Hellboy [Mass Market Paperback]

Yvonne Navarro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 2004

Born in the flames of hell and brought to Earth to perpetrate evil, Hellboy (played by Ron Perlman) is rescued from sinister forces by the benevolent Dr. Broom (John Hurt) who raises him to be a hero. In Dr Broom's clandestine Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, Hellboy creates an unlikely family, consisting of telepathic Mer-man Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) and Liz Sherman, the woman he loves, who has the ability to control fire. Hidden from the very society they protect, they stand against an evil madman who seeks to reclaim Hellboy for the powers of darkness from which he was born and use him to destroy mankind...

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hellboy...is the quintessential pulp-comics hero, spawned from the unlikely combination of Doc Savage, H. P. Lovecraft, Alex Toth, Jack Kirby, Raymond Chandler, Aleister Crowley, and world mythology."

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (February 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743492897
• ISBN-13: 978-0743492898
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,553,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born back in the early days when black and white photographs were considered normal instead of artsy. As a child I always thought I'd grow up to be an artist, and I was was convinced I'd spend my life doing line drawings of long, leggy models like the ones in the daily newspapers. Life, however, did not cooperate: a foul-up in grammar school resulted in a transfer to a local high school instead of the technical, arts-heavy one I'd planned to attend.

Following that was a move that really made things start winding around. By the time I returned to Chicago for the second time in 1981, I'd worked as a waitress, a nurse's aide, a bookkeeper and gift shop cashier, an accounting clerk, and a secretary in everything from office furniture stores to a hotel to a journalism society. In 1981 I came back to my old job in a Chicago law firm and settled down in the Windy City for awhile. In 1982 I tried to write because my mother said "You could do this." The seed had still been planted, and I sold my first story in 1984. Since then I've written around a hundred stories, most of which have been or are scheduled to be published.

My first novel, AfterAge, was published in 1993 and was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. In 1995 my second solo novel, deadrush, was published, and it also was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, this time in the category of Superior Achievement in a novel. Final Impact, the third solo novel, was published in 1997, and won both the Chicago Women In Publishing's Award for Excellence in Adult Fiction and the "Unreal Worlds" Award for Best Horror Paperback of 1997 from the Rocky Mountain News. Since then I've published several more solo novels, Red Shadows (a follow-up to Final Impact), DeadTimes, and That's Not My Name, her first suspense novel. That's Not My Name, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Paleo, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Willow Files, Vol. 2 all won at the Illinois State level of the IWPA 2001 Mate E. Palmer Communications contest (two first place and one second place, respectively), plus I somehow swept all three awards of the Short Story category with "Ascension," "Divine Justice," and "Santa Alma." I've also written a number of media tie-in novels, including several Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels, Hellboy, Elektra, and Ultraviolet. Full info about all her books can be found on her website along with a lot of free excerpts.

I moved to my beloved Arizona in 2002 and currently work on historic Fort Huachuca. in southern Arizona. Numerically, I'm up to about twenty novels and one non-fiction book, with those never-ending plans for more. I love heat, Godiva chocolates, and Great Danes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly Surprised, March 23, 2004

By 

ekgheiy (USA:MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellboy (Mass Market Paperback)

Hellboy is about a demon that was brought to Earth for evil deeds a long time ago. A good-natured doctor intercepted the infant demon, Hellboy, and raised him to fight the good fight with the aid other unusual beings like Hellboy. There is just one problem; the evildoers from long ago are back to finish what they started!

I cannot pinpoint why I expected Hellboy the book to be substandard; but, at this point, the reason is really quite irrelevant since the book turned out to be good. Yvonne Navarro gives the book an excellent and consistent voice that makes it easy to read, with the exception of a few typos that the editor should have spotted. I am especially impressed with the character development of Hellboy. He has the mannerisms, behaviors, and thought processes of a believable person, so I genuinely feel as though I got to know the inner workings of his personality. Given his sparse involvement, Abe Sapien is nicely worked also. But the book is not about Abe Sapien, so I forgive his light presence. Supporting characters such as Broom, Agent Clay, Myers, and Liz are also written as well as Abe Sapien. The noteworthy aspect of all of the "good guy" characters is that Navarro creates a lucid balance between them; she is careful not to overcrowd the story with too much information about the supporting characters. As much as I wanted to read more about Abe Sapien, I was somewhat glad that I did not because the book might then be less concise.

