One of “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.’s†favorite spots to investigate is Romania. Considering the history of the country and its ties to Dracula, there’s bound to be tons of monsters. That’s the setting to the new “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.†one-shot “The Beast of Vargu†with artists Duncan Fegredo and Dave Stewart. This one-shot is a fun little read.
Hellboy is sent to the Carpathian Mountains (again) to take on a new evil that lurks there caused by an aristocrat named Costache Zsilagy.
Though not much of a story, especially for a one-shot, there are still some things to like here. The fight Hellboy has with the monster is pretty clever. The is because most of the action is told is a puppet show performed by two traveling gypsies. This is a clever way of showing a boss fight because of what happens to Hellboy.
There’s a bonus mini-comic called, “The Secret God of the Roma†which is about the old gypsy woman telling Hellboy the story of, well, the secret Roma god. It’s a nice little story that adds another element to the “Hellboy†universe, though it’s unclear how Mike Mignola will use it or how well it will work in-universe.
The artwork for both comics is one of the better renditions of the series. Hellboy looks amazing, and it should be said he looks absolutely adorable as a puppet. The monster is drawn amazing, but the design is about as basic as they come. The action for the puppet shows and the fight look great and they get the reader into the fight nicely.
Despite some minor nitpicks, “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Beast of Vargu†is still fun to read and the mini-comic that comes after has a nice worldbuilding aspect to it. The artwork looks amazing despite the monster looking like any basic monster in the “Hellboy†universe.
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