- Title: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Beast of Vargu (One-shot)
- Comic Vine: link
- Writer: Mike Mignola
- Artist: Duncan Fegredo
The latest one-shot takes Hellboy to 1962 Romania where a series of sightings over the years, along with some recent disappearances, seem to point to some truth behind the legends of a monster tied to the Castle Vargu in the Carpathian Mountains. Any doubts Hellboy had to the legends are soon put to rest by the thorough butt-kicking he receives at the hands of the creature who is in fact devil-worshiper Costache Szilagy who returns from the pit every few years to murder and send more souls to Hell.
The first-half of the tale we see through Hellboy’s eyes, while the second is shown through the puppets of the gypsy woman who rescues our hero. The performance not only perfectly captures events but adds to them an ending with Hellboy victorious (which Hellboy is incredulous to discover becomes true after the story is told). The issue also includes a back-up story as the gypsy woman offers another tale about the good and evil inside each of us as food for thought for the recovering hero on the road home. Worth a look.
[Dark Horse, $3.99]