Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1957--Fearful Symmetry #1 // Review
It’s the late 1950s. One of the hardest-working half-demons on Earth has just arrived in India. He’s there to investigate a string of strange animal attacks. He’s not a zoologist, though. He’s there with the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Naturally, things are going to get weird and dangerous in Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1957--Fearful Symmetry #1. Writers Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson open a whole new story with art by Alison Sampson. Color covers everything courtesy of Lee Loughridge. Mignola and Roberson delve a bit further into Hellboy’s past in a fun one-shot.
Hellboy isn’t working the investigation alone. He’s aided by an old friend named Ginny, who lets him know what’s going on: evidently, the official report is that there have been a group of tiger attacks outside of Jabalpur. It’s a nice easy explanation, but it doesn’t make sense. There would be an isolated attack here or there. There certainly wouldn’t be tiger deaths in the numbers that have been reported. Something is up, and Hellboy is there to check it out. There are native stories of those who could use sorcery to transform into tigers. Is that really what they’re up against, though?
Mignola and Roberson handle the story in a straight-ahead fashion. It’s a simple investigation of a string of murders on the other side of the world in the middle of the 20th century. Hellboy and Ginny both get plenty of time to assert themselves on the page, both professionally and emotionally. It’s a casual working relationship between the two of them as they delve into the shadows to look into weird animalistic killings. The plot moves along with a solidly respectable pacing that gradually reveals details of the mystery. It’s all very competently executed.
Sampson’s work is a bit more elegant and a bit less blocky than Mignola’s own work on the series. It doesn’t have quite the same impact, but it DOES provide a little more nuance and subtlety than Mignola manages in visual renderings of his own character. The shadows that seem to cling to everything have a striking degree of depth and definition that are enhanced by Loughridge’s colors. There’s a profound sense of mood and tone as the investigation progresses. So much of the issue happens at night, which allows Loughridge some beautiful work with light and shadow. Ginny lights up a cigarette, and it adds to the well-modulated visuals of a well-articulated evening conversation between her and Hellboy.
The actual action in the issue feels pretty flat on the page, but this particular Hellboy isn’t a story that thrives in action. The drama of the mystery is what drives the entire appeal of the story, and it does so in a way that capably carries the story from one cover to the other with a few moments of genuine interest along the way. The atmosphere is maintained throughout the issue in a way that makes for a memorable trip to India with Hellboy.
