snurri: (Default)
snurri ([personal profile] snurri) wrote2010-03-23 09:20 am

2010 Reading #26: Hellboy: The Wild Hunt

Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
21. And Now We are Going to Have a Party by Nicola Griffith.
22. A Black Explorer at the North Pole by Matthew Henson.
23. Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley.
24. Killdozer!: Volume III: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, by Theodore Sturgeon.
25. Justice League of America, Volume 1 by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, et al.

26. Hellboy: The Wild Hunt by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo. This is number 9 in the collected Hellboy stories, which doesn't include the BPRD series, Lobster Johnson, the non-Mignola Hellboy stories, etc. It's a strange thing about this series--it's successful, and well-regarded, and yet I almost think that people don't talk about it that much because it feels unfair to those who haven't yet read it. It'd be like spoiling the cameo in "Zombieland" or something. It's just too good to be diminished by fanboyish ranting. Another odd thing, this time about Mignola's writing, is that sometimes these stories feel like they're all buildup, all prologue . . . and I don't care. There are medium-sized payoffs all along the way, but I trust that the big one is coming. In the meantime, this series has the best atmosphere going, and side stories like that of Mignola's Gruagach, which practically had me in tears. Dear Mike Mignola, please take very good care of yourself, because if anything happens to you before this story is finished I will weep for days. (P.S. Yes Kristin, you can borrow it.)

[identity profile] mastadge.livejournal.com 2010-03-23 02:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Here's a brand new interview with Mignola if you're interested.

[identity profile] snurri.livejournal.com 2010-03-23 02:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh man: that's awesome, but I had to stop reading for fear of spoiling myself, 'cause I'm still behind on BPRD. Thanks for the link, though!

[identity profile] mastadge.livejournal.com 2010-03-23 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm behind on all of it! For most comics, once I decide I like them a few stories in, I'll accumulate the books as they come out but wait until the story's complete and then read the whole thing in one go. I find it much more satisfying to read a couple-thousand-page graphic novel than a bunch of chapters spread out over the months. Unfortunately, since Hellboy is a sequence of stories rather than a graphic novel, that hasn't worked. Maybe this summer I'll work my way through the 4 or 5 Hellboy trades and 8 or 9 BPRD trades I haven't read. . .