The Lost Army

The movie of the similar name does a disservice to the novel. I've read all the Hellboy novels, graphic novels, and comics and the imagery, narrative, and dramatic structure of "The Lost Army" is unsurpassed. I only wish they had made Hellboy 2 from this book instead. Buy it.

I'm going to have to read the Hellboy comics. I've seen the film and loved it, now I've a Chris Golden novel and loved it, it's really time to jump into to world of the next closest thing to Indiana Jones since, well... since Indiana Jones. Assuming the Indiana Jones had red skin, a tail, weighed a quarter ton, and shave his horns. And lived in Fairfield, Connecticut, of course. Yes, ladies and gents, this irascible romantic and charming human wannabee is the foremost occult investigator on the planet - the poster child for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Development. When a team of British archeologist vanishes into the desert sands where 2500 years before Cambyses the Persian lost an army of 50,000, there's only one guy to call. Fresh from crashing a Bentley, Hellboy is parachuted into the Egyptian desert to find himself with his old flame Anastasia Bransfield, a team of archeologists, and a hardnosed egomaniac MI5 team. In no time, the missing archeologists aren't missing any longer, they are dead, their pieces decorating trees in the oasis. And Hellboy finds himself going mano a mano with some very skilled, very dead Persian soldiers. Never has the phrase "it doesn't get any better than this," been more true. The soldiers are pushovers compared to the seam monsters, spiders, and diabolical wizards that are next on the agenda. As you can probably tell this isn't a loving adventure story told with infinite detail and character building. Hellboy's basic strategy is to find the badness, get an arm free, and punch it into the next solar system. When you are that big and strong this works most of the time. And when it doesn't, well, that's what this story is about, because Hazred the magician has what it takes to stand off the US Army, slam Hellboy down on an altar and call Mar Ti Ku (another, even bigger, bad guy) back to life. Does our red-skinned hero find a way out? Find that out for yourselves (hint: this is a series). I'm not going to quibble over whether this is a true presentation of the comic Hellboy. Suffice it to say that Mike Mignola, Hellboy's creator, drew some 75 illustrations for this story, so it can't be all that bad. Chris Golden certainly manages to put capture the spirit of crazy adventure and sarcastic, in your face dialog that is Hellboy's signature style. So open the book, grab some popcorn and get read to root for the hero and boo the villains. This is just plain fun.

Well, I was told to read this by a friend who is also a fan of Christopher Golden's work and, frankly, I went in convinced that I wouldn't like it. Boy, was I wrong! Golden's amusing and fast-paced prose are a perfect complement to Mignola's starkly mesmerizing illustrations; the whole package is a must-read! I hope these two collaborate again in the near future!

More monsters than you can shake a giant stone hand at! I loved this adventure - especially the constant tension provoked by Hellboy's recurring realization that he's a monster fighting monsters. It was also a treat to discover that Hellboy has a sex life. Who woulda guessed?