Hellboy and the B.P.R.D Burning Season Review: Quite Literally a Hot Issue

The Hellboy universe is a pretty new venture for me as a reader. It’s been only a few months since this year’s winter special came out and it was incredible. Mike Mignola has crafted a very fun, fascinating and beautifully illustrated world for us. Most side stories and characters within the Mignolaverse are enjoyable reads, and Hellboy himself is in his own ways charming, witty and charismatic if you enjoy his gruff nature. With all that being said, Hellboy and the B.P.R.D 1955: Burning Season is a one-shot that is unique in its storytelling.

Just like many other one-shots within the universe it tells a very solid and focused tale on a specific paranormal case. Hellboy is joined with B.P.R.D (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) agents Professor Bruttenholm and psychic Susan Xiang as they research recent rumors of spontaneous human combustion in Port Orange, FL. This issue itself is sprinkled with a little more dialogue, with Susan and Professor Bruttenholm taking more active roles than Hellboy this issue. This maybe where I’ve noticed myself as new reader having more dissonance with this issue. Not to say that the story itself is bad; I believe even some of the less entertaining Mignolaverse stories are solid and well-written. The same could be said about this issue in particular, it is not as captivating to a new reader as the Krampusnacht December issue this year, but is still a nice extension into a already well-built universe.

With that being said you have to admire the work done by Chris Roberson and Paolo Rivera. The artistic direction by done Rivera in this issue is magnificent and keeps up with the consistently great art in Hellboy stories. The cover in particular blew me away. It is so unique not only to this franchise, but even to the art within the book itself. Roberson and Mignola both work well in scripting and keeping these characters consistent to their origins and personalities. Dialogue and heavier scripting do suit Roberson, and with that being said he does give these character life. The prognosis and explanations done by Professor Bruttenholm are befitting of him and the psychic interactions Susan experiences, while she goes to vividly detail her visions to her teammates are believable.

What I find most unique about this issue is the “antagonist,” if you can call it that. As Hellboy is being engulfed in flames it isn’t a demon, occultists, spirits or anything scientifically explainable that is causing the sudden combustion. Rather, a “psychic scar” left on the land. It’s an issue that surprises you with something much deeper than a bad guy. It’s an issue that paints a picture of the pain and suffering caused to the Native American people throughout history. We see U.S. troops drive the Seminole out of their lands, while the original indigenous tribe, the Timucua, are being wiped out by disease brought by Spanish invaders. Plagues, death, fighting and the burning of villages have caused the land so see so much suffering. It’s an unpleasant truth, that is brought to light in an important time in our history. A lot of history textbooks censor the “Trail of Tears” and bring about erasure of Native American history. It may not be a significant story within the entirety of the Mignolaverse, but it plays an important role of its own in keeping these sentiments about the founding of this land alive.