Hellboy II: The Art of the Movie

Mike Rogers -- Library Journal, 07/14/2008

Hellboy II: The Art of the Movie. 222p. ISBN 978-1-59307-964-2. $24.95. FILM
Hellboy: The Companion. 238p. ISBN 978-1-59307-655-9. $14.95. LIT
ea. vol: Dark Horse. Jul. 2008. pap.

Just about every event film has a tie-in book—except Iron Man for some inexplicable reason—but some are better than others. This super cool duo of Hellboy titles from Dark Horse Books, publishers of Mike Mignola’s graphic novel series, gets it exactly right. Hellboy II: The Art of the Movie has all the elements that fans want: the full shooting script—including a deleted scene—plus tons of concept art, screen grabs, storyboard art, and some wicked studio shots of the film’s many monsters. Fans want to see the costumes and props, so this is a perfect tie-in book, especially for $24.95. While not directly film related, Hellboy: The Companion is a sort of everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-Hellboy-but-were-afraid-to-ask encyclopedia providing complete dossiers on all the characters and an official timeline plus Stephen Weiner’s essay The Literary Heritage of Hellboy, which digs into the pulps and comic books, etc., that inspired Mignola’s vision. Wrap all these goodies in a large portion of his original art work for $14.95 and you have yourself another winner. Both are must haves.—Mike Rogers, LJ/LJXpress