Hellboy: Wake the Devil, a Review

Hellboy: Wake the Devil picks up shortly after the incidents of Seed of Destruction takes place.  A brief introduction informs the BPRD team on the life of Vladimir Giurescu.  Giurescu lived an illustrious and bloody life during the early 19th century, fighting in wars and struggles.  More than once he received mortal wounds and died, but his body was always returned to Castle Giurescu, where he would return to life after the full moon, whole and fine.  Eventually Giurescu dies and his body is kept from returning to his castle.  Of course, something goes wrong and the BPRD is called to investigate.

The plot is really pretty straightforward from here on.  No one knows exactly where Castle Giurescu is, though there are three likely locations.  Three teams are sent separately to investigate and recover the bones before the full moon or things could be bad.  Very bad.  The hero, Hellboy, goes alone to one castle, and what he discovers there rocks him to his core.

Like Volume One, this issue has fantastic illustrations, using the same style and colorings to keep a very gothic feel.  Part of the beauty of these comics is how much information is conveyed with each panel, even the ones without dialog.  No scene is wasted.

I enjoyed this addition to the Hellboy catalog.  I'm not sure I fully understood what happened by the end, but what I did understand sat well with me.  Hellboy is a shiny, wonderful comic series that keeps pulling me back in, despite my efforts to try and read something else, and Wake the Devil is a perfect sequel to the excellent opening number.