New letter from the Editor, Scott Allie

[Maija]

http://www.darkhorse.com/zones/hellboy/editor.php

(warning: contains spoilerific discussion of The Black Flame if you haven't read it).

[el seth]

That Daimio cover is like the awesomest thing I have ever seen.

[Neil Hill]

That update just shows how smart yet canny Scott can be. Somehow he's able to say so much yet reveal nothing at all. That's the sign of a smart Editor IMO. Also, he it was nice to see him address some of our concerns and comments regarding the end of Black Flame.

Somehow Scott can keep the fans satiated, but keep them wanting more at the same time. Not so much because he's trying to placate fans, because we'd all see that and despise him for it. More because he understands how we feel. Even though he somewhat knows the outcome of the series we've all grown to cherish so much, he also knows that most of us would rather be surprised, angry, hurt, or just feel something when certain facts are revealed, than know too much and feel cheated when the comics hit stands.

[Poe Ghostal]

Saying a lot yet revealing nothing at all is a sign of a smart politician, too.

The Hellboy family of comics has become one of those storylines where hints are dropped constantly but nothing resolved to any satisfaction, and each new revelation raises countless new questions. Some people like that sort of thing. Personally I find it gets old, and eventually leaves me dissatisfied and a bit fed up.

Hellboy and the BPRD have been very self-involved lately (like most comics characters these days). It would be nice to see one or the other get involved in something that isn't directly tied to their own past(s) or fate(s). It doesn't sound like that's ever going to happen to Hellboy (I thought Makoma might give us a story that wasn't about Hellboy himself and his whole beast-of-the-apocalypse thing, but that doesn't seem to be the case--the only place we're seeing that kind of story is the DHBO... one-shots and the novels).

For me, it basically comes down to this: I've seen "The One" storyline SO many times in recent years and I'm just so tired of it. My favorite Hellboy stories are the ones where he's a bystander to some odd event, or when he's filling in for the role of the original character of a particular folktale. Ever since he became the sole focus of his stories, I've been steadily losing interest.

Can't we get some stories where a.) the fate of the world isn't at stake (BPRD) and b.) Hellboy isn't being told to/tempted to fulfill his destiny? How many times does he have to tell Rasputin/Hecate/the Fay/the demon from Makoma that he's not interested? So far we've seen this theme in Wake the Devil, Box Full of Evil, The Right Hand of Doom, The Third Wish and The Island. I get it: Hellboy is supposed to bring about the apocalypse but he doesn't want to. The supernatural creatures tell him he can't prevent it--he's going to do it no matter what. Okay, fine. Can we at least see him getting actually tempted to do so?

I have high hopes for Darkness Calls. I'm hoping that's we start to see Hellboy actually get tempted to join the other team, so to speak. But that's a difficult trick to pull off, and it requires a level of character development for Hellboy that I just don't think we've seen yet. You can't knock him down before you build him up a bit. I have no worries about Hellboy being tempted because he's never had much depth in that regard--he's always decidedly told off anyone who tries to tell him it's his destiny to destroy the world.

The only analogy I can think of is the end of the movie Gladiator. Even though the Commodus character stabs Maximus before the final fight to weaken him, I never had the slightest doubt that Maximus would win the fight, because he'd been built up as such an invincible bad-ass to that point. It's the same with Hellboy--there's no tension in all these beast-of-the-apocalypse storylines because Hellboy is so unequivocally good and sure of himself. The only question, really--and I won't be surprised if this is what the whole Hellboy story comes down to--is whether Hellboy will choose to die rather than use his hand to start the apocalypse (or allow someone else to cut it off and use it instead). Sure, there may be a third way, one that allows Hellboy to live and the world to be saved from apocalypse, but I imagine it wouldn't be as dramatic or compelling.

I'm sorry if this post seems trollish. This is more just voiced frustration. There's a lot of positive feedback on these forums, and that's fine, it's deserved more often than not. I just wanted to offer a little constructive criticism in the mix. If I crossed the line into destructive criticism, I apologize.

