Is It Good? Hellboy: The Midnight Circus Review

The young seed of destruction, Anung Un Rama, joins the circus. Come along, kiddies.

Hellboy: The Midnight Circus (Dark Horse Comics)

Mignola brings us Hellboy as a child; raw, vulnerable, and at the mercy of a circus which is really just a front for the royalty of Hell. These are the one shot stories that are so great to insert Hellboy into. Mignola takes things in a decidedly Bradburyian fashion, ala Something Wicked This Way Comes. Drawing up choice allusions to Pinocchio as a parallel for Hellboy and his fervent desire to be a “real boy,” Migonola is at the top of his game. The pacing is masterful, and yet again we get to see Hellboy struggle against the insidious forces of the Kingdom Below.

Duncan Fegredo draws a very human-looking Hellboy. The faces young Hellboy makes tear at your heart like a lion through a rib cage, and beautifully complement the melancholia Mignola infuses into the narrative. The Circus itself is dark, mysterious, and sprawling. This whole book is as exquisite to behold for a Hellboy fan — or really any dark fiction fan — as Hellboy in Hell. Without question. It harkens back to early Hellboy mythology and tales, where we were allowed tantalizing glimpses into what Hellboy’s fate might be. You could stare at these pages for hours.

David Stewart needs to color everything. It bears repeating.

10

• Mignola firing on all cylinders.
• Duncan Fegredo
• A Hell Circus. Booyah.
• Stewart’s colors.

• Nothing I can think of.

Is it Good?

The perfect thing to read this Halloween season, Hellboy: The Midnight Circus has it all. Gorgeous art practically enveloped by the shadows of the night, great pacing, and enough nods for longtime travelers through the Mignolaverse that they can consume this dish in a ravenous fit of hunger. Hellboy in Hell can’t come back fast enough, but in the meantime, go read Midnight Circus. Purchase a ticket, and see this story of dark wonder.