‘Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land #1’ (review)

Written by Mike Mignola,
and Thomas Sniegoski
Art by Craig Rousseau
Published by DC Comics

You know the basics of Hellboy’s origin story.

Professor Trevor Bruttenholm and the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense find this hellspawn of a demon and a witch, brought forth by the Rasputin and the Nazis in 1944.

Bruttenholm befriends the creature, the child is raised in secret by the U.S. government, so on and so forth.

As Anung Un Rama, son of Azazel and harbinger of the apocalypse, Hellboy is unwilling to carry out his destiny and fights for the angels, instead. His attachment to and compassion for humanity began with Bruttenholm, and he prefers mission over destiny.

A true nature-versus-nurture kind of tale.

We even know the end of Hellboy’s story already, from his permanent death in 2011’s The Fury storyline to Hellboy’s travels through the afterlife and eventual rest in Hell to conclude Hellboy in Hell in 2016.

But how much time have we gotten to spend with Hellboy when he was, well, a boy?

Young Hellboy reminds me of Indiana Jones, a bit.

It’s not simply because of the pulp-hero adventures of strange islands and archaeological digs with potential supernatural finds. But, namely, the “Young Indiana Jones” flashback starring River Phoenix in Last Crusade that birthed The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television show.

Young Hellboy is prepubescent here, unlike the teenaged Henry Jones Jr. However, it’s that same drive for high-flying adventure mixed with our young hero’s stumbling into a nonstop parade of dangers that gets me.

If you want pulpy frolic, this comic book has everything: holy murderers, propeller planes, sacred daggers, strange islands, giant crab monsters, giant gorilla monsters, quicksand, people yelling “Run!”, dinosaurs, “savage land”-style stranded survivors, and mysterious temples.

This is all the good stuff that Hellboy himself crows about, Lobster Johnson comics in tow, as he and Bruttenholm board the plan to this South American island. But our story takes place long before our hero has the body and wits to survive nearly any danger.

So, please, do yourself a favor and pick this one up, immediately.