Hot off of the Trucks - Hellboy

Produced By Mindzeye Studios
Size 13" Tall
Type Painted Resin Statue
Edition Size 200
Release Date June 11, 2009
Price $249.99

I must have missed this one when it first came out, and I have been watching and looking for and at the Hellboy statues for quite a bit.

This one was based upon the story ‘The Third Wish’, which I have not read.

Zimm’s Two Cents
Points in Favor

• The base – its always the little things; however, I’m not quite certain about the small head at his foot.
• The amount of detail – from the skulls, to the belt, to the gun.
• I like the colors. It looks like a good paint job.
• Sculpture seems to hold true to the Hellboy style. Not necessarily the original - but what I would expect from Hellboy.
  

Points Against

• I can get a clear enough view of his face to see the detail – that and his trench coat have me a tadbit concerned.
• Once again, the head at his foot, on the base.

Recommendation: Overall, Buy. I like the piece and could definitely see it incorporated into my collection.

Robert’s Two Cents
Points in Favor

• The devil's in the details. Like Zimm said, lots and lots of details.
  
• Good paint and colors. Makes me wonder why they bothered with a faux bronze version.
  
• It's Hellboy. I like Hellboy.
• The essence of Hellboy is there.
  

Points Against

• From what I've seen the head is a little small. The Hellboy from Electric Tiki had a similar problem.
  
• The sculpt is too thin to be Hellboy. He should be blockier and bulkier.
  

Recommendation: Buy. It has a few problems and if I didn't already own a Hellboy statue (and busts and action figures and prints, etc.) there's nothing here to keep me from purchasing this one. I'd rather have the Bowen one, but it goes for over $500 if and when you can find it.

Mezco's BPRD Buddies

Mezco has jumped on the rip Hasbro off bandwagon. they're releasing Hellboy versions of the Star Wars Galactic Heroes, Marvel Super Hero Squad, and G.I. Joe Combat Heroes lines.

Price: $39.99, but you can get them for $31.99 here.

Hightlights:

• They fall under the category of "Some Characters Shouldn't Be Cute".
• Although that Wink is just the most adorable thing I've seen in a while.
• Johann looks like an egg in an egg cup. Or something a little more vulgar.
• They would look fine on a shelf with the Marvel Super Hero Squad figures. So you could have your Daredevil and Hellboy fight scene you've always wanted in diorama.
• Price is steep.

I like Mezco a lot. They released one of my favorite comic book related action figure lines, the Hellboy Comic Book Series, so I'm not beating up on them. They produce high quality products.

My Recommendation: Pass

Sideshow Hellboy

Sideshow has listed a new Hellboy "12-Inch Action Figure" with 28 points of articulation.

All yours for $164.99!

Even though I like the looks of it - I would rather have a statue.

Robert: Yeah. Not so much for me either. As much of a raving Hellboy fan as I am and as nicely detailed as this figure will be, it's not worth $164.99 nor would I buy it for less than that. And like Zimm at that price point and 12 inches tall, I think they should have just done a statue.

Hellboy by Mike Mignola and Friends

OK, for those of you out there who have never read Hellboy, now's the time. The first thing to realize is the movie is not the comic. They are different visions of the same concept.

This is not going to be so much a review, but an opinion piece on where to start and how to read the Hellboy series.

Hellboy:
Where to start? You have three options. You can go out and track down the single issues. You can either purchase the trades. Or you can buy the new Library Edition Hardcovers. If you are going to buy the trades Amazon even has a collection of the first seven trades for one price or you can buy the individual trades. I'll provide links below.

If you are going the trade paperback route, I'd recommend reading at least the first three trades before deciding whether you like the series or not. The next leap would be through the fifth trade. If you're still not hooked? You should probably try some of the BPRD trades below.

The Library Editions collect two trades each and are in a larger, although not quite Absolute sized, page size and have more extras than the trades.

The Library Editions:


The Trades:


Or you can buy the first seven trades at once for a bit of a savings at the time this is being written:


BPRD:
The BPRD is a series about the Bureau for Paranormal Research & Defense, mostly after Hellboy left the group in the Conqueror Worm (TPB 5). The first two trades were collections of mini series and one shots that were published with a variety of creators attached.

Starting with Volume 3, BPRD is an ongoing series of mini series with occasional breaks, co written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi with art by the fabulously talented Guy Davis.

