Ocean of Ink: Hellboy: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola
Article by Ed O.
Welcome back to “Ocean of Ink,” where I, your humble Book Kaiju, have finally gotten around to reading my giant backlog of fantasy comic books and I’m going to make it everyone’s problem. With Halloween fast approaching I thought I’d get into the spooky spirit by reading a horror comic! Then I realized that I’m a scaredy cat, so instead I read Hellboy: Seed of Destruction. It may be pulpier than a glass of orange juice, but there’s monsters in it, so it passes the Halloween vibe check!
Originally published by Dark Horse Comics back in 1994 the story was co-written by John Byrne and Mike Mignola. The art was done by Mignola as well. This serves as the introductory story to the Hellboy mythos as a whole, so why not start my journey into it at the very beginning?
The Hellboy series has been in the Ocean for years ever since I saw Ron Perlman portray Big Red on the screen. Since Guillermo Del Toro based the first movie off of Seeds of Destruction I figured I was wading in already knowing basically the plot.
Boy was I wrong. Del Toro really did his own thing with Hellboy, and while the over all bullet points of the story are similar, how we get there is totally different. Perlman portrayed an action hero who happens to be a devil. He fired his gun, romanced the love interest, and saved the day. All while spitting in the eyes of fate.
Mignola’s Hellboy is, somehow, more down to earth? While still being a devil with a right hand made of stone? He’s more occult detective than superhero. He’s willing to punch the bad guys, but is also knowledgeable and quick to deescalate a situation. He’s more of a team player and there’s not a weird shoe horned in love story. Plus, everyone knows Hellboy exists (and was granted honorary “human status” by the UN). So when people meet him it’s less, “AWWW DEMON!” and more “Oh, it’s you.” Humanities ability to make the most fantastic things into cynical mundanity never ceases to amaze me.
So, what’s Seed of Destruction all about?
The story starts with a flashback to WWII. A group of soldiers and a superhero (no the superhero isn’t important, but it does set the stage that this story is going to get weird) are in England to put a stop to an evil Nazi plot (is there ever any other type of Nazi plot?). They’re in an abandoned church being led by several of the Allies’ greatest paranormal experts, including Professor Trevor Bruttenholm.
Too bad for the good guys that the Nazis are actually in Scotland performing their magic summon ritual. A mysterious figure wearing a snazzy robe completes the ritual to summon a weapon only for nothing to happen… In Scotland at least.
Back in England a small red child with a giant stone hand appears. The soldiers take a liking to him and Bruttenholm adopts in as a son. Fade out and cut to present (circa 1994) New York where we discover an elderly Bruttenholm has been reminsciing and is now waiting for his adopted son to come home.
Hellboy shows up to reveal that Bruttenholm has been missing for months! After a failed Artic expedition Hellboy feared his dad was dead and is rightfully curious what actually going on. Why did it take so long for him to call Hellboy and tell him he’s fine? Parents, amirite?
Bruttenholm “as you know” Hellboy by explaining that the Artic exeption was put on by the Cavendish brothers. This family has an obsession with the Great White North as several generations of their family have sought out a secret lost civilization in the Artic.
They discover up in the Artic Mountains that lead to madness. A giant monstrous statue stands before them and at the base a solitary figure in deep meditation. Then the next thing he knows, Bruttenholm is back home calling Hellboy.
When we’re finally getting bored of all the expositing, suddenly a monster attacks! A giant frog like humanoid kills Bruttenholm and fights Hellboy to the death. Now the real story begins.
And yes, Bruttenholm is dead. Hellboy’s dad is gone and everyone is very sad for about a panel. Then we move on and will never discuss this again. Hellboyain’t got time to mourn! He’s got noir-style monologues to make!
The rest of the graphic novel happens as Hellboy and his team investigates the Cavendish house as they try to figure out what went wrong in the Artic. Of course, it all goes wrong as Russia’s greatest love machine shows up to reveal he has decided to release an ancient evil god. Oh Rasputin, it really was a shame how he carried on.
I wonder if Hellboy will stop the lover of the Russian Queen before all hell literally breaks loose. I mean… You know he will, but the journey to the end is a fun read so I’m not going to spoil it much more for you.
What about the art?
Honestly, the main reason it took me so long to give the Hellboy comics a chance was the art. Mignola has a very distinct, stylized, almost simplistic style. There’s no shading, just solid colors with the shadows being pitch black. The character designs are rather ugly. So, yeah, I stayed away because I just never thought they’d look good enough to read.
Yet, as I finally read Seed of Destruction I started to realize Mignola’s style works. It is dark and stark, because this is a noir story. The characters are ugly, because this is an ugly world. This isn’t an adventure story with pretty heroes. No, this is a cosmic horror noir mystery with flawed characters trying to stop something so far above them that it is inconceivable.
Am I Mignola’s biggest fan? No, I still struggle with his art, but now I see the reason for it. I can appreciate what it is doing, even if I would prefer something a little different. It serves the story well.
What about the characters?
The characters are a little flat. Sure, Hellboy is pretty well defined, but that’s about it. Abe Sapien (merman with a mysterious past) is just… There. He’s basically Aquaman, so good thing that the bulk of this story takes place by a creepy lake. Liz is not the love interest (thank God), but also she’s still a damsel in distress. Which was… a choice. She has the power to flash fry anything, but she can be kidnapped by anyone who grabs her arm and says, “I have you now!”
Then there’s Bruttenholm. What the heck?! The prologue builds up that he plays the father figure for Hellboy. He’s got this cool story and what should be an emotional pillar for his adopted son. He just… dies. And that’s it. His death is never really dealt with. I know this is supposed to be a hard bitten noir story, but come on! Have some emotion.
At least Rasputin is delightfully chaotically evil. You gotta love a villain whose goals are “Destroy the world because why not?” There’s no reasoning with them. They just literally want to watch the world burn.
What about the story?
This is where I think the graphic novel shines. I loved the story. It’s just so weird. There’s a superhero just in the prologue that doesn’t matter to the story at all! Rasputin knows Baba Yaga! There are aliens guarding a Lovecraftian abomination! The hero is demon and no one cares!
I love weird stories. This isn’t “throw spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks” situation. This is a “spaghetti all the way down” moment. Nothing is off limits in the way of bizarre occult horror. I pray that in a future comic Hellboy grabs a brewski with Bigfoot, plays pickle ball with Mothman, or arm wrestles the Jersey Devil. I want there to be more weird like this in the world.
Plus, Mignola does what I love in a weird story: treats it like we already know what’s going on. This reads not like the first Hellboy comic, but instead issue 20. The characters are already established with back stories. Previous cases are just thrown out there, like remember that time? It makes the world feel more real and opens up so many possibilities.
Overall, I ended up liking this comic. I’m probably going to binge read the series now, just to see how weird it can get. If you love weird horror or pulpy noir, then give this a chance. You won’t regret it.