[Mike Cross]

Well, having sat through 9 years of the X-Files, I'm used to it by now..it being things seemingly revealed, yet not revealed..

[Tad]

My favorite Hellboy stories are the ones where he's a bystander to some odd event, or when he's filling in for the role of the original character of a particular folktale.

I thought that is exactly what Makoma was. There's a mention of his destiny but I read that as mixing his life with the Mummy's story in his dream. Number 2 will no doubt tilt the balance one way or the other.

As far as the self absorbed aspects, a character's journey of self discovery is what some of the greatest pieces of literature are about. There are also great novels that are more plot oriented, they're about what is happening and less about who it is happening to.

And some combine the two. Comics are usually plot oriented, a hero is trying to stop a villain's plan and obstacles are thrown in his path. Comics like CONCRETE or HELLBOY stand out as something different.

Having said that, my favorite stories are those that combine the two like Box Full of Evil.

[Neil Hill]

You make a solid point there Poe, and Tad counters it just as effectively. I guess in the end it comes down to is how much you're willing to empathize with the characters and stick with them regardless of the journey the writers take you on.

Personally, I've never felt that the "You are the one" storyline has been overdone ad nauseum. If that particular nugget is dropped at some point during the story (which I agree, it has been raised often lately- although sometimes with several years between stories), there's always plenty of other interesting things going on that help flesh out other aspects of the characters and world that they inhabit. Again, as Scott said, revealing just enough to keep your interest piqued and move the story along, but raising just as many questions. The X-Files analogy being very appropriate in some ways. :D

[ReptileJK]

The X-Files analogy being very appropriate in some ways. :D


Good analogy, indeed. In my mind, there is a big difference between the two, however: I never got the impression that Chris Carter et al. ever had any concrete idea how this giant story arc they created was supposed to end. They came up with a bunch of, what they thought were, neat plot points that would reveal things while not revealing things. Doing such is fine, yet it seemed like they did it so often, while not having thought out a great "finale" for it all, that we as fans got almost no pay-off. The series did nothing but raise questions, often ignoring things regarding the main "xfiles plot" that had happened in previous episodes. Even during the last season, when they knew it was going to end....they didn't give us much of a payoff for all our watching. The Xfiles movie is another good example. Sure...when it came out, it was neat...but in the grand scheme of things did it matter? I didn't think so.

My friends and I often compare xfiles and "Lost" regarding this matter. Both shows often have things that make you go..."What the...?", but with Lost one gets the feeling that the writers know where they are heading and that these things will be revealed. With the xfiles, on the other hand, I got to the point where I never knew if anything I was watching would be important.

I've never been so disapointed in a form of entertainment in my life (well....with the exception of the Star Wars prequels). As you can tell, I'm still alittle bitter about it. :D

The point to my rant is that I don't get this impression with HB. When I read HB, I feel like Mignola knows where he wants this all to go.

[Neil Hill]

but with Lost one gets the feeling that the writers know where they are heading and that these things will be revealed.

You hope anyway, right? :D

I've never been so disapointed in a form of entertainment in my life (well....with the exception of the Star Wars prequels).

This made me smirk. I couldn't agree more in many ways.

[Mike Cross]

As for the ending of hellboy, things lead me to believe that Mike et al. know exactly how things are going to finish, just based on Scott's comments in The Island #2 lettercol, that he knew for years how the Hand came to be.

[Neil Hill]

As for the ending of hellboy, things lead me to believe that Mike et al. know exactly how things are going to finish, just based on Scott's comments in The Island #2 lettercol, that he knew for years how the Hand came to be.

On a similar note; I remember Chris Golden mentioning at one point that Mike had written up a Hellboy universe "bible" of sorts, that seemed to detail much of what we're all seeing develop now, but planned years in advance. Of course dynamic and ever changing story developments are always creeping into the overall tapestry I'm sure, but overall he and his collaborators seem to have things pretty well mapped out.