Mike Mignola’s “Hellboy†comics have been a favorite among comic book fans. Art Baltazar and Franco’s cute and kiddy versions ends up with some very striking results.
Do you remember that episode of “The Simpsons†with Alan Moore where Milhouse had that “Watchmen Babies†DVD? This comic is a lot like that DVD. It has child versions of many of the major “Hellboy†characters like Abe Sapien, Herman von Klempt and even Karl Ruprecht Kroenen.
The comic is divided into very short chapters where the stories are something you’d see on a Nick JR. cartoon. A running theme in the comics is Karl constantly having “fort†wars with Hellboy’s crew. The forts are cardboard boxes. Another one is Johann Kraus is constantly sneezing and coming out of his suit. These chapters are very funny, especially considering that these characters come from a serious horror franchise where people die in almost every issue and the fact that Hellboy is a demon.
It may be sad, but Karl is very cute as a kid. In fact, Baltazar and Franco made all of these scary characters cute. “Hellboy†fans should embrace these characters like this and see that these are more of fans lovingly doing something fun with these characters instead of “destroying†a franchise.
The art is reminiscent of some of Cartoon Network’s†shows such as “Powerpuff Girls†and “Ed, Edd n Eddy.†This extremely cartoonish style perfectly fits the comic’s tone and style. It’s almost like a “Hellboy†fan made this comic on “YouTube†as a parody. Only difference here is that this works a whole lot better.
“Itty Bitty Hellboy†is a fun look at what would happen if “Hellboy†was written as child’s Saturday morning cartoon. It’s funny, cute and lighthearted to the point of being almost genius. “Hellboy†fans will eat it up.
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