Hell
Boy: Savage Dragon by Erik Larson
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's… Hell
Boy fighting Hitler? That’s right you heard it straight from here folks, Hell
Boy verses "Lex Luther" version of Adolf Hitler. After he kills
Hitler, the villains take his brain, which was preserved and transferred into
an ape’s head. It sounds quite silly when I put it down on type. The comic
takes a similar approach to the early superhero comics that carried anti-Nazi
themes (the justice friends/ league verses hitler) and taken to a humorous
level of sci-fi. While reading it was difficult to tell whether or not to take
the comic in a serious manner or comedic. Then again though Hell Boy is known
for meshing the two together.
One thing I can admire about the Hell
Boy series is the blocky art style. There is just something about it that made
the character’s image stick with me after only seeing a picture of him once in
high school. However I do have to say that some of the surrounding characters
seem to not fit in or match at all. Like Dragon he has a little bit more detail
than Hell Boy and when they stand side-by-side Dragon sticks out. Though I
wouldn’t say that he stuck out like a sore thumb. Something cool I also noticed
is that the speech bubbles change when comparing antagonist dialogue and
protagonist speech. When a villain speaks the bubble is very loose, stylized,
and even jagged sometimes with a colored outline around it, while it remains a
smooth circle with thin lines for the heroes.
I can’t say I’ve ever read a Hell Boy
comic, but I grew up around a father who was super into him and I can see why.
To be quite frank, Hell Boy is super badass! Not just for the edgy art style
but his edgy personality. That’s something I can admire in a character.
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