Another corner of the Hellboy Universe is explored in Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast #1, written by Mike Mignola and Rae Allen with art by Allen and colors by Michelle Madsen.
The miniseries is set in the old West around 1880, where Native American woman Carmen Red Claw rides across the West, a gun for hire whose business is dispatching monsters for a sizable fee, and business has never been better!
Writer/artist Rae Allen brings her lifelong love of history and archaeology into play here, lending weight and authenticity to the book’s time period. The many characters that drop in and out throughout the book, as well as the vast landscape and the tiny but bustling frontier towns and ranches paint a tapestry that makes the story richer.
A bit of the magical and bizarre adds atmosphere to the book. Yargoss, a small ebony talking lizard who has proclaimed himself “King of the Lizards” (sorry Jim Morrison!), always rides on Carmen’s shoulders. He may be tiny, but he has the gall and courage of Godzilla, constantly hurling threats at any menace they face. He’s a prime example of a character I enjoy reading about, but boy would he get on my nerves if he existed in real life!
Speaking of menaces, you never know when another beast from a cryptozoologist’s nightmare will come leaping from the shadows at Carmen. This world is filled with all manner of magical beasts and monsters, including the legendary Chupacabra. I love Carmen – she’s fiercely independent and has ice water in her veins. She’s a lover of literature, a pensive warrior who’s gracious towards those seeking help and ruthless towards those who want to test her. Allen gives Carmen an iconic look, with her massive ebony chapeau and gloves and a shotgun always strapped to her back, ready to draw at a second’s notice. An equally formidable looking pistol hangs on her hip, which is circled with dozens of bullets. Tendrils of brown hair flow out from under her hat, framing her intense features.
This issue gives brief glimpses into her troubled childhood. Being Native American and having to live her young life in the 19th Century, she faced a lot of prejudice and hatred, which we’re shown in all its ugliness. I like how Allen bounces between the present and past in a scene where Carmen visits a ranch owned by new clients, a ranch very much like the one she grew up on, that had a tragic ending. As Carmen rides up to the ranch, we flashback in her mind to her childhood and the devastation she faced at her destroyed home. It’s cues like this that give us insights into Carmen’s character and make her wonderfully complex.
This series promises lots of two-fisted double-barrel action and heavy doses of the supernatural. Any fan of Westerns or horror should grab the book up – it’s another gem in the galaxy of Hellboy Universe books.
