4 out of 5

Scott Allie mentions on the letters page that Richard Corben was born to draw Roger.  Yes: we agree.  His thick, solid characters make for great zombies and Hellboys, but it gives Rog the perfect blend of humanity and homunculus…ity.

Being Human is a somewhat forced contemplation on that titular topic, flashing back to HB’s first go at getting Roger out in the field (interestingly paralleling the Liz’s-first-assignment B.P.R.D. that was published at the same time), but damn if Mike doesn’t have a perfect appreciation for what kind of imagery to toss Corben.

The assignment is intended to be a milk-run haunting investigation, and it pretty much is, except someone brings a Hand of Glory that freezes HB, but lets Roger move about because, y’know, he ain’t human.  This isn’t subtle, but it’s effected greatly for a scuffle ‘tween Rog and a zombie.  Mignola doubles down on the lack of subtlety by repeating things with the motivator of that zombie, but the exposition dump is delivered with entertaining comic villain bravado, and again, Corben rocks the art.

Not the best written thing, but there’s a slightly purposeful cheekiness to it that allows that to pass, and besides, Being Human is more designed to give fan-favorite Rich another Mignolaverse chance to shine, and he very much does.