Where do I even begin? Recently, a few characters from the comic book world had found their way into my top two.  Out of nowhere, The Hulk and Swamp Thing began speaking to me. I still love Batman, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and The Punisher (my favorites growing up), but their battles with who they are sort of softened over the years. The flaws in who they were, the aspects that made them – well, at least Wolverine, Batman, and The Punisher – anti-heroes began to lose out to their more heroic natures, and Spider-Man’s internal conflicts began to soften some. Their heroism became more front and center, and decisions became easier to make. As my childhood fantasies began to drift away, The Hulk and Swamp Thing – and who they are at their core – began to make sense to me. They are beings that desperately want to be human and want to love, and yet they are monsters. There’s an inherent tragedy in the fact that they simply exist, but every day they wake up and fight back against the monster within them.

As a teenager in the ’90s, Hellboy was always in my periphery, and something over the last several months, maybe it was the announcement of the new film, made me want to start at the beginning. I’m glad I did. I’m glad this is my first experience truly enveloping myself in the folds of the Hellboy universe. I recently reviewed the first Omnibus and collection of short stories, and with this second Omnibus, the character of Hellboy has joined The Hulk and Swamp Thing as one of my favorite comic book characters.

Mike Mignola wasn’t just interested in your typical, serial-style stories, he was interested in breaking apart his creation, little by little. This second Omnibus begins with “The Right Hand of Doom” and “A Box Full of Evil” which rattles Hellboy’s sense of being, but it isn’t until the “The Conqueror Worm” story arc that sends Hellboy out on his own, and the series takes on a whole new metaphysical state of existence.

I was continuously reminded of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal while reading these adventures. The Knight coming home from a war he didn’t want to fight, followed by death, this mythic character wanted nothing more than to be human. That’s Hellboy in a nutshell. He is who he is; he’s this mythic character, facing off against the most supernatural elements our fictions have to offer, and he doesn’t give a damn. He has the power to end everything, and he’s going to not let that go to waste.  He uses that power to put himself in harm’s way for the least of us. He will wander through these mythic landscapes, be taken on one of the greatest hero’s journeys I’ve seen, but all he wants is to be more human than monster.

It’s a beautiful, brilliant world with a wonderfully simple character facing a complex mythology he wants no part of. And I will be here for every release of the Omnibus.

Richard Corben steps in as artist on “Being Human” which is a lush treat, and Gary Gianni’s addition to the Hellboy universe is incredibly effective. Dave Stewart is simply a master.

Creative Team: Mike Mignola (story, art) Richard Corben (art), Pat Brosseau, Clem Robbins (lettering), Dave Stewart (colors), Gary Gianni (story and art for Into the Sea)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Click here to purchase.