Review — ‘Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Professor Harvey Is Gone’ Is A Great Hellboy Story

Welcome to the table,

Pulp stories featuring lost cities and strange, unknowable entities are my favorite kinds of stories. That is probably why stories set in the Hellboy universe make me so happy. The newest story I have had the pleasure of reading, Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Professor Harvey Is Gone, is an absolute double delight in every conceivable way. Let’s get into it!

This story was crafted by the modern myth-maker himself, Mike Mignola. Artist Giuseppe Manunta lends his skills to this story, and each page is nothing short of gallery-worthy work. Clem Robins adds his talents to the lettering duty, and between them all, the book really works as an amazing one-shot.

The story picks up in 1987 with Hellboy finding himself “somewhere” in England. Susan Smith, a research assistant for the titular Professor Harvey, is explaining to Hellboy that the Professor has indeed gone missing and no one can figure out how or why. It’s an easy hook, strange location, conventionally attractive assistant, demon paranormal investigator, lots of weird antiquities… I mean, this is a fun new story, but it’s like playing with a deck of cards where you know what the value and abilities of what you have in your hand, as you have seen them before, just not in this configuration. That’s partly what makes this kind of story so dang enjoyable. Even if you have never read a Hellboy story before, you can pick this one up and get a rad little adventure out of it and leave with a better understanding of the tone of most Hellboy stories.

Hellboy grabs a rad little idol and is mentally transported to a strange landscape of a monster-guarded city in a shallow sea. From there, he encounters Professor Harvey, who, much like hundreds if not thousands before him, has become enamored with an eldritch entity resembling an ancient, conventionally attractive queen sat upon a throne of skulls surrounded by the dead and undead who warn Hellboy that all she wants is unending and total love.

Things get instantly unhinged in the best possible ways. What results is a truly perfect story that, as I have said above, really captures the essence of Hellboy and the weird fiction folklore space that he and his universe dwell within.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Professor Harvey Is Gone is the kind of story I would give both a reader new to the Hellboy universe and a long-time fan. It so perfectly captures the tone and storytelling that make this one of my favorite landscapes to explore in the comic space.

Until next time, seriously, the art is so good, the story is so good… this whole thing is 10/10