Early Book Review: Hellboy: House of the Living Dead by Mike Mignola

Hellboy: House of the Living Dead by Mike Mignola is a standalone graphic novel due to be released on November 9 2011. In this graphic novel, readers see Hellboy outside his normal environment, during his time in Mexico which he typically does not discuss. You do not need to be a follower of the graphic novel to fully enjoy this story, though long time fans will enjoy the return of Richard Corben, the original artist of the series. In Hellboy: House of the Living Dead, our red friend is completely devastated over the loss of a luchador comrade, a fellow fighter against the evil things in the world. Hellboy is lost in guilt over his friend's destruction and drinks himself to distraction until he is made an offer he cannot refuse. Fight his anonymous host's champion for a girl dies. Little does he know that things are about get even stranger, since the champion in question appears to be a Frankenstein-like monster, and his guide might not be quite what he seems.

The characters in this particular graphic novel were inspired by the classic horror movies, which Mignola explains in the acknowledgements. I love that Hellboy: House of the Living Dead offers the fans of the early Hellboy comics the art that they remember, and a story that they can enjoy even if they have fallen behind in the grander scheme of things. This could be a great way to re-enter the Hellboy universe and get back into an old favorite, or to inspire readers to start from the beginning and read the entire offerings. I highly recommend this graphic novel to anyone that was interested enough to read the review, and to several people that will not. This is a great graphic novel, well worth the read.

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