Hellboy: Wake the Devil

Hellboy: Wake the Devil

Originally released in 1996

Written by Mike Mignola

Art by Mike Mignola 

I enjoyed the first volume of Hellboy, and I went into the second volume not knowing what to expect.  I know the premise, with Hellboy hunting down paranormal entities; in the case of this one, he's tracking down a vampire named Vladmir Giurescu and trying to stop Nazi cultists from resurrecting him.

With the BPRD being short-staffed, the six active members are divided into teams and split between three possible locations where Giurescu's castle could possibly be, with Hellboy being sent on a solo mission.  Of course, Hellboy winds up in the correct location, on his own against Nazi cultists and their master, who most of them obey without question.

Among these Nazis, the most prominent is Ilsa Haupstein, who loved Giurescu and wishes to be reunited with him. She is the most devout follower of the master, obeying his every command no matter how much it costs her.  And who is this master? None other than Grigori Rasputin, or rather his ghost. (dying in the first volume wasn't enough to stop him)

Naturally, Rasputin wants revenge on his killers, but this is also part of a plot to bring about the apocalypse. Mythology and folklore is also brought into the mix; Giurescu was resurrected by Hecate, the Greek goddess of magic and witchcraft (among other domains), and he considers her to be his mother, while Rasputin got his powers from the Baba Yaga.

As Hellboy faces off against bird women, Nazi cyborgs, and a vampire (this is a fairly action-heavy story), his teammates have even worse luck, if that seems possible.  While they don't find the vampire, they stumble upon traps of their own, along with poorly-made equipment that they were using, which doesn't end well for several members of the team.

As well, a trio of Nazis are lurking in the background - perpetually masked Karl Kroenen, devoted Leopold Kurtz, and disembodied head Herman von Klempt.  Klempt and Kroenen imply that they want to betray Rasputin, which Kroenen doesn't take well, but they don't play much of a role in the plot and seem more like incompetent bumblers rather than a bigger threat.

Upon escaping the castle and setting it up to explode, Hellboy is confronted by Hecate, who wants the demon to give into his instincts.  During this confrontation, we see the purpose of the lumps on Hellboy's head, as they grow into horns under Hecate's influence.

The epilogue of the story does a good job with contrasting Hellboy and Rasputin with Rasputin's talk with the Baba Yaga.  Hellboy is destined to bring about the end of the world, but he fights against that with every action he takes, while Rasputin is destined to be a puppet rather than a master and wants to escape it but feels like he can't.  It's a surprisingly somber moment given how blatantly evil Rasputin is in this story. (seeing as he worked with Nazis to summon the forces of Hell)

This story was all right, feeling like just another Tuesday for Hellboy.  I'm surprised that Rasputin was brought back so quickly; I was aware that he was a major villain, but I figured there'd be more of a gap between appearances. (though given how often villains are brought back in other comics, I can't criticize the series for it)  The story being about Hellboy's solo mission means that the other characters get less focus or development (and it results in some details, like the actions of pyrokinetic Liz Sherman, seeming to come out of nowhere), but it does mean that Hellboy himself gets some good development in this story, so it evens out a bit.