by Jade Lindley

Get excited people, DC has unveiled a new Bat-Symbol to commemorate 75 years of Batman! Over the years there has been so many different symbols which represented the relevant time of Batman, but which were your favourites?

by Lewis E. Ryan


Welcome back to ‘Marvel NOW… NOW!’, the series in which we take a look at how the Marvel universe’s rebranding is progressing.  This time I’ll be looking at Matt Fraction’s personal take on wisecracking Avenger, Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye. 

Firstly, Matt Fraction and David Aja are somewhat of a pre-proven powerhouse combo. Having already worked together on the well-received Immortal Iron First line, along with Ed Brubaker (one of my personal favourite writers), I was fairly confident about picking up the first trade of Hawkeye on their names alone. It’s times like this I want to pat myself on the back for being awesome at being right.

by Jade Lindley

Are you sick of hearing about the same ol' villains from Gotham's Rogue Gallery? As awesome as it is reading up about The Joker, Penguin and Catwoman, one must ask, is it getting a little repetitive?

As a Batman comic reader since the age of 5, I have always been interested in the villains, and as I hit my teens I was interested in the psyche behind each one of Batman's adversaries. I wanted to know what drives them to do the evil things they do, and what runs through their mind in doing so. And as much as I do love the more well known villains who tend to be given the spotlight a little more, there is one villain which has stood out for me for years and that is Victor Zsasz. 

by Jade Lindley 

There are many brilliant comic book stories out there, written by so many wonderful writers accompanied by beautiful artistry and coloured with a multi-layered depth; it’s those elements that make Midnight Circus one of the most memorable stories I have read to date. The first time I read Midnight Circus, I was in so much awe; I couldn’t believe what I had just read. Mike Mignola has created a wonderful character with Hellboy, and while he is an intriguing character as an adult, seeing his vulnerability and curiosity as a child is just as entrancing to read; it’s one of the reasons this story stands out. 

Midnight Circus is such an appealing story because of the fact that it mirrors childhood as well as incorporating the dark tale that is Pinocchio.

by Lewis E. Ryan

Happy Hellboy Week everyone! Today I’ll be looking at the Sledgehammer 44 books, specifically the second published mini-series, Lightning War. 

by Gavin Foo

*WARNING - DEFINITE SPOILERS*

B.P.R.D. HELL ON EARTH #117

Writer: Mike Mignola / John Arcudi
Art: James Harren
Colours: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Clem Robins
Cover: Rafael Albuquerque
Variant Cover: James Harren & Dave Stewart

The Reign of the Black Flame [Part 3 of 5]

This issue starts with a large boom, literally and figuratively. 

Iosif takes centre stage for most of it as he starts off with an interrogation of the captured Leopold Kurtz. He uncovers a major piece of information in regards to the body the Black Flame inhabits which origins stretches back to Garden of Souls, through Killing Ground, and then ‘loaned’ to Zinco in Return of the Master. It seems he may even have a hidden agenda as he lies to Johann about the body, knowing Johann’s at tachment to it. Then follows a full-on, one-man army battle as he engages Zinco troops and then 2 ferocious monsters of the Black Flame’s creation.

by Tiff Douglas

Almost every single comic franchise has done a Christmas special, whether they are a childhood idol recounting a famous Dickens classic, a league hero connecting with the common folk through a good deed on Christmas Eve or it is just plain Christmas everywhere and not even our caped crusaders can hide from it. All that a special Christmas issue needs is the setting, the date and some sort of mention of yuletide merriment. Hellboy: A Christmas Underground (the first story featured in an anthology Christmas issue), for instance, has all these things without being a specifically Christmas story, it’s actually very clever and more than just a little creepy. 

by Gavin Foo

“WOK”. That is the sound of many a reader, experiencing Hellboy and the Mignolaverse for the first time - your skull-bone simply dislocating from your neck-bone, somersaulting through the air like some absurd acrobat and upon hitting the ground, rather a ‘plink-plonk’ of bouncing and a rolling to a halt. You didn’t expect it, you simply couldn’t have, but it hit you like a hundred tonne fist of doom yet so caressing in its embrace.

Sure, that introduction reads ridiculously, but what can be said that hasn’t already been said before about the great Mike Mignola? I remember my first taste of his artwork in the early 90’s, the original graphic novel Wolverine - The Jungle Adventure with Walt Simonson. I was not yet mature enough to fully understand nor appreciate the beauty within his lines, but one thing that I did realise was that this was something special to behold, and it remains one of my favourite stories today, visually and otherwise.

by Chris Davidson 


*Warning Possible Spoilers* 

Seed of Destruction was Mike Mignola’s first foray into creator owned content. It was originally released in March 1994 and it has aged superbly, better than fine wine you might say. Mignola grants us a story involving destiny, mysteries and the ever present human thirst for knowledge. Hellboy himself is obviously not human but he grew human idiosyncrasies as he was raised by humans, one man in particular being Trevor Bruttenholm. 

by Bob Bruno and Jake Douglas

Warning: Spoilers follow.

Bob: Hello everyone and Happy Hellboy week! Inspired, Jake and I have decided to do something a little different for our weekly review. Just so everyone knows, that at the time of writing this, Jake and I have only read up to the second trade, Wake the Devil. We're new to this universe, and neither have any idea where the story is going...