Review: ‘Shadow Of The Golden Crane’ #4

Welcome to the table,

And we are back! Shadow of the Golden Crane, a story set in the world of Hellboy, stumbled a little bit last issue — but this final installment of the story delivers a delightful ending that is well worth the read. Lets get into it!

As the series has progressed, we have seen B.P.R.D. agent Susan Xiang being left on her own by Hellboy and agent Koestler as she has been dealing not only with strange paranormal happenings, but also exploring visions of a secretive society of warriors who fought the foul forces of evil known as the Golden Crane.

Agent Xiang has her sister, Linda, drive her out to the middle-of-nowhere San Francisco where she finds Hellboy and agent Koestler fighting some really rad looking undead — including hopping vampires, a favorite horror creature of mine.

We get some really nice wrap up and a good view of ancient and quite cool looking monsters in a flashback where men and women from all walks of life — including a pair of woodcutters, a dancer, a hunter, a monk, and a thief — follow a voice calling them up a mountain where they slay a number of horrors and eventually clash with a demon king. These individuals were all guided by the spirit of the Golden Crane that taught them to bind evil into any object they hand on hand.

It’s really a beautiful full circle moment as you realize that, much like the heroes who came before, Agent Xiang is becoming part of this tradition of supernatural fighters protecting humanity from horrors and those things that return from the grave.

The back half of this issue has some truly spellbinding art from Michael Avon Oeming in it. I adore when he breaks conventional panel storytelling and gets funky with his gutters and page layouts. Some of the stuff in this issue feels like Bastard Samurai, one of, if not my very favorite thing he has done. Chris O’Halloran‘s colors are also super stand out in this issue and dance between the fantastic and the frighting in a bombastic way that makes the whole issue feel energized.

This is a satisfying and action-packed conclusion to the four-issue series and opens the door for more stories about the Golden Crane and the impact it’s members have had on the world of Hellboy.

Until next time, the stuff with the thermos was a great full circle moment. 10/10 for that alone.