By Comix
Hellboy has been through a hell of a lot of things. From monsters and ghosts to love and death, the red beast has taken on the best and the worst the world has thrown at him. With this month marking the 20th anniversary of his creation, a new take on Hellboy will be hitting shelves in a couple of weeks that will shove him up onto a whole new level of sick and twisted depravity. Something so evil, so wicked, that only the innocent will survive its coming: Itty Bitty Hellboy. That’s right! A big headed, big fisted, tiny built little devil shall assume the shape of the cigar-chomping monster and, with miniaturized versions of his BPRD pals, shall ride a blood tide of “Aww” and “So cute!” straight into your perverted hearts. Disgustingly adorable, this comic will certainly bring about the apocalypse.
Itty Bitty Hellboy is written in short, mini-comics that string along to make a bigger a story. It basically circles around “the bad kids” (Karl Kroenen, Rasputin, and Herman Von Klempt) as they attempt to take over the BPRD “good kids”’ new cardboard fortress, and what a fortress it is! A giant refrigerator box compared to their small dishwasher one, the greed drives Karl to desperate measures such as spying in the bushes on the rival team and even, wait for it, DEMANDING that they give up their box! The very idea! The comic is also peppered with cute little stories about the team trying to cure Johann of his cold after he keeps sneezing himself out his suit, or Roger’s inability to stay in his underwear.
A read for all ages, this work is an excellent way to get your kids into Hellboy without all the super seriousness of the current issues, as well as being a nice addition for the seasoned collector. It has a very silly Dennis the Menace vibe that would appeal to anyone who has grown up reading the Sunday funnies or perhaps is still reading them. The art is cute and simplistic, perfect for little hands, while the jokes run the gamut of eye-rolling cheesy to genuinely giggle-inducing. The guys behind the idea, Franco Aureliani and Art Baltazar, are old hands at kiddie homages, having earned themselves an Eisner for Tiny Titans, a fifty issue run of Teen Titans reshaped for younger readers. Also, if you’re ever in the Chicago area, take a quick trip to downtown Skokie, where they run a family-friendly comic shop called Aw Yeah Comics! and shop ‘til you drop.
Full of good vibes and big letters, Itty Bitty Hellboy drops on August 28th!