tumblr_nmxnsaKuWO1rhreqko1_500The Hellboy 100 Project
Various Illustrators
Dark Horse Books
September 23, 2015
Reviewed by Jess Landry

The Hero Initiative is something special. It’s a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to helping veterans of the comic book world by creating a financial safety net for them in case of medical aid, financial support for essentials of life and to help them get back into the workforce.

From the minds of the Hero Initiative, a wonderful idea came to light: why not ask over 100 top-of-their-game artists to create unique covers for a comic book series, auction off their works and collect them all in a one-time-only book? They’ve done it before with The Walking Dead and Justice League (among others) and now, it’s Hellboy’s turn.

The cover to start it all off is from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola (of course!) who shows off his signature style with a simplistic drawing of Big Red himself. Most of the covers feature Hellboy (comic book and Ron Perlman-esque) but some artists opted to go a different route by drawing Liz Sherman (a pyrokinetic with a soft spot for red devils) and Abe Sapien (the fish guy).

The artists in The Hellboy 100 Project also had free reign with their covers, so some opted to either pay an homage to Mignola’s style or chose to do their own interpretation of the iconic characters from the B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense). The result is a beautiful smorgasbord of styles, colours, techniques, eras and personalities. Personally, I think all the covers are gorgeous, but the ones from Kristin Allen, Dan Brereton, Rodolfo Migliari, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jim Calafiore and Todd Nauck are ones that I would hang on my wall.

The Hellboy 100 Project is a great piece for fans of the series and of the talented artists whose works line the pages. Plus, it’s for a great cause – the Hero Initiative has raised over $750,000 since starting in 2007 and shows no sign of slowing down. I can’t wait to see which series they tackle next.