Note: This review also appears on our STARLOG website.HELLBOY: THE FIRE WOLVES by Tim Lebbon (Dark Horse Books, tpb, 238 pp, $12.95) Just one more book (sitting untouched on my shelf)—and I’ll have read and (so far) enjoyed ALL of the HELLBOY original paperback novels published initially by Pocket Star and now by Dark Horse (the comic’s purveyors). Hellboy is one of my favorite “new” characters of the last two decades—created, written and often illustrated by the fabulous Mike Mignola in a sort of blend of H.P. Lovecraft and Jack Kirby. A Devilish adventurer, Hellboy explores the eerie for the B.P.R.D. (Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defense). But you know all that already thanks to the two terrific HELLBOY films written and directed by Guillermo del Toro that brought the whole kit and kaboodle (not to mention the mythos) to the screen. The movies, of course, provided the commercial clout to launch this multi-book series.
As always, Hellboy takes on a supernatural menace; in this case, it’s a fire wolf (the plurality of the book’s title prematurely reveals one of the surprises. Yes, Virginia, SPOILER ALERT, there’s more than one wolf). Hellboy’s investigating an Italian family curse that seems to doom its young daughters. While on this mission, he works alone (no Abe Sapien, alas!) and mostly walks alone (aided by just three family members). H.B. does get two phone calls with fiery Liz Sherman but both Abe and Liz (prominent in other books) and various B.P.R.D. colleagues are sorely missed this time. It’s much more fun when Hellboy has some of his team to whine (about) and dine (along).
Hellboy does get to have a series of his trademark conversations with the semi-uncooperative dead (the ghost of a woman who hunted fire wolves millennia ago in Pompeii and now offers sage advice amongster her kvetchings). H.B. gets beaten, battered and repeatedly burnt (Hello?! FIRE wolves!) all while trying to end the Esposito curse and, by the way, prevent Mount Vesuvius from blowing its top and ravaging Greater Italy with lava, pumice and tough volcanic love. Will he do it? C’mon, how much pulp fiction have you read? SPOILER ALERT: He doesn’t die, either.
This being a HELLBOY tale, though, there’s weirdness, loneliness, pain and sweet sadness. Hellboy has problems (he’s from Hell for one) and like the Fantastic Four’s Thing, his distinctive appearance makes him both a celebrity some oogle and a monster others fear. Sometimes he’s just most comfortable apart from humanity, alone in the dark.
Horror author Lebbon wrote UNNATURAL SELECTION, a 2006 HELLBOY novel featuring a horde of different mythical creatures, which I liked BETTER than this one. Sorry! FIRE WOLVES was slow to ignite for me (it took several intermittent read-it-and-put-it-downs over three months till I got to page 56 and was finally hooked enough to zoom through the rest non-stop). It’s also a tad predictable (I picked out the villain early on and was CERTAIN Lebbon would up-end my expectations, but he DIDN’T! What? NO red herring?). Still, lesser HELLBOY is greater than some other sagas—and THE FIRE WOLVES does score as another worthwhile fantasy adventure for the Big Red Guy. Coming in October: a complementary exploit, HELLBOY: THE ICE WOLVES (available for pre-order here) by Mark Chadbourn.Fire Wolves Art: Duncan Fegredo/Colors: Dave Stewart
Hellboy Characters: Trademark & Copyright 2009 Mike Mignola. All Rights Reserved
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