Volume 9 is the beginning of a series of mini series focusing on the BPRD, and specifically Professor Bruttenholm, in the time following the discovery of Hellboy in 1945, up until the time Hellboy joined the BPRD as an agent. This series within a series gives us a peek at who Professor Bruttenholm really since he died early in the first Hellboy mini series.

Finally, we have the Abe Sapien trade that is about Abe Sapien's first solo mission as a member of the BPRD. I've included this here because it is a book about the BPRD that doesn't focus on Hellboy and it seems the most appropriate place at this time. Also, BPRD is on a kinda sorta monthly schedule with brief hiatus months in between.



Additional reading:
There are also a few additional one shot trades/books available. First up, the Art of Hellboy. Buy this. If you like Mike Mignola's art or Hellboy this is a must have. Also released in a hard cover edition. Very nice. Beautiful art. Unseen covers and concepts. Beautiful. Must have.

The Hellboy Companion is a fairly comprehensive guide to Hellboy and the HB Universe. It has encyclopedic articles on various characters in the HB Universe, some we have only seen a glimpse of and some we are very familiar with. Several pin ups by Mike Mignola and each entry reads like a short story. There are only a couple of factual errors (Kate's birthdate is given as two different years) and I want to say it was originally solicited as a color book (it's black & white), but otherwise, it's a great book to have/read.

Lobster Johnson is a vigilante from the HB Universe. He appears in several Hellboy and BPRD stories. However this is his first solo mini series. He's very much in the milleu of Doc Savage, The Shadow, and The Spider. He and his band of merry men fight a character who is familiar if you are reading BPRD, but you needn't read the BPRD story to appreciate this story.



If you've read all of these and are hungering for more, there is the series titled Hellboy: Weird Tales. This is a two trade series of non canon Hellboy/BPRD stories by other writers and artists. There is even a Lobster Johnson story with art by John Cassaday and a Liz Sherman story with art by Jason Pearson. Unfortunately I couldn't find a link to the first trade on Amazon, but here's a link to the second trade.



I'll do a piece later on the series of novels, the three short story collections, and the animated movies.

Finally, there are the Hellboy: Art of the Movie books. If you are a fan of the movies, these are great books. If you are in it just for the comics, these are not essential. There is a little Mike Mignola art in the first book and even less in the second.


When all else fails there is a friendly and active community over at the Hellboy boards on CBR.

Wrapup: Honestly? I still love Hellboy and the supporting titles. I can't say I enjoy it as much as I did before it became a franchise. If you read nothing but the first five trades, you've had a wonderful experience. If you read the rest, it's just gravy. I miss the almost improv feeling of the first couple of trades. The later stories feel over thought some times as Mike has realized he eventually has to explain the stuff he throws in each issue. Still overall, I think Hellboy & BPRD are series you should try and continue to be at the top of my list of books I make sure I get each time they are released.

Hellboy 2 3-Disc Set

Amazon.com has the Hellboy II 3-Disc Set for the same price as the standard edition. I don't know how long this will last so hurry now.

Hellboy Moloch Preview

Hellboy: Moloch Preview here.

First Hellboy story drawn by Mike Mignola in a while.

What comics are your Hot Buys each month?

What comics are those you anxiously await each month? I mean the ones you're just sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for them to arrive each month.

Mine are:

Immortal Iron Fist - Especially the Matt Fraction/Ed Brubaker/David Aja period, but Duane Swierczynski and Travel Foreman are good too. The only thing I don't like in the current run is the billionaire guilt trip that Danny's going through. I think he could put his money to better use by helping people than giving it all away. I'm glad they're putting Danny & Luke Cage back together as a team. To me they're the Spenser & Hawk of comic books. But sorta in reverse. (One continuity question I have is how did he get his company back? I thought Namor had bought it as part of his Oracle, Inc.)

Umbrella Academy - See my write up from earlier this week. It's the Royal Tenenbaums, Amazing Screw-On Head, and Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol rolled up into one and is drawn by Gabrial Ba, one of the best artists currently in the business.

Hellboy & BPRD - Mike Mignola, Guy Davis, Duncan Fegredo, John Arcudi, and more. Guy Davis is another of the best talents out there right now. Duncan's art is amazing. I had my doubts about him on Hellboy, but he's awesome. The only thing I miss are the old style Hellboy stories. To me Mignola used to do like Grant Morrison and throw everything out there and see what worked and build on that. Now he is too busy cleaning up the mess he made earlier on and not just having fun throwing things out there that Hellboy is a Brand.

