Hellboy Junior

Rating:
Summary: What is this?
Review: I felt embarrassed reading this in public. The art is childish, the humor is forced and sophomoric and not funny. They should have read each other's stories before they went to press; most of them make the same joke of Hitler being tormented in hell. It got old real quick.

The book gets two stars for each of Mignola's contributions. As usual, everything he puts his hands to turns to gold. The artwork is charming, haunting, and with a few spare words, he gets real laughs. How does he make it seem so easy?

I don't regret buying this, since there are a couple of gems in it. The rest is surprisingly awful. It's the kind of material that makes some people turn up their noses at comics.

Rating:
Summary: Offensive
Review: If you are like me and love Hellboy, avoid this at all costs. The only two harmless and humorous stories are by Mignola himself and are quite good. They may make this worthwhile for a completist. However, the rest is complete filth and definitely X-rated. This book is rife with scenes of rape, molestation, excremet eating, and Adolf Hitler as a pal all played for laughs. I felt dirty just for reading it. Absolutely NOT in the true vein of mignola's "Hellboy."

Rating:
Summary: Bad Taste Personified
Review: The Hellboy series is so well-done that the Hellboy Junior book comes as a surprise. These stories are witless take-offs on the once-popular Harvey comics for small children - Hot Stuff the tough little devil, Wendy the good little witch, Baby Huey, and so forth. If your idea of humor is to see how outrageous something can be, you may find this book funny; if not, then not, for it lacks humor of any other kind. Personally, I grew tired of depictions of disembowelments and the damned being forced to eat feces.

Rating:
Summary: I need to wash my brain out now
Review: This is the worst graphic novel I've ever read. A few parts are funny but most of it is just sick. If you are a fan of Ren&Stimpy, Cow&Chicken or I Am Weasel style drawing, you might like it. Otherwise, give it a pass. My copy is heading to the used book store.

Rating:
Summary: I've Got Only One Thing to Say -- Huge Retarded Duck!
Review: You don't have to like Mike Mignola's Hellboy character to LOVE Hellboy Junior. Heck, you don't even need to have heard of Hellboy to have rip-roarin?, laugh out loud, pee in your pants, bust a gut good time. While a portion of this is no doubt due to Mignola, the real star of this Hellboy extravaganza is Bill Wray, of Ren & Stimpy fame.

Wray rips Mignola's wonderfully gothic character from his normal mystery-researching, heavily shadowed milieu, turns him (a la Hot Stuff) into a youthful diaper-wearing devilwho hasn't made a name for himself yet and drops him smack dab in the middle of a late 60's-early 70's underground comics version of Hell -- complete with guest appearances (and lots of nasty trickery) by Adolph Hitler and Idi Amin!

In addition to Hellboy's misadventures, you're treated to such memorable characters as Sparky Bear, the Ginger Beef Boy and my favorites, the Wolvertons & Huge Retarded Duck.

If you think you'd enjoy serious talents like Wray and Mignola embracing a different brand of comic storytelling, you could do a lot worse than picking up this book!