Lynn Paus
OP Contributor

 

Woe I was a kid, I took my
allowance to the corner store
every Saturday morning and bought a
comic book and a lime flavoured
pixie stick. Superman, Batman,
Spiderman, and Wonder Woman
comics were my favourites, and each
week I'd smuggle a new comic past
my mom as I ran upstairs with it to
my bedroom. Turning the comic
book pages with my right hand and
tipping the sour crystals from the
pixie stick into my mouth with my
left hand, I'd read each colourful
frame of my heroes’ newest adven-
tures.

I was in love with the idea that
heroes could exist among us unde-
tected, extraordinary people trying to
live ordinary lives. Once called by the
force of destiny, these comic book
heroes waged a perpetual battle
against evil on our behalf. I worried
about them during that apex of ten-
sion in each issue when they faced
their nemesis and certain defeat—
would my heroes be able to save
themselves, would they be able to save
the world? I cheered their ultimate
triumph, knowing that the world was
safe from harm—until next time.

I suffered along with my comic
book heroes as the weight of their
duty to protect and defend caused
them to stumble. Sometimes, their
desire to fit in and be like everyone
else eroded their belief in themselves
and their role—they doubted
whether it was worth their effort to
save the weak and imperfect citizens
of the world. By the end of the comic

book though, they would stoically
accept their burden, realizing their
wish to be ordinary would never be
fulfilled.

My taste in comic books has
expanded over the years, fuelled in
part by the burgeoning indie comic
book industry. In recent years, comic
books have gained_increased critical
respectability as a North American art
form. Viewed in the context of
changing society, comic books not
only educate, entertain, and influence
readers, but in North America they
are also considered to be our contem-
porary mythologies and a reflection of
human nature.

An art form that has been evolving
since the first comic book was printed
in 1933, comic books are increasingly
arriving on the big screen via
Hollywood adaptations of popular
comic books such as Hulk, X-Men,
and Spider-man.

One of the newest comic books to
be adapted for the movies is Hellboy,
based on the Dark Horse comic by
Mark Mignola. Mignola’s Hellboy
character has been around in the
comic world for over ten years and
has developed a loyal fan base that
includes Guillermo Del Toro, director
of the Hellboy movie. Del Toro was
adamant that the adaptation be kept
as true to the spirit of the comic as he
could make it, and although the
movie is not 100 percent like the
comic book, he has managed to cap-
ture the spirit of Hellboy on the big
screen.

The concept of Hellboy is clever
albeit bizarre. Imagine this: 1944
Germany, near the end of World War
II, Hitler’s Nazis experiment with the

Arts

occult and manage to open a portal to
hell and before it can be closed, a
baby demon slips through. This baby
demon, Hellboy, is intercepted by
