Hellboy Junior
Hellboy's creator gets top billing, but the writer, and often artist or colorist, of most stories in this collection isRen and Stimpyanimator Bill Wray, who brings that TV show's depraved humor to Hellboy's diaper days. As a baby demon still ensconced in Hell, H-b's hobgoblin is that all he's allowed to eat is roasted maggots. His adventures arise from trying to add flesh to his diet, though he doesn't pass up smokes when offered--much to his chagrin in "The Devil Don't Smoke." His quests are complicated by such sidekicks as a fly, a bird-demon, Donnie (a junior devil), and Hitler. Half the stories actually star not Hellboy but twisted variations on famous Hanna-Barbera and Harvey Comics characters, such as Yogi Bear's doppelganger, Sparky, and Baby Huey's outrageous double, Huge Retarded Duck. (Incidentally, isn't Hellboy Junior a takeoff of Hot Stuff?) Standout artists besides Wray are Dave Cooper and--in a Wally Wood mode (seeAgainst the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood[BKL Ja 1&15 04]).Ray OlsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved