Hellboy And The BPRD - 1952 back

"That burned body in Buenos Aires is Robert Amsel. Still no word on the man who was seen with him."
"I suppose that's it, then."
"Actually there's something else, Professor. A witness took a photo at the scene. A rather... strange photo."

Ha, that's a great punchline when you see what or rather who - well, probably 'what' is more accurate actually - is waving cheerily directly at the camera. Fans of Hellboy, the BPRD and in particular the previous historical arcs detailing various exploits of Professor Trevor Bruttenholm and the young Hellboy, 1946 (which is out of print in single volume form currently), 1947 and 1948 will I'm sure enjoy the joke.

This time around, Hellboy has grown up into a strapping teenager and his adoptive father, the Professor, is finally ready to let him out into the field on his first mission, as he realises he can't protect him forever. What follows is standard HELLBOY / BPRD fare, rather tame a bit by-the-numbers compared to the extended current BPRD: HELL ON EARTH arc. It very much feels like classic early Hellboy with supernatural monsters and megalomaniacal Nazis trashing a remote Brazilian village complete with spooky castle. So nothing new is what I'm saying, but it is slickly done.

Alex Maleev takes an excellent turn with the pencils, his first for a Mignola creation if I'm not mistaken, coloured in inimitable house style for this title as ever by Dave Stewart. Well, at least this keeps our appetites whetted whilst we wait for the next arc of HELLBOY IN HELL to start.