3 out of 5

As it was released in support of the second Hellboy movie, which featured Johann Kraus, ‘The Ectoplasmic Man’ has the unenviable role of the being the first Mignolaverse book to seem rather unmotivated.  I might not be a fan of how Mike evolved his world, but I’ve never doubted the passion there, even if it’s seemed rather indulgent at points.  But this one-shot simply doesn’t add anything much – purposefully – and rather just fills in some background leading up to Johann’s ghostly origin without affecting what we’ve already known about the character or any other lore.

Which isn’t the same as saying that it’s a bad issue, as Ben Stenbeck’s art is impressive throughout (and though the fandom page lists regular Dave Stewart on color, I think the credits suggest Stenbeck colored himself – which comicbookdb agrees with – giving the book a unique visual flavor versus the majority of HB / BPRD titles) and Arcudi / Mike deliver a competent demon-hunting tale, it’s just a wildly average one and, again, without much need to exist beyond giving movie viewers a book to pick up.