By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
Releases Dec 6th, 2017
* Spoiler Alert
A very enigmatic despot is finding clues in issue number two to make Rasputin the one and only Voice of the Dragon. Well technically, the introduction is to recap the events of the previous issue, and in what writers Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson are offering is tantalizing enough to keep tuning in to this very serialized tale a must. The imagery and work set by Christopher Mitten is like that of watching a Hammer film unfold. Here be spoilers in this very decent jumping in point for new readers to the Hellboy universe.
The vague Ancient Egyptian imagery found in this issue has me guessing a resurrection is at hand. The Right Eye of Ra is evidently pointing to some event to happen in Paris and perhaps a certain mummy will rise from out of his tomb. While Rasputin has not yet earned the title, his plan may perhaps bring Eugene Remy, the founder of the Heliopic Brotherhood, back from the dead and working for the wrong side during World War II.
This issue brings the plot to the second stage. Most of the pages faithfully recreate a seance in all its horrid and spectacular glory so that whatever Operation Geist is about, readers will have to look back at issue one to reconnect with the tale. The ghost of Albert Mayhew is summoned, but was it really him? His corpse was reanimated in the first issue, and it simply went berserk. For the bureau, they need answers and the only way is to communicate with the afterlife intelligence that is Mayhew.
In whatever they found, more questions are raised than answered. This detail is particularly interesting such that critics of this method of spirit communication in paranormal investigative work also ask if what’s summoned is exactly whom the living want to talk to. As a hobby parapsychologist, to find stories also questioning method is greatly appreciated.
When Trevor Bruttenholm decides to look into the old Mayhew estate to unearth some possible answers, nothing in his experience will help. The wait is on for the third issue where he will have gather more clues. If that means finally meeting Rasputin, I’m suspecting that will not be until the fourth issue. The climax will see one rise and another fall, hence cometh the Hellboy.
