Hellboy: Darkness Calls #3 of 6 - Dark Horse (2007)

This miniseries is halfway done and I can't wait to see what happens next. This issue introduces the main villain and it's all gonna be downhill from here for our big, red protagonist. This is not to say that the first two issues were all boring setup. They were awesome, action-packed setup. But what else would you expect from a Hellboy story?

Mike Mignola is writing the thing and Duncan Fegredo is drawing it. I was several pages into the first issue before I realized that Mignola wasn't doing the art. Fegredo nails the Hellboy style while throwing in a few touches of his own. A Hellboy story drawn in a radically different style would not be as effective. The art tells the story as much as the words do. More so in the case of Hellboy. The final piece of the Hellboy visual puzzle shows up in the form of Dave Stewart's distinctive colors.

So, Hellboy meets up with the minions of Baba Yaga who has agreed to lead a group of witches who really, really hate Hellboy. There are gods and nature spirits and weird mystical landscapes and all the other stuff (minus any other members of the BPRD) which makes a good Hellboy tale. If you like any of Hellboy's other incarnations, check this out. You'll be glad you did.

Speaking of checking things out, look at this page of Fegredo's "I can't believe it's not Mignola" art: