Do Hellboys Dream Of Electric Sheep? — Reviewing ‘Giant Robot Hellboy’ #3

Welcome to the table,

Mike Mignola‘s ability to continue building on the world of Hellboy in a way that feels authentic and intentional will never stop bringing me joy.

Giant Robot Hellboy once more touches on this ever-growing thread within the Hellboy mythology that we saw in Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea. The concept that there are “A hundred weapons and a hundred hands to wield them… a hundred different faces… one life… to one purpose.”

To catch you up on the story so far, Hellboy has been captured in London, drugged, and plugged into a machine that controls a giant robot. The Giant Robot looks like a mecha version of Hellboy and is airdropped and unleashed on an island that was once the site of all sorts of science strangeness that resulted in giant monsters. All the while, an agent named Jian tries to gather more information about the secret facility while dodging various smaller creatures in the shadow of the Giant Robot Hellboy battles that happen in the background.

Issue #3 jumps off with Hellboy being unplugged from the machine and screens flashing a bunch of images of historical heroes who seem to be laced into Hellboy throughout the ages. We get to see Thor and Anum Yassa from Miss Truesdale, among others. The impression given is that the Giant Robot Hellboy is no longer animated by Hellboy’s will, but by the collective will of the spirit of things who are here to protect this world from threats great and small.

Giant Robot Hellboy is pure fun laced with more revelations that deepen and define the ever-expanding webwork of modern folklore that is the Mignolaverse. Even in these small self-contained stories, we are getting glimpses at something much bigger and it’s crafted in such an artful way that it somehow feels like a 1970s spy thriller, a Kaiju movie, and a story of worlds beyond our understanding all folded into one.

Mignola is a storyteller of the highest caliber and the art of Duncan Fegredo sings, along with the timeless colors of Dave Stewart. Clem Robins does a fantastic job of lettering this book, and the whole thing is perfect for fans of Hellboy, monsters, or strange stories and weird tales.

Until next time, if you have not yet read this yarn, give it a go. I think anyone who likes weird stuff will be into it.