4 out of 5

I appreciate the one- or two-part explorations into side B.P.R.D. characters, but this was a story begging for more.  Allie does a good job of compressing the ‘explanation’ for the wily O’Donnell’s current rambling, muttering personality, it’s just too damn intriguing.

Back in the day, O’Donnell, then a new recruit, is sent to research a newly discovered occult library, with HB in tow in case protection is needed.  After the latter scouts the house, all seems well, so J.H. proceeds to read through the books, which, to his dismay, aren’t as rare as had initially been hinted.  Until a door clicks open to an inner library…

Artist Max Fiumara’s stretched, expressive figures are put to good use with Dave Stewart’s moody colors for setting the tone, and Fiumara makes what could’ve been a cheap visual – what O’Donnell witnesses in the inner library – into an understandably unsettling sight.  The battle that prevents Hellboy from interfering is sort of a cheap gimmick – sort of a result of making this make sense for a single issue – but the ol’ ‘Son of a…’ charm comes across well.

While ‘The Transformation of J.H. O’Donnell’ isn’t as directly Lovecraftian as other HB tales, its tip-toeing into the unexplainable does take from that lineage to great effect.