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A review by mazloum
Hellboy, Vol. 12: The Storm and the Fury by Mike Mignola
5.0
I don't think there's ever been a comic series that has captivated and surprised me as much as Hellboy, especially in the manner I feel about it. Sure, Hellboy is cool and badass and gets beaten up yet keeps coming back for more, but the thing I didn't expect was for these stories to contain so much bleak darkness, nobility and heartfelt sadness.
There are many volumes where the weird and the dark elements of Hellboy are present in spades, mostly in earlier volumes. But during the conflict finally resolved in this volume, those started taking a backseat to a different, more human emotions. Hellboy's experiences after his return from the Island, meeting the witches and reconnecting with (the unexpected love interest) Alice Monaghan seem a lot more somber and deliberate, as he considers the destiny thrust upon him in this world.
This all comes to a head in this massive volume, the events of which I won't particularly spoil, but I will say that the conclusion was everything a writer could ever hope for: satisfying, meaningful, and even if you knew it was coming (and you probably did), it still broke your heart in every possible way.
The combination of Mike Mignola's story writing and Duncan Fegredo's art is not one I'll ever get tired of. But had they ever decided to call it quits at that point, I could never blame them.
There are many volumes where the weird and the dark elements of Hellboy are present in spades, mostly in earlier volumes. But during the conflict finally resolved in this volume, those started taking a backseat to a different, more human emotions. Hellboy's experiences after his return from the Island, meeting the witches and reconnecting with (the unexpected love interest) Alice Monaghan seem a lot more somber and deliberate, as he considers the destiny thrust upon him in this world.
This all comes to a head in this massive volume, the events of which I won't particularly spoil, but I will say that the conclusion was everything a writer could ever hope for: satisfying, meaningful, and even if you knew it was coming (and you probably did), it still broke your heart in every possible way.
The combination of Mike Mignola's story writing and Duncan Fegredo's art is not one I'll ever get tired of. But had they ever decided to call it quits at that point, I could never blame them.