Hellboy Versus the Aztec Mummy – Hellboy: The Complete Short Stories Volume 1

Art by: Mike Mignola

Colours by: Dave Stewart

Letters by: Clem Robins

Plot:

Hellboy reportedly told a story of his time in Mexico. 1956, during his five-month disappearance, which took place after he was forced to kill his friend who was turned into a vampiric bat creature, but some of the details seem a bit off, so the B.P.R.D. has sent agents to Mexico in order to find anyone who can back up Hellboy’s account of the events that took place.

The B.P.R.D. agents underwent various interviews, years later, with local residents, who confirm Hellboy’s recollection of the story. Hellboy located the Aztec mummy, fought against it, and won triumphantly. However, there is more to the story that seems to have been lost in Hellboy’s memory. Perhaps we’ll never truly know the full details of that night or the rest of the five months for that matter.

Story and Art:

An action-packed, fast-paced short story with plenty of art to look at and a lot less dialogue than the usual reads. The fast-paced plot accompanied with the artwork by Mignola himself portrays the fractured memory of it all as it feels like there are definitely some details missed in the telling of the story as certain panels feel like they’ve skipped a few moments ahead instead of giving a fluid series of events. but that’s what makes it such a good short story. The point of it all is that Hellboy doesn’t remember exactly what happened but he is recollecting what little he does remember and the residents that were interviewed are backing up that side of the story Since none of them were actually there, they can’t fill in the missing details, but what Hellboy has recalled about the events sounds convincing enough to the citizens of Mexico and therefore it’s enough for the B.P.R.D. to report it as it’s been told.

Conclusion:

In my review for Hellboy in Mexico, I did say that I wanted to learn more about those five blurry months of Hellboy’s drunken antics and it seems my wish was granted in this same volume of the short story collection, which is great news for readers! Fast-paced, action-packed, and still enough room to squeeze in a bit of humour making this an enjoyable little add-on to the Hellboy universe of stories.