Review — ‘The Crown: A Tale Of Hell’ #1 Is A Delight Of Infernal Machinations

Welcome to the table,

Maya Angelou once said, “You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.”

It’s a powerful quote that speaks to one’s path in this world and how that path is often defined by the choices and decisions of those who came before us. It speaks to legacy, culture, and ultimately, it speaks to family, and because of that, it was very front of mind when I was reading the first issue of Mike and Todd Mignola‘s The Crown: A Tale of Hell from Dark Horse Comics.

This trek into Hellboy’s past is brought to life by the art of Warwick Johnson-Cadwell and the always delightful lettering of Clem Robins.

The first issue kicks off with the lenses of time focusing back on 1566 A.D, as we get a view of the castle of Azzael, somewhere in the lands of hell.

Hellboy’s mother, Sedara, and father, Azzael are reuniting after Sedara’s imprisonment by none other than her husband. Meanwhile, Hellboy’s older brothers, Gamon and Lusk, make things ready for a family dinner that feels about as comfortable as one would expect when one is eating bone and brains in the depths of the abyss.

There is an oddness present in these pages that conjures up C.S. Lewis‘s The Screwtape Letters without the added weight of religious guilt. The dealings of devils, both underhanded and out in the open, are calculating and corrupting, with loyalty being in short supply.

The purpose of the infighting, aside from being the nature of devils, is that Gamon and Lusk are both in line for the new crown being forged by Azzael. Lusk is full of guile and possesses a wild amount of secrets, and Gamon is fearless and beloved by the armies of the damned under his command.

The machinations of the damned are not merely their own, though. As Astaroth, Hellboy’s uncle, and Gamori, Hellboy’s sister, both make appearances to set the stage for a multilayer chess game pitting Gamon and Lusk against each other and disrupting their parents’ plans and possibly the hierarchy of hell.

The Crown: A Tail of Hell reads like a passage from a visual encyclopedia of folklore and myth focused on Mignola’s version of hell. There is a whimsy in these pages, elevated by Warwick Johnson-Cadwell’s brightly colored gesture-style art that gives the whole thing the air of a sinister school lesson you want to pay attention to.

Long-time fans of the various stories of Hellboy will know where the crown finally ends up, but I think both new and veteran readers will appreciate the lore this story is spinning.

Until next time, I like this book even though it does not feel like much is happening between the pages. It’s cozy and quiet and strangely charming even though we are dealing with dark forces from the pit. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what comes next.