- Title: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1955 – Burning Season (One-shot)
- Comic Vine: link
- Writers: Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson
- Artist: Paolo Rivera
Set in 1950s Florida, the B.P.R.D. team of Hellboy, Susan Xiang, and Trevor Bruttenholm is called in to investigate a series of spontaneous human combustions which have local law enforcement baffled. After first eliminating a scientific cause for the incidents (one of which they witness shortly after arriving on the scene), the team instead begins to look for a mystical reason for the bizarre events.
Research by Bruttenholm reveals plenty of bad juju in the area. Susan Xiang’s search for a single spirit born out of such suffering and lashing out reveals that it isn’t a single entity that the team is dealing with but an accumulation of pain and despair so rich it has been made manifest and is lashing out not to be forgotten. Only Hellboy’s immunity to flame lets him survive the latest attack long enough to acknowledge what has happened rather than fight the flaming death that comes for him.
Hellboy One-shot Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1955 – Burning Season (featuring some terrific art by Paolo Rivera) is unusual in that there isn’t a something for Hellboy to defeat, only survive. Worth a look.
[Dark Horse, $3.99]