Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Night of the Cyclops #1 Review: A Perfect One-Shot for the Hellboy Franchise

The power of Mike Mignola's earliest Hellboy stories was how tightly they were plotted and how many of them felt like one-and-done adventures. What became the genius of the series on the whole was how its creator was able to take throwaway lines from these stories and weave them into something important to the entire legacy of its title hero. With this week's one-shot Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Night of the Cyclops, Mignola and the issue's co-writer/artist Olivier Vatine have captures that early Hellboy magic delivering one of the best stories from the world of Hellboy in some time.

Set in the mid-1960s, Night of the Cyclops drops Hellboy into Greece wherein he's mistaken for the Aegipan by a village of fawns, hoping that he'll help them defeat the titular one-eyed villain from destroying their harvest. Loaded with other figures from Greek mythology as well, the story is both self contained but leaves the door open enough for further exploration in the same way that stories like "The Iron Shoes" or "The Chained Coffin." At its core however the tale feels like quintessential Hellboy as the hero literally stumbles upon the plot itself after falling through a hole, and attempts to reject the task at hand. 

Olivier Vatine's art is a welcome new style for the world of Hellboy. Though the opening pages amid ancient Greek ruins seem plain, it's only to accentuate the beauty and majesty of the fawn village that follows. Where he truly succeeds is in channeling Mignola's style, be it panels of Hellboy smoking, a close up on a bizarre animal, or even a page with minimal to no dialogue, it's been harnessed. Naturally he also manages to make movement a key component of the tale's action beats, with a pair of mirroring panels showing how a fawn traverses a steep terrain and how Hellboy simply tumbles down it. Vatine gets Hellboy.

One thing that Vatine is able to add that few others have ventured into with the franchise is some sex appeal, employing nudity and suggestive shadows on chiseled physiques of both sexes. Readers will be cocking an eyebrow when they turn the page throughout, but this is the world of gods and beasts that we've come to know from marble statues and vase paintings so it's wholly warranted and executed without fault. 

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Night of the Cyclops is one of the best new stories featuring the character in some time, channeling the best aspects of early Mignola work and adding a new flair to the franchise that makes it unique and memorable. In true Hellboy fashion it dives into a realm of mythology and lore that feels like it has always been a part of the narrative, and also manages to end on a hilarious punchline that, despite being set up, you won't see coming. It's a shame that this story isn't collected in one of the gigantic Library Editions alongside the other classic shorts.

I've been very critical of much of the recent crop of "From the World of Hellboy" titles and that's only because I know what they're capable of being at their best. Though many of the works that have arrived in the post-B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know world haven't felt necessary, and sometimes have missed the mark altogether, Night of the Cyclops is a rare story that feels like it was lost in time from the early days and has found its way to us now. What a joy to read.

Published by Dark Horse Comics

On May 25, 2022

Written by Mike Mignola and Olivier Vatine

Art by Olivier Vatine 

Colors by Olivier Vatine

Letters by Clem Robins

Cover by Olivier Vatine

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