Tuesday, September 9, 2014

CBR Itty Bitty Hellboy

 

Aw Yeah, Hellboy!

Aw Yeah, Comics!!

Comic title: Itty Bitty Hellboy
Art by Art Baltazar 
Written by Art Baltazar & Franco Aureliani

Published by Dark Horse Comics
From 2014
Lineup Itty Bitty Comics series
Format: Digest-sized trade paperback collecting Itty Bitty Hellboy #1–#5.

Following  the end of the amazing run at DC Comics on Tiny Titans and the sadly canceled way too soon Superman Family Adventures, Art Baltazar and Franco went exploring other ventures at different publishers.

If anything, this was their chance to continue to explore their excellent all-age comics through several other companies.

What followed was first a quick time at Dark Horse Comics on a Hellboy title before having fun with several proprieties at Dynamite Entertainment.

This here today is Itty Bitty Hellboy!

A little spin-off title of Hellboy. Once more teaming up Franco and Art Baltazar on a classic famous comic propriety, having fun with all these characters - not concerned with any kind of continuity whatsoever.

Aw yeah, comics!


Hellboy & the rest of the B.P.R.D. characters and their villains are reimaingined here as kids playing in the garden.

HB is joined by Liz Sherman, Abe Sapien, Johann Kraus and the just-wearing-a-underwear Roger. There's also several more classic HB villains reimagined as kids and these other annoying bullies next door. Such as the ghost of Rasputin, the now friendlier Kroenen, the witch Baba Yaga and Hecate.

This little digest-sized paperback collects the five issues of this limited series. Each issue tales a tale, composed of shorter little pieces with either an on-going theme or running joke (like Roger's underwear!).


Rasputin and his friends are looking to get their hands on Hellboy's cardboard box-fort. But careful, HB got this big red hand! What does he use it for exactly?

Lobster Johnson and Lobster Smith are on the trail of the Sasquatch! (this epic adventure would last most of this entire mini-series) But the Squatch is not easy to find...

Our heroes go on a camping trip... in HECK! They're gonna need a lot of marshmallows! Meanwhile Roger makes friend with Baba Yaga. He sure is popular with the ladies. They split him in two!

Hellboy and Lobster Johnson are pulled up in Heaven! HB uses his one phone call to call for Liz and Abe's help.

Finally we arrive at the underwater finale, it's a party organized for Abe's sister's birthday!


It's a very fun book!

Really entertaining! Like their previous work on other famous proprieties, Baltazar and Franco can really go back to these characters' simple basic overall essence and capture them in these shorter funnier charming personas. And here the contrast is even more accentuated, since the Hellboy books are usually more mature. Presenting these character in a unique new way, for children!

They seem to have fun taking these classic Mike Mignola characters into all-new fun adventures everyone can enjoy!

It's fun! It's sweet! It's perhaps a bit short.

This was made in order to help Dark Horse celebrate 20 years of Hellboy!


Overall, this was fantastic!

Simply fantastic! A really fun read, it also reads pretty quickly since Dark Horse didn't want to produce any more issues (and it's really difficult to put this book down).

A perfectly appropriate take on Hellboy for young readers while still being pretty enjoyable for adults who might pick-up the several allusions and references to the main Hellboy series.

While the original Hellboy comics are certainly not for kids, here it's a delight to share and let kids discover these characters re-interpreted for the occasion. Perfect for kids and adults alike.

Highly Recommended read!

Finally an Hellboy title the whole family can enjoy.

I give it:
2.5 / 3 Snoopies!
 
 

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