Hellboy, Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction

By Mike Mignola

Sgt. George Whitman journals about the village he'd arrived in a couple days ago, East Bromwich. No one's talking of it, but rumor was the Germans were summoning monsters for Hitler. George was waiting to see if it was true with his team of varying talents: prof, Malcolm Frost, Trevor Broom, a paranormal encyclopedia, and Cynthia Eden-Jones, the psychic. She has felt they are at 2 of the centers of the disturbances, the other far North, where it's cold and watery.

As Cynthia senses 2 ghosts, a priest and nun warning of "something" coming, then an explosion happening right in front of them as the Germans have finished an incantation. The sorcerer has summoned HB, and Trevor has helped raise him. Now, about 50 years after, HB comes to Trevor, and he remembers when he'd gone North, through the snow, but it becoming foggy after he'd reached the ruins, HB comforting him with positive words of it coming in time. Trevor becomes panicked when HB sees frogs falling outside his window, which pisses him off when Trevor jumps out the glass window, so HB going directly after the lizard.

The tongue wraps on HB's hand, and he loses feeling, but when he lets lizard fella get a taste of his hellish hand, it allows him to toss him into a sarcophagus, breaking it. HB has feeling return to his hand with an unmatched pain, but he grabs his pistol which the lizard seems to register. Before lizard gets to the bathroom window, HB shoots and liquefies most of it, but skeleton remains. Next, HB calls BPRD, and gets a team to determine what the creature was as well as permission in choosing his own team to investigate.

When Doc Manning gets off the phone with him, he assures Emma of everything continuing as it should. A BPRD file is shown regarding Von Krupt, the man watching the sorcerer's magic dying in an insane asylum after half a year's residency, and had unknown type of beetles in his corpse. Everyone else, including the sorcerer being a mystery, as well. Next comes a myth on frogs, which starts with a man fearing death and never coming back, sends his dog to ask God to be able to reincarnate.

Dog gets distracted on his way by smelling boiling soup, and forgets his task. Frog goes in his place, and tells God, man wishes for the opposite, so then humans wouldn't clog up the places where frogs were born. When Dog arrives and asks, he's too late for being a tardy tool. HB next introes the Cavendish house, the land of which was known to be haunted.

The Natives local to the are spoke of it, and their people stayed away for thousands of years. When HB arrives at the house, he has Liz and Abe Sapien with him, the trio being let in by the lady of the house, Emma. She tells of not knowing much more than what she'd shared with HB during their call, but they throw q's at her regarding her fam's expeditions to the top of the world. Emma's fam's notoriety stems from Elihu, he learning odd, uniqure stories.

This prompts him to build a home in the U.S, and choosing with great care, and poring over an old parchment, but unfortunately dying of typhus the same year. So, Emma expects the fam name to die with her if her sons truly were dead, HB offering condolences. They are led to their rooms, and Emma is given props for convincing the 3 of her story, and if his plan went off without a hitch, she'd get her 2 older sons back. Upstairs with the 3, they're directed to their rooms, and HB shares LIz's background report, it listing the fatalities she'd caused by an uncontrolled flaring of her pyro skills, and also killing her parents and bro.

When the boys are in their room, they discuss whether Emma  was being honest, esp. when Abe realizes the butler is in the expedition pic. So, Abe would be able to swim around the lake, which was just below their window. HB then gives Abe's partial background, since not much was known other than he was found in a tube under a hospital in D.C., his name coming from the tag which also had the date of Abe Lincoln's death, and was tacked onto the tube chamber he resided in. HB's on the phone with Liz as Abe jumps and then hears Liz talk of frogs, he urging her to leave.

When he gets to her room, he's too late, and when the butler returns, HB grabs him, and asks for answers, he turning into a weird lizard. He soon gets angry after smashing the lovely old ceiling with his body. HB gives lizard a chance to provide info on Liz, but he can't or won't, so he offs him. HB next worries of Abe's absence, the lake not having life within it, he sensing old and new death.

When he discovers Emma downstairs, she has the same marks Trevor had on his body. Then, the sorcerer speaks to him, and tells of being his master, HB not having that; for a mo, anyway. Then he gets gripped by an enormous tentacle, going numb as the sorcerer baits him with knowing who he was and why he was here, but put the ultimatum of dying if he refused to oblige. HB feels like he is falling lower than sea level, which isn't possible, he knowing logically it was probably more like 60 feet, and also knowing whatever'd brought him there, made the place feel icky.

The sorcerer starts talking at him again of having the power to release the serpent. Sorcerer again attempts to rope HB into his plan, and he shuts him down again, even shooting the fella in the face, but fool still standing. He throws HB with a spell, so he takes a different tack to see if Sorcerer is more powerful or blocking his talismans. Sorcerer shares of how he is creating the lizard men from the power of the dragon kings. Meanwhile, Abe discovers a place of death which had been recently trampled.

Abe sees 2 of the lizard creatures, they going underwater as he attempts to exit cautiously without turning around, but gets a handful of crumbling wooden door. Back with HB, the lizard gives him a run for his money, until he questions who sorcerer was, which fool obliges, allowing HB to catch his breath. Sorcerer tells of taking a sabbatical in Italy til being approached to help Hitler. He is proud of himself for getting the Germans to make the device which would release the beast into him.

So, when Hitler lost, and everyone scatters, Sorcerer wanders to the place in the North. He summons whatever resides in the ruins, meditating with the 7 imprisoned beasts, til Trevor wakes him, and he'd decided to use them as sacrifices. It's next revealed how Sorcerer plans to use Liz as an extra source of power boost, but not to death, only wishing to release it so he could use it. He does, and offers HB to join him again as the octo-serpent throbs about, HB wondering where Abe had got to, and wanting his aid.

Abe's fallen and Elihu sits over him with a spear gun. Sorcerer talks as he drains Liz of her power, so the beast has control of the world, he regretting HB doesn't want a bigger role as the lizard creature numbs him down to dumbness. Until HB feels pain as it digs into him, this allows him to try setting off a bomb. Sorcerer finishes his incantation to wake the 7 beasts, HB not happy about regaining consciousness and feeling.

He then sees Abe walking in trance-like with someone behind him, Liz next being told to wake. This sets the place aflame, and HB berates the sorcerer to himself on knowing how Liz's power worked better than fool had thought he'd known. HB directs Abe and Liz out as he stays and deals with the salty sorcerer now wanting to kill him. HB ends him first, despite he attempting again to bait him with his true nature.

HB meets up with Liz and Abe outside, the 2 getting back to their senses and asking HB if sorcerer had revealed anything, having him remember his parting words. Next follows HB's 1st appearance in a dead town where the people have gone missing, it not the 1st time. He meets a dog he tries to befriend, but it turns out to be a huge dog monster. HB recognizes Anubis, who doesn't take his familiarity kindly.

During their fight, Anubis falls on the gas pumps, the place blowing, and HB flying. The 2nd story starts with Von Klempt's head in a jar, directing a gorilla to give a scantily clad woman a shot, HB interrupting and fighting the gorilla. As he attempts to knock the gorilla out, he smashes the doc's lab, and the lady pleads to be let go, HB surprised to hear the gorilla speak. HB makes it out with the lady through a window as the gorilla explodes into a huge electric machine behind him when he gets thrown Klempt's head. HB is glad his on the fly plan had worked. Love it! It's still the best comic series I've read! To the next!