Mike Mignola has joined forces with Chris Roberson and artist Paolo Rivera to give the world another one-shot in the adventures of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D with “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1955–Burning Season.†While more “Hellboy†is great, this one does have some issues that keep it from being a classic.
Hellboy, along with Professor Bruttenholm and Susan, head for Port Orange, Florida to investigate a string of unexplained spontaneous combustions. While it may at first seem like a scientific explanation turns into a supernatural one.
As far as “Hellboy†stories go, this one just ranks “good enough.†The setup is great and it has all the usual suspects for a “Hellboy†or “B.P.R.D†story. There’s some kind of disturbance in a small town somewhere and agents are sent to investigate. However, it does seem like just like any other one-shot story that goes through all the motions.
While that may be so, the writing is still strong and the story does flow nicely. What’s causing the disturbance is fine but why it’s there does seem like a cop-out.
The artwork is some of the best in the series. The character designs are great as well as the backgrounds. That is when we can see them While most of the comic we can clearly see everything, the other parts, especially the end, is blanketed in shadows. These shadowy parts are forgiven since the parts with some of the best-looking fire in comics comes on. You can feel the heat in these parts.
“Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1955–Burning Season†may not be remembered in the annals of “Hellboy” or “B.P.R.D” history, but it still does enough to be enjoyed. While it has some of the usual trappings of the series, the strong writing and art still make this one worth reading for anyone.
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