Dark Horse Comics
Spoiler Alert
Kaiju fans will love everything Mike Mignola has dreamed up in Giant Robot Hellboy. This story is inspired by the sketches he drew and got published in The Quarantine Sketchbook, and due to demand, he’s crafted an excellent story that blends Japanese style action to a familiar concept.
The first issue sets up something that I would expect in Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner. He gets a phone call and soon gets gassed. After passing out, he’s whisked away by unknown agents to some bunker, where he’s hooked up to various neural devices. As for the mysterious giant box, all I see is that it’s destined to some island said to be located east of Africa.
As for why Hellboy was chosen for this mission, maybe it’s because he has some skill that can help in the situation. Instead of kindly asking him if he wants to help, they just assume he’ll do what comes naturally, and destroy everything! As for why he’s been stuffed into a giant robot, there’s no explanation yet.
By the time Hellboy becomes aware of his surroundings and that he’s in a robot body, he’s still feeling out of it. While there isn’t a lot of exposition from his end asking who, what, when, where and why, all we know is that someone feels confident that he can take on the big baddy while the humans explore a desiccated lab, where spiders are running amok!
As for the other giant monster that Red will have to confront, no major spoilers will be revealed here. Anyone who sees the outline that Duncan Fegredo has sketched in will know who he’s paying homage to! It’s fairly easy to tell where this tale is going, and what makes his artwork standout is that it includes a bit of Mignola’s own style on top of his own modern approach.
And as for who Jian really is, and which organisation is involved in kidnapping Red, there’s no answers given yet in part one of a three issue story. There’s plenty of questions I had running in my head, and with only two issues to build the action and resolve it, let’s hope the plot is as epic as a Toho Studios film! Fans can pick up the individual issues as they are released or can wait for the eventual trade. But if you’re like me who’s impatient, I’m picking up each issue as they come just because the covers are epic. For fans of the giant robot genre with that twist, it’s a must read for sure.
5 Stars out of 5
