Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1954: Black Sun #1 Review

What do you do when you’re trapped in a desolate snowy wasteland, a giant mutant creature is hunting you, and you’re running low on snacks? Call Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. of course. If he can’t punch the problem until it stops, no one can. Let’s take a look at Black Sun, and see how it measures up.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1954: Black Sun #1 (Dark Horse Comics)

*airplane noises* EEEEEEEEEAAARrrrrrooooooo PEW PEW PEWBig Red, savior of people, eventual Cthonic-esque destroyer of the world and, as all we know, is in the Arctic to investigate a murder and a potentially supernatural culprit. Hellboy does not strike me as someone who’s easily rattled by these events…

Look at this jamoke. Literally from Hell, and complains about the arctic.

Upon meeting the poor scientist souls trapped on this island with something that’s decided they make good chewtoys, we’re treated to a perfect depiction of street smarts vs. book smarts:

“Real excitable, right? You got a can? I ate 40 lbs of beef jerky on the flight and it aint sitting right”

Woody, our cryptozooologist (imagine how proud his parents are) and Hellboy set out into the tundra to investigate the dead scientist. You’d think a cryptozooologist might be more interested in the big red weirdo next to him, but hey – they must hang out.

 

Is It Good?

It’s just okay, until it’s great. For the most part it’s a pretty bland issue. Granted, it is issue 1, so a little extra leeway is usually warranted–but this starts off slow, stays slow, and then gets AWESOME on the final page.

FLASHBACK!

The investigation takes place in this lonely, desolate setting. It makes everything feel that much bleaker and hopeless, and when we get to the payoff, the bleakness continues with a slight more ominous twist – but I still want to be interested in the storyline, and this just feels plodding.

I’ll give this a 7 out of 10–it’s slow, but next issue should be out of control, we hope.

Find this on comic shelves September 21st!