Hellboy is back! Igor Bromhead is back! Hecate is back! Hellboy's cousin Harry is back!

*ahem*

Darkness Calls" brings Hellboy back to his roots after he went off to fiwander the Earth in "The Third Wish" and "The Island". Igor Bromhead (the pain in the ass from "Box Full of Evil") returns and this time he's managed to conjure and gain control of one of Hellboy's most powerful enemies. In a very, very clever way it must be said. Other enemies have recovered one of the horns Hellboy broke off at the end of the Giurescu affair and carved it onto an effigy of Hellboy. Again, very clever and smart writing. It seems Hellboy's been sloppy in his past adventures, leaving many loose ends that seem to be coming together quite quickly in a noose.

As he recovers at his cousin's from the events of "The Island", he takes a walk and meets three travellers on the road. They tell him tales of the long dead witch hunter Henry Hood. But, this being Hellboy, Hood might not be quite dead and the three travelers have other plans, as Hellboy finds himself bound as they raise the witches Henry Hood hung for "a gathering of witches like none before in the history of the world."

Duncan Fegredo does a great job on the art. It's different, to be sure, but familiar enough, particularly in the architecture. There's a lot of great stuff being set up and it's great seeing all these elements of Hellboy's past coming back into play. There so many wonderful little moments, but going over them would ruin the book, so I won't. But the gift Harry gives Hellboy, the way Bromhead gains control, and the reveal about the travellers is all great, great stuff. I wasn't sure where Hellboy was going to go after his last adventures took him out of the his (and the audience's) comfort zone. It's good to see him back in the thick of it again, cursing at the evil as only he can.

Discuss this article in our forum.