Hellboy Omnibus – Volume 1: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola is a deluxe graphic novel that includes 2 big multi-chapter stories Seeds of Destruction and Wake the Devil, with three stories Wolves of St. August, The Chained Coffin, and Almost Colossus all written and drawn by Mike Mignola. There are not many writers and drawers who do both in comics because it takes so long but Mignola has been doing it for quite some time. He tells the story of drawing a monster and naming him Hellboy for a convention program book back in 1991. He would later start on the Hellboy book 2 years later. Seed of Destruction serves as Hellboy’s origin story and takes us to the present day when a group of former Nazis with occult origins try to take over the world by using Hellboy. Seed of Destruction is the basis for The Hellboy movie in 2004 starring Ron Perlman written and directed by Guillermo del Toro. All the stories in this collection are on the same timeline. The flow of the stories is pretty good but we will occasionally get an exposition dump of 6 pages that slows the story down. Mignola does have some ideas about occult history that kept me entertained despite the story slowing down. Seed of Destruction was my least favorite story and it wasn’t that bad. I had been a fan of the movie Hellboy 2004 and its far better sequel Hellboy The Golden Army and bought the whole omnibus collection for a great deal on Kindle. I started with the short story collection thinking I would work my way up in the timeline, but Hellboy doesn’t have that much character development since he was already established in the present day. So I stopped reading the timeline and am reading it in publication order then reading the prequel short stories. Hellboy is a character that does not say much there is some development but not much, he’s a character that would rather brood than talk about his problems. Mignola does a good job of facial expressions that sometimes tell so much. All the stories have an ending with some unresolved issues jumping to the next story. The art is goth, dark, and crude that is his style, I love the way he draws skeletons. This collection is 374 pages and collects works published in 1994 -1997, it includes early sketches and ideas.

Summary of Hellboy Omnibus Volume 1: Seed of Destruction Hellboy is found in the 1940s with World War II close to ending. He is found by occult scientists for a secret division of the American government. They raise him and he joins their ranks, in present-day 1994 one of the scientists that found him and was like a father to Hellboy has died. Hellboy finds out he was working on discovering who created Hellboy 50 years ago. Throughout the investigation, they find out who made Hellboy and what he was meant to bring forth. The end of the World. Wolves of St August was a great Werewolf story where Hellboy is tasked with finding a missing priest he worked with in the past. Hellboy finds a town empty, a lot of Blood, and wolves howling. Wake the Devil is a group of former Nazis trying to resurrect an ally to help bring the end of the world. The Chained Coffin and Almost Colossus are linked, The chained Coffin takes place at the same time as Wake the Devil. Chained Coffin has Liz Sherman a pyrokinetic that can make fire with her mind. She investigates the other castle location where the enemy could resurrect a villain, but what she finds is a Frankenstein-like monster when Liz touches it the monster absorbs a piece of her power and life force. In Almost Colossus Hellboy tries to find the monster as its creator and also looks for the monster for a sinister new plan.

What I Liked: The early sketches and a brief history of how Hellboy came to be. The art and color added to the darkness of the mood and setting. I liked the occult alternate history of Rasputin. I liked the endgame for what Hellboy was to bring about. Almost Colossus was my favorite story it reminded me of a Clive Barkers Books of Blood Story.

What I Disliked: The exposition was too much I even thought most of it was interesting but it was too big a block of it all at once. There was too much opportunity for characters to discuss and break up the exposition instead of getting such a big chunk. The character development for Hellboy was barely enough but no other character gets any development like Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman gets a tiny bit but I have no idea how they feel about Hellboy, the team, or the mission.

Recommendation and Rating: Hellboy Omnibus Volume 1 is a good introduction to the character of Hellboy, I did want a little more character development, but I am more than intrigued to read the next book and find out more. I recommend you check this out and read the series in publication order. I rated Hellboy Omnibus Volume 1: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola 4 out of 5 stars.