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• Wake the devil side.
  Hellboy Volume 1: Seed of Destruction pitted our devilish anti-hero against the evil Russian sorcerer Rasputin.
  
  But that adventure is not the end of Hellboy s clashes with Rasputin. Hellboy Volume 2: Wake the Devil ups the ante, with plenty of horrific action and a more complex three-way storyline. And Hellboy himself gets to see a bit more of the nature he s determined to deny completely -- and a destiny he wants no part in. Poor guy.
  
  The BPRD sends three squads out to to find an ancient vampire in Romania (Paprika chicken, baby!), and Hellboy finds himself working solo. But soon he runs afoul of a bunch of Nazis who serve Rasputin s spirit -- and a bunch of mythic creatures that lurk in the castle s depths, including the vampiric Giurescu and a bunch of savage giant birds, who serve a ghastly, immortal lamia in the depths of his castle.
  
  Elsewhere, Abe is falling into a trap of Rasputin s (since he stabbed the guy to death), and Liz s powers run amuck when her team finds an alchemist s lab with a seemingly dead homunculus. And Hellboy s fight with the lamia has shocking repercussions, when he finds himself hurtling into a darkness where his true purpose is revealed -- and he must choose what his destiny will be.
  
  Lamia, skeleton vampires, Baba Yaga and Nazi heads -- Mike Mignola knows how to craft a monster-filled universe, where a demonic anti-hero seems downright normal. And while the first two books about him are technically separate stories, Wake the Devil seems more like the second half of the story started in Seed of Destruction. It s also graced with a more complex, gradually-unfolding plot that branches out in unexpected directions.
  
  Mignola does leave some plot threads hanging (what happens with Liz and the homunculus?), but he knows how to pack the story with plenty of creepy moments, warped humour and gory violence. He also knows how to use dialogue for atmosphere as few authors can (Witches, striges, vampir... ghosts come forth from their tombs...), but also utilizes Hellboy s acid wit to lighten the mood (Not gonna happen... cause you re very very ugly and YOU HAVE A GIANT SNAKE BODY!).
  
  Hellboy himself is a classic anti-hero -- despite his red skin, bulky body and sawed-off horns, he s very human in attitude, with a good heart and unselfish outlook. After being attacked by the iron lamia he s faced by what the infernal players want to use him for, but his good heart won t have it. And his snappy wit (Insolent beast! Troglodyte! Big talk for a guy with no pants) only makes him more lovable.
  
  Hellboy Volume 2: Wake the Devil is a suitable sequel to the series debut, and nicely rounds off the first arc of Hellboy s story.
• Info. for Prospective Buyers. For anyone who doesn t know Hellboy - imagine Sam Spade as a demon superhero investigating supernatural threats H.P. Lovecraft might have written and you re somewhere close.

  Admittedly this is not the best of the Hellboy stories - Mike Mignola admits in an afterword that he lost control of the plot (the comic originally appeared monthly) - and if I were only marking the story I d probably have wanted to give it 3.5 stars. Nonetheless, it is definitely worth reading with the trademark Hellboy mix of humour, action and horror, and the noir art as ever is wonderful (pushing it from 3.5 to a deserved 4).

  A word of warning: although this is marked as vol.2 of the Hellboy series, there are stories in vol.3 The Chained Coffin and Others which precede Wake the Devil chronologically.

• Mignola is GOD!. Mignola is God! Or should I say that he is the Devil who brought from hell the best super-hero of comic history! This stuff is very hot, oh boy this is so hot that you almost burn your fingers when you read such a quality story. Everything which make the universe of hellboy so exciting is at the rendez-vous: monster, gouhlish legend, mega fight with nazis...you will read it over and over again. In this volume hellboy is on mission to save the earth and hunt down Raspoutin the mad Russian monk and his Nazi troop .The ideal program to keep you awake all night!
• Hellboy refuses his personal destiny and saves the world !. Another great entry in what is one of the best comics around. And don t worry - this IS illustrated by Mike Mignola, not James Sinclair - despite the description from the fine folks at Amazon! Mr. Sinclair does a fine job on the colors though! READ THIS BOOK!

• Hellboy: Seed of Destruction v. 1 (Hellboy) (Hellboy (Dark Horse))
• Hellboy: Chained Coffin and Others v. 3 (Hellboy) (Hellboy (Dark Horse))
• Hellboy: Right Hand of Doom v. 4 (Hellboy) (Hellboy (Dark Horse))
• Hellboy: Conquerer Worm v. 5 (Hellboy) (Hellboy (Dark Horse))
• Hellboy: Strange Places (Hellboy): Strange Places v. 6 (Hellboy (Dark Horse))