REVIEW: 'Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Secret of Chesbro House' #1 by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, and Shawn McManus

Hellboy does his best Scooby-Doo impression but the ghosts are real at the Chesbro House. A great new limited series that is simply irresistibly fun and engaging.

HELLBOY AND THE B.P.R.D.: THE SECRET OF CHESBRO HOUSE #1

Writer: Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden

Artist: Shawn McManus, Dave Stewart

Letters: Clem Robins

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Release Date: July 7, 2021

Cover Price: $3.99

Hellboy works with a psychic to clear a haunted mansion for auction. But the ghosts in residence aren't quite ready to go gentle into that good night, and the answer may lie in a connection with the living world . . .

Hellboy creator Mike Mignola teams with longtime collaborator Christopher Golden and artist extraordinaire Shawn McManus to bring you a brand-new frightful delight from the world of Hellboy!

Score:

★★★★☆ (4/5)

QUICK REVIEW: Few things are as entertaining and as engrossing as a Hellboy comic. It doesn't matter if the premise is a familiar haunted house story complete with a seance and a greedy heir. Anytime Hellboy is involved it's going to be a good time even if it scares the pants off of you. In this case, Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden put together a juicy tale of an eccentric patriarch in a house with a history of sex orgies, hidden rooms, a missing daughter, a curse that lives on. Hellboy is there with a medium in the hopes to have the curse removed for the heir to sell the property. It's not a fresh idea but everything's better with Hellboy in it.

All the exposition comes from the banter between Hellboy and the medium. All the rumors that have lasted for generations, the stories surrounding the daughter's disappearance, and the lifestyle the tycoon led during the Chesbro House's heyday. What elevates this familiar tale is Hellboy himself of course, the snappy dialogue and the wonderfully atmospheric art. Shawn McManus and Dave Stewart create such a detailed and warm expansive setting like the Chesbro house that the art quality is hard to ignore. Right down to the crystals on the chandelier, McManus spares no details in giving the titular house its infamous due. It's as imposing and cavernous as you'd expect and yes, it becomes a character unto itself.

'Hellboy and the BPRD: The Secret of Chesbro House' (Part one of two) is a delightfully spooky adventure Hellboy fans will devour. Non-fans will also enjoy it although the story will seem rather familiar. Thoroughly engrossing storytelling and intricately designed and colored art elevates this ghost story to must-read levels.

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