Criminal - Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips on a crime book that rivals some of the best crime movies ever made. Nuff Said!

Ex Machina - Tony Harris and Brian Vaughn have created a very interesting world of politics and super-heroics in one. Not a combination I would normally think of, but they've made it one of the best comics series around. Plus Mitchell Hundred has one of the few super powers I think I'd actually like, but they even show the reasons why I might not like it as much as I think I would.

Planetary - It's probably the longest running 27 issue series of all time. Warren Ellis and John Cassaday have created a commentary on pulp fiction of the 20th century from comics to pulp magazines to movies. I don't think I will live that long, but I could entertain another 12 issues. Hopefully we'll see the 27th issue (the final issue) early 2009. John Cassaday is about half way through issue 27 according to Warren Ellis' e-mail list, Bad Signal. Issue 27 is supposed to be the epilogue. There are few comics I'd like to see as a movie or really good TV series, but Planetary is at the top of the list. I'd probably whine a lot if they screwed it up. Have you seen the Global Frequency pilot they made? Sweet!

Lone Ranger - Sweet! And the John Cassaday covers are just the gravy on the cake...you know what I mean. It's one of those rare comics than my father-in-law and I agree on. He likes it for the nostalgic reasons. I like it because, in my opinion, they've successfully updated a classic and made it believable/likable for a modern aesthetic and haven't lost the integrity of the source material.

Astonishing X-Men - Warren Ellis has taken this title to new heights. I know it's only two issues in. I generally don't enjoy Warren's Marvel work as much as his Wildstorm work and a lot of his other work is pretty hit or miss with me. I actually amazes me what of his stuff I like (Scars anyone?). He's made the X-Men interesting again. For me Joss Whedon and Grant Morrison were trying to tell new stories while also telling stories that were at least partially tributes to prior X-Men stories. Warren Ellis, on the other hand, has taken them and made them work again on their own in new stories.

Trades I anxiously await when they come out:

Y the Last Man - To me, this series was much easier to read in trade form. As soon as I'd get one, I'd speed read it cover to cover. Then I'd read it again at normal speed to see what I missed. The whole idea of being the "Last Man on Earth" if he was a total geek. It's also interesting to see a theoretical world completely run and populated by women.

100 Bullets - I discovered that I liked this series way late in the game. I picked up the first 10 trades in two weeks two at a time. As soon as I'd pick up the second one to read each time, I'd be exciting I would have to jump onto Amazon.com and order the next two. Just like a junkie looking for his next fix. Now that I'm having to wait on its normal publishing schedule I have to reread all of the trades at least every six weeks. Eduardo Risso and Brian Azzarello doing another great crime book that is also one of the great conspiracy theory books of all time.

Queen & Country - The best darned spy story ever (In my opinion). Queen & Country is Greg Rucka's love letter to the UK TV Show the Sandbaggers from the 70s and is another series I discovered late. I wasn't a huge Greg Rucka fan until I discovered Queen & Country. Actually I discovered the first novel first, then 50 pages into the first novel, I set it aside and ordered all of the available trades at the time and read them cover-to-cover twice. Then I finished the novel and bought the next one when it came out. It's funny though, I don't really know what order to put the novels and the last trade on my shelf. The last TPB, Red Panda, and the last novel overlap. I even bought all three seasons of the Sandbaggers DVDs for $50 each and watched them twice. I wish they had made more. He's supposed to do another novel next year to fill the gap and then pick up act two the following year. The existing issues are being republished in novel sized omnibus style editions called Definitive Editions. If you like Q & C, you should also read the two Whiteout trades (soon to be a major motion picture starring Kate Beckinsale). Tara Chace, star of Q & C, also has a guest appearance (almost a cameo) in Whiteout.

Daredevil - Ed Brubaker on a crime book, Nuff Said! It's probably the most I've enjoyed Daredevil in a long time. There was no one better to follow up Bendis on DD.

Captain America - OK, I'm one of those who doesn't like that Bucky is alive still, but he did make it believable (in a Marvel Universe sort of way). I also am still trusting Ed Brubaker to not screw it up. Meanwhile he's telling interesting stories in the Marvel Universe in a book whose title character is dead.

Usagi Yojimbo - Stan Sakai's story that originally started out as a tribute to Miyomoto Musashi. It's an epic tale of a ronin living during the Edo period in Japan. Very cool! He's the quintessential good guy. Think David Carradine in Kung Fu, Zatoichi, most Kurosawa films, and/or Lone Wolf and Cub.