Hellboy is one those series that has always left me with mixed reactions. The concept is stellar – the possible future ruler of Hell – nicknamed Hellboy when he was transported to earth by a ritual gone awry – is unwilling to accept his destiny because of his sympathies with humankind. His decision triggers events throughout the planes, and also, because of his involvement with the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, he has made himself quite a lot of enemies in the netherworld. Writer/artist Mike Mignola draws inspiration from horror stories, folklore and local myths and legends from around to world to come up with a rich supporting cast for the series. The story of Hellboy is a series of quest-stories, each of which contributes to explaining a bit of back-story and also in building up the world the characters inhabit. Mignola obviously has a plan for his baby, and he is taking his time unfolding it to the readers.

But what gets my goat is that Hellboy, as a character, is ruefully underdeveloped. In spite of leading a life filled with supernatural elements, the character has little or no regard for the consequences of his actions. His standard modus operandi in dealing with anything at all is to punch and shoot, no questions asked. This adds a level of shallowness to the storylines that I’ve been unable to come to terms with. I mean, what’s the point of all this world building and plot development if your character is a one-trick pony?

That does not mean I do not read Hellboy. I follow the series very closely, even though it is tough to keep track of all the miniseries and spinoffs that are being churned out. Initially it was just Mignola doing all the writing and artwork, and my oh my, the man is a design god! Alan Moore summed it up perfectly when he said that Mignola’s work combines Kirby’s comicbook sensibilities with German expressionism. The work in Hellboy is the cumulative output of a man who has experimented with his craft for the better part of two decades and has developed a style that’s minimalist and unique. In short, when you see Hellboy for the first time and see Mignola’s chunky blacks adorning the panels, you feel like there is not other artist who can do the character justice.

But then, for the past couple of years, Mignola has been involved with other aspects of his character. He is, I believe, closely associated with the production of both the Hellboy movies, and the animated series, and the various merchandising aspects of his brainchild. It would be a wonderful world if an artist could just sit at his chair and draw and everything would fall into place, but let’s face it, page rates and royalties (and even original comic art sales) aren’t enough to make ends meet, especially if you’re striking out on your own. So one cannot begrudge Mr. Mignola his lack of output, he has a business to run after all. What makes it all good for the fan is that he is personally supervising the choice of artist for the ongoing stories –Hellboy, its companion BPRD, the limited series Lobster Johnson and Abe Sapien, and also co-writing most of them. There has been quite a gap between the last Hellboy series – ‘The Island”, and the latest “Darkness Calls”, and apparently that’s because the previous artist short-listed for the job did not quite make the cut, or the deadlines. Editor Scott Allie tells us in the letters page of Darkness Calls #1 that after the artist turned one issue in, he was replaced by British artist Duncan Fegredo.

Duncan Fegredo has had a checkered career. His work on Grant Morrison’s Kid Eternity and Peter Milligan’s Enigma, two miniseries published in the early nineties, brought him critical recognition, but not really the kind of fan following an artist of his caliber deserves. He then went on to do painted covers for a number of series, Shade the Changing Man, Lucifer, Star Wars, to name a few. But in terms of a career-defining assignment, Darkness Calls is definitely the first to come Fegredo’s way.  I was skeptical at the choice – like I had mentioned before, Mignola had always been the definitive Hellboy artist, and though there had been other artists doing short stints on the character ( as with the miniseries ‘Weird Tales’, a collection of short horror tales involving the character and written and illustrated by a gazillion different guys, including the likes of Alex Maleev, P Craig Russell, John Cassaday, Scott Morse and JG Jones) , Darkness Calls was core Hellboy, and it was difficult to envisage anyone else carrying off the mood and tone of the character.

When I flipped open the first page of Darkness Calls, I gasped.

This was not Mignola. This was like someone who had captures Mignola’s aesthetics, the spirit of Hellboy, so to speak, and made it his own. This was Mignola Reloaded. Ok, enough with the clichés already, yeah? Fegredo brought a manic intensity to the proceedings with his keen eye for detail. For instance, a forest scene that occurs in the first issue. While Mignola would probably have filled in blacks for the most part, and trust me, he can convey a LOT with minimal brushstrokes, Fegredo literally goes apeshit with his detailing. You can almost see the individual leaves crackling under Hellboy’s feet as he tromps through them, while in the background the bony branches of trees alternate as spider-webs of dark and light.  Fegredo got all the tricks of the trade right – the Mignolian leitmotif of an aspect panel transition to a close-up of a sculpture or some ancient gaping creature. His designs are fantastic – I don’t know how many of them were Mignola’s, but considering the kind of talent he has on display, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was given complete freedom to come up with his own panel layouts and character sketches. And trust me, the artwork just gets better, more confident and intricate as the series progresses. It is as if Fegredo, unsure of how people will react to his interpretation of this iconic character, had held himself back in the first issue and then feeding off the positive reactions, just cuts loose.

Ok, the story, which in case of Hellboy has always managed to disappoint me. Darkness Calls begins with some characters you wouldn’t know were relevant unless you have read the stories that came before – thankfully, there are editorial notes that explain which segment of Hellboy some piece of dialogue references. Then Hellboy enters the story and there you go, that same old pigheadedness about the character – he refuses an offer by a group of rather disgruntled women saying, “Leave me alone!” puffing on his cigar, not making an attempt to understand what they are asking of him. Then things begin to get interesting, when an old, old foe makes a bargain to have Hellboy transported to her world. It’s Baba Yaga, the old witch from Russian folk tales, who Hellboy had blinded once upon a time and who wants his life in return.

It’s interesting to note, at this point, that there are two American comic book series that uses Baba Yaga as a pivotal character – the other being Fables, another excellent series that you should be reading, and the characterization of the lady in both the series is dead-on – she’s evil, she’s powerful, she’s old and there are very few ways to keep her off-balance. In the Hellboy series, Baba Yaga is shown, much like her original Russian version, as traveling around in a pestle. Which gives me this insanely happy feeling in my tummy because this is the old witch I know.

So we have Hellboy stuck in Baba Yaga’s Russia, and it is but obligatory that we see other characters from Russian folklore popping up as well. Remember Koschei the Deathless, whose soul was hidden by Baba Yaga in a very, very secure location? Vasilisa the Beautiful, who was helped by a fairy godmother throughout her life and was one of the few girls who could actually escape Baba Yaga’s clutches? Don’t worry, I haven’t given out any spoilers, just that these two characters make their appearances. There are others, but you can find them out for yourself.

The story goes on towards a predictable climax – Hellboy punching with all his might. There is another revelation, but more importantly, while he’s exiled in folklore-Russia, things are afoot in his…our world, when something really really evil is being let loose. Darkness Calls, like ALL other Hellboy miniseries so far, ends on an incomplete note, with threads of stories to come. Like I said, this becomes frustrating for a casual reader who wants to read a story with a beginning and an end. Ah, well, so we wait for the next Hellboy series to come by, I guess. And read the BPRD stories that are coming out pretty regularly. *sigh*