crookedmanHellboy: The Crooked Man by Roq

Writer: Mike Mignola
Artist: Richard Corben
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Length: Three issue limited seri
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A young Hellboy wanders around the Appalachian mountains only to get caught up in a battle for a man's soul with the being known only as the Crooked Man.


Ok. If you like Hellboy raise your hand. If you like comic legend Richard Corben's art raise your other hand. If you're a mutant with multiple hands and dig Mignola's ever expanding repertoire of story-telling-badassness raise your third hand. Oh, and see a doctor about that third hand, pal. Jokes aside, Hellboy: The Crooked Man is a flat-out hit. It fires on all cylinders and delivers a creepy-ass tale of Hillbillies, Hillbilly witches (like regular hill-folk aren't creepy enough), pacts with Satan, Melungeons and all manners of mountain magic tomfoolery. Mignola delivers a slice of home-grown American horror and he delivers it piping hot.


The tale is set in 1958 when Hellboy is nothing more than a young pup and finds himself in Appalachian country in the company of a man coming back home after a 20 year absence. Long story short the guy made a deal with the Crooked Man back in the day and has come back to face the music. Big Red and his new pal have a HELL of a time (pun intended) facing off against the dark blight that has come to take root around the guy's old community. Witches fly, folks get changed into beasts of burden and HB brings the pain as only he can. Mignola's become so adept at interweaving folklore (ANY kind of folklore) with the mythos that he's created with Hellboy that the story is absolutely seamless. Next to "The Body" this is my favorite Hellboy story. It's fast paced and creepy. The art is top notch and easily matches Corben's work on the Hellboy "Makoma" story line. If this were a movie it would be nothing like Del Toro's work on the franchise. Not a chance in Hell. It would be old school, grainy and very atmospheric.Think "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" with Ron Pearlman as HB being directed by Tobe Hooper. Very low budget and badass. So get out there and pick up the trade paperback and watch the Hellboy universe expand before your very eyes. Mignola's only getting better. Let's thank all our lucky stars and the Ogdru Jahad that he's decided to take us along for the ride.



5skulls5 out of 5!