Twenty-five years have passed between Hellboy’s first notebook and The Devil You Know – in our world and in the Mignolaverse. Adult heroes, drawn by artists revolving around primal designs. Huge monsters have risen to the surface of the Earth. It has been an apocalypse for a long time …
Eternal fire
If you follow the mythology of the Hellboy world, or rather Anung Un Rama, it all started with Vril – the sacred fire, the source of life, magic and death. It was the source of the Ogdru Jahad dragons, whose numerous offspring brought the end of times. It was he who powered almost all secret societies, figuring out how to bring the ancient monsters to our dimension, and at the same time gain power and power. And to breed a new race of humans, better than the unfortunate bald monkeys with no idea of magic. It was the remnants of the knowledge of the Hyperboreads, the priests of Vril, the “first race” that fueled the prophecies of the Beast of the Apocalypse.
Hellboy, Liz, Abe – all these “misfits” working for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense have struggled all their lives not only with evil, but also with so-called fate. They were to bring destruction and fall, give rise to an improved humanity, live in order to fit into someone’s interpretation of the legend of what was and will be. They decided to show that they are more than pawns on the ancient chessboard. As you know, Hellboy didn’t make it. In his twisted way, he brought the world to an end by whining and denying his role. The Strange Beast of the Apocalypse, however, caught up with destiny. Now, will the Bureau and its “superheroes” be able to contain the final collapse? After all, the monstrous Ogdru Hemy was defeated a few episodes ago …
A great march
BBP O and Abe Sapien’s spin-offs have been a road novel for some time. Single heroes, sectarian groups, and finally huge masses of people move across the ravaged areas in search of… something. They await a better end, they hear a cry ordering them to walk, run away, find someone or something. They become treadmills because their house has burned down or has collapsed into the ground, often along with the rest of the city. This time the fugitives are taken under her wing by a demon girl, Warwara. What do you think will lead them to a safe haven or into the middle of the final battle? And what for, if the apocalypse is happening anyway?
The Bureau itself also remains on its way – it is moving in a huge Soviet plane, which is currently the only HQ of the organization. It is from here that he sends troops to fight monsters, the smaller ones that still wreak havoc. After all, the new era is to belong to them. BBPO agents fight with Hellboy’s favorite weapons – firearms and kicks, but also with Vril; Liz’s fire turns out to be the most effective in the fight against monsters who were born from it.
As you can imagine, in the stills you will see chaos full of people, blood, monsters and flames. There will be a sword fight in which the holy fire is enchanted. The moments of calm are primarily scenes in the office, but they also quickly turn into a bustle or a flood of disasters monitored on the screens constantly watched by BBPO employees. volume Abe Sapien. Dark and terrible he will be here indistinguishable from other cartoonists (at least when it comes to colors, you will notice changes in the line). Laurence Campbell, who is responsible for most of the chapters, almost outlines the photos, leaving the grain of the picture with a matte print. You’ll see this most clearly at the end of the album. There will also be fragments of Mike Mignola himself – including the finale of the Hellboy and Bureau story.
“We’ve all died once or twice”
The Beast of the Apocalypse could not be missing at the end of the world, however discouraged by all this mess. Hellboy returns from the dead to kick some ass and mess around with his friends. Find out who has disappeared forever. Understand the meaning of the prophecy.
The Devil You Know has a very mournful mood. Yes, the Bureau’s agents fight fiercely and insist that a win is possible. After all, so much has already been cleaned up. And yet they are as tired as the whole Earth, and perhaps even humanity. The fire slowly burns out, in the place of one defeated giant worm a dozen new or a herd of smaller, equally deadly predators grow. What would cleaning up after all this be like? Is the future of the people of the “second race” really beneath the surface of the globe? How will this part of the prophecy come true? After all, no one here has any illusions that fate is a perverse bastard.
Twenty-five years of wandering through legends and folk tales, transformations, dreams, nightmares. Closing this volume, I did not feel unsatisfied at all, although I will miss the heroes of Mignola. The apocalypse has been closed or is the ending open? Is Walhalla waiting for the heroes? Answer yourselves.