4 out of 5

…And having gotten his intro to Hell out of the way, Mignola can give us some of this goodness, which is more in the traditional HB one-shot vein of adapting a myth or folklore concept to the Hellboy world.  I finally started to see ol’ HB as a spin on Constantine – inadvertently getting involved in spiritual hoodoo, helping out the perceived victims with a shrug before moving on – whether or not that’s been intentional.  This one-shot has our debonair devil running into a man a’walkin’ through Hell, asking for help in reclaiming his soul from a demon – to whom he’d offered it in exchange for a whip that makes them golds – before midnight.  Sure, why not, says HB, and navigates the fellow successfully to a graveyard and through a conversation with the demon’s mother.  It’s possible there are some worldly connections I’m missing here (as I always do, since I’ve read all of HB and B.P.R.D. in out-of-order chunks over several years), but it can only enhance the story; not knowing the connections – if there are any – didn’t diminish the, again, pleasingly dour tone of the tale.

There’s a wonderfully surreal moment captured with a splash of color post the demon mother conversation, and the graveyard is stunningly byzantine looking, in all its minimalist Mignola glory.  Stewart’s tones take on a slightly lighter shade than the previous issues, matching the lighter vibe (it ends with HB asking some demons where to get a drink…) and Mike is still seeding things in – further mentions of Satan and the current status quo in Hell.  There are the usual spattering of odd details, and this could seem like an odd followup to the previous issues, but a totally enjoyable little stop-gap in our journey.