Hellboy Library Edition, Vol. 1: Seed
of Destruction and Wake the Devil (v.
1) by John Byrne by Mike Mignola
Hellboy Volume 1 Hard Cover Edition
Since Mike Mignolas Hellboy first hit the stands in 1993, it has become a
cultural sensation, racking up a dozen Eisner Awards and inspiring
numerous spinoffs, from a novel line, to video games, to feature films.
Now, Dark Horse is pleased to present the comics that started it all,
collected in deluxe hardcover editions. Sized at 9 by 12, and handsomely
bound to match The Art of Hellboy hardcover, each volume contains two
full story-arcs - the equivalent of two trade-paperbacks. Each volume of the
Hellboy Library Editions also includes extensive supplemental materials,
including previously unreleased sketches and designs.
Personal Review: Hellboy Library Edition, Vol. 1: Seed of
Destruction and Wake the Devil (v. 1) by John Byrne by Mike
Mignola

Near the end of World War II, the evil Rasputin summoned a creature from
another world -- a little red demon baby.
And so starts Mike Mignola's distinctly offbeat "Hellboy Volume 1: Seed of
Destruction and Wake the Devil," two interconnected action-factory stories
with a bright-red demon as its anti-hero. Mignola happily crams this rather
brief tale with Lovecraftian horrors, mythic demons, a cursed mansion, a
vampire in an old castle, and a truly malevolent villain who wants to
destroy the world.
Decades after Hellboy was summoned into this world, his adoptive father
Professor Bruttenholm recounts what little he can remember of a doomed
expedition to the north pole, along with the three Cavendish brothers. Then
a grotesque frog creature attacks Bruttenholm, killing him instantly --
moments before Hellboy returns the favor.
Soon after, Hellboy and his companions Abe Sapien (fish-man) and Liz
Sherman (pyrokinetic) arrive at cursed Cavendish Manor, unaware that the
mansion's owner is in league with Rasputin. Then ghastly frog-creatures
kidnap Liz and attack Hellboy, as Rasputin reveals his presence to the
demon/man that he considers his servant -- and if Hellboy won't serve him,
he'll used Liz's power instead.
But that adventure is not the end of Hellboy's clashes with Rasputin. Sent
to find an ancient vampire in Romania ("Paprika chicken, baby!"), he runs
afoul of a bunch of Nazis who serve Rasputin's spirit -- and a bunch of
mythic creatures, including the vampiric Giurescu, who serve a ghastly,
immortal lamia in the depths of his castle.
Elsewhere, Abe is falling into a trap of Rasputin's, and Liz's powers run
amuck when her team finds an alchemist's lab with a seemingly dead
homunculus. And Hellboy's fight with the lamia has shocking
repercussions, when he finds himself hurtling into a darkness where his
true purpose is revealed -- and he must choose what his destiny will be.
Vampiric snake-women, Baba Yaga, immortal sorcerers, grotesque frog
monsters, disembodied heads, a Nazi woman in an iron maiden, and a
walking skeleton. Oh yeah, and a Lovecraftian lake monster with way too
many tentacles.
Mike Mignola knows how to craft a monster-filled universe, where a
demonic anti-hero seems downright normal. And the first two books about
him are technically separate stories, but they're more like two halves of the
same tale -- and while each starts relatively quietly, they rapidly escalate
into haunting, grotesque action-adventures set in half-ruined buildings
where only monsters and statues still dwell.
And while a few plot threads are left hanging in the second half of the
story, Mignola does a solid job plotting these. He also knows how to use

dialogue for atmosphere as few authors can ("Witches, striges, vampir...
ghosts come forth from their tombs..."), but also utilizes Hellboy's acid wit
to lighten the mood ("Not gonna happen... 'cause you're very very ugly and
YOU HAVE A GIANT SNAKE BODY!").
Hellboy himself is a classic anti-hero -- despite his red skin, bulky body and
sawed-off horns, he's very human in attitude, with an understated love for
his friends and his adoptive father. Throughout these stories he's faced by
hints of what he truly is and what he's expected to become by the infernal
players, but his good heart won't have it. And his snappy wit ("Insolent
beast! Troglodyte!" "Big talk for a guy with no pants") only makes him more
lovable.
It's also worth mentioning that this edition is simply beautiful. The heavy
cloth binding gives the book plenty of resilience to repeated readings,
especially since the paper it's printed on is thick and glossy. It makes
Mignola's art -- with its vivid colours and heavy, thick shadows -- even
more vivid.
"Hellboy Volume 1: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil" compiles the
first two books of Hellboy's adventures, and shows why Mike Mignola is
such a well-loved, well respected graphic novelist.
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