The most important improvement to note is the occasional typos in the book. For example: instead of "even though", I read "even thought" in one of the earlier chapters. It is a very easy mistake to make, especially when you're typing quickly and on a roll, but someone still should have spotted it. There is one other similar simple typo, but I cannot remember the details. I just remember stumbling over two typos and put the "even thought" one to memory because I have personally made that typo numerous times when I type.

The second improvement to note is the villains. They were quite underdeveloped, especially considering the suitable development of the "good guy" supporting characters. The villains' intentions are clear enough; however, their motivations are ambiguous. I have my assumptions about the "why" of their intentions, but Navarro does not answer the "why" in the book. It would be nice to know instead of assume.

Expect the plot to be a little on the wayside for the first 90 or so pages, but do not let that discourage you from reading the book because those first 90 or so pages are incredibly fun to read! These are the pages that give you insight into the kind of person Hellboy is. Every page thereafter solidifies that character development.

The ending is terse; but when I ponder how else it could end, I reluctantly realize that I cannot think of a better ending.

I once read a review that suggested Hellboy is a knockoff of X-men. The reviewer then proceeded to condemn Yvonne Navarro's work with Hellboy. I do not agree. Yes, the two stories involve non-humans and atypical Homo sapiens. The distinguishing characteristic is that the two stories operate on different concepts; X-men is clearly social commentary while Hellboy is not. X-men focuses on communal issues surrounding mutant discrimination and integration into society; Hellboy does not. Not once did I get the impression that Navarro was making any philosophically and/or socially substantial arguments about discrimination. There is nothing wrong with that; X-men does a wonderful job at it. Just do not expect it in this book.

Everything considered, I thoroughly enjoyed Hellboy the book and I even more eagerly await the theatrical release. If you like to read books in this genre, I recommend this book to you. If you like to read books in this genre AND you intend to see the movie, I highly recommend the book. I especially look forward to seeing if I even come close to Del Toro's vision. That ought to be fun

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You Had To Have Been there, May 14, 2004

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hellboy (Mass Market Paperback)

There is possibly no easier, or harder task in writing than adapting a screenplay into a novel. The plot is set, the characters defined, and the ending resolved. And a good deal of the dialog is written. The writer's task is primarily to fill in the inner and outer details, and hope, desperately, that the film follows the screenplay as closely as the novel does. The biggest drawback is that every error of scriptwriting and every internal inconsistency cannot be ignored, but must be somehow justified. Often, the latter is not always possible.

Navarro is fortunate in that Hellboy the film resonates with Hellboy the script. She captures the action of the film well, and the interior motivations and interactions are well communicated. Once the reader gets past a somewhat chaotic beginning, the story of a young demon who has given himself to the good, and the other members of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense unfolds easily.

The good fight moves from New Jersey to the darkesses of Russian crypts as Hellboy struggles against a host of enemies incarnated by the same evil forces that brought him into this world. Friendship and love are prime motivations for this teenager with the body of a giant as he faces enemies without and within.

My complaint is that Navarro is less able in taking the disjointed scenes in the script and creating the same continuity that the film builds with visual imagery. The beginning is where this is really apparent, and Navarro seems to have adopted a 'see the film first' approach. Of course, in most cases this will be true, but it never hurts to give the reader an even break. Once things settle down, Navarro's well-proven skills win the day, producing an eminently readable story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Hellboy Please, November 3, 2005

By 

Weston Ochse (Southern Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellboy (Mass Market Paperback)

As a huge fan of Hellboy, I can't get enough. I've never bought a novelization before, but I had to get this one. I always figured they were just copies of the movies into words. I couldn't have been more wrong. I read this book after I saw the movie. It told things that I hadn't seen before. This book was like the bonus on a DVD. Gotta have it.