky 61-year-dead talking skeletons. Another Kriegsaffe (number 10), captive executioner aliens executed, haunted scientist Herman Von Klempt's head floating in a jar with robot arms and electric zappers, an army of human experiments emerging from the jar after 61 years, talking bats and rats and snakes, new frog creatures, and another encounter with a shadowy Rasputin-like figure (actually, it is Rasputin), before the final confrontation with the evil ectoplasm. Great meeting between Rasputin, Hecate and Baba Yaga.

As a lifelong comic fan (yes, I said comic) I would pick up books for art first and story after. It's how I got into Love And Rockets, how I discovered Frank Quitely and other great artists. Mignola on the the other hand i buy for writing first and foremost. Now I love his art and I feel honored to read a story that he has written and penned but his writing is unlike anyone else (David Mamet is the closest I think.) In The Conqueror Worm he shows why he is a master of the genre. I won't go into a storyline here but there are plot points that raise philosophical and scientific questions. He believe he does serious research to create these flights of fancy. And in Conqueror Worm he raises a doozy of an idea!
Giant "lifeforms" living in deep space that look like jellyfish and swallow worlds. Creatures that seek nothingness and despise the light of life. The battle between a world that lives albeit with different life than humans (a new era of man) vs. darkness and emptiness forever. Mike put his foot all in this one. An excellent book. In fact collect them all, I have!

The glue for the binding was undone, but that has happened to me with two other Hellboy collections I have purchased in store. Other than that no issues. Good read.

"Hellboy" is a clever and unique creation that's often hard to describe to someone who's never heard of it. The closest I've been able to come is this: it's like Raiders of the Lost Ark mixed with The X-Files. It's the light-and-dark inkwork of Frank Miller's Sin City, but with vivid use of color. It's got action and horror, gore and humor, and it's hard not to find something to like about it.

Even though this particular Hellboy story is fairly far along in the series, most of these graphic novel collections don't require that you know a lot of the background in order to enjoy them. Each reminds us that Hellboy is a magical being, was created/summoned by the Nazis during World War II (but fell into the hands of the Allies), and works for the fictional "Bureau for Paranormal Research & Defense" (B.P.R.D.), an organization that exists to track down odd happenings and put the monsters down. Each graphic novel also contains one or more complete story arcs, and that makes for a good read: you know you're not going to be left hanging or left in the dark.

When you look at Hellboy stories, this novel is probably the most pivotal. From the beginning, we have a paranormal-nazi tale that points to earlier adventures, we're told that Hellboy's love interest Liz is temporarily out of the picture, and we're introduced to another odd new character in Mignola's pantheon: "Lobster Johnson". Last, the opening scenes put a rather nasty spin on the B.P.R.D., the agency for which Hellboy works. The title is taken from Poe's "Ligiea", and it weaves dialog from the poem into the story well.

If you're a fan of the series, you won't be disappointed. If you're new to the world of Hellboy, you might enjoy some of the earlier stories, but you can easily start here if you wish.

There's lots of decent content in "Hellboy, Volume 5: Conqueror Worm", but my favorite story in here was the one used for the volume's title. The long, meaty (pun intended) "Conquerer Worm" takes themes and set pieces from a variety of other Hellboy adventures and does them over bigger, better, and more intensely, almost as if Mike Mignola was making his own little Hellboy movie. So, even though you might say to yourself, "Hmmmm, hasn't Hellboy fought a big worm before?", you won't care because this is a bigger and better worm and there's lots more drama and danger. Anyway, the whole book is good, but you'll especially want to curl up with the "Conquerer Worm" epic. Keep these Hellboy collections coming.

I have always loved Mike Mignola's art, but this volume of Hellboy is the ultimate in the collection in my eyes, with its culmination of such magnificent art and intriguingly frightening storytelling.

This book is BY FAR my favorite of the series. Great purchase for any fan or newcomer to the series. Any one of these can be picked up and read on their own.

An excellent atmospheric Hellboy romp, as usual. For a concept or even character design when you first see it, somehow it works. It looks ridiculous, sounds like it would be silly, but it is not. Hellboy is exactly the kind of guy you would love to buy a beer for (hopefully out of range of any monsters). Mignola's style just fits.

Item took a long time to receive and when received it was poorly packaged which caused damage to book.Cover fell off after one handling! Tried to contact vendor and have had no response. Will NOT buy from this vendor again. Be warned! If you buy from this vendor be prepared to receive your item late and in damaged condition. Don't expect any help from the vendor as they will not contact you. Customer service is terrible!

Hellboy quits the B.P.R.D.? Oh no! What will they do without him!

Spin off a new series. ;)

More seriously, it's what you've come to expect from the big red guy, creepiness & gritty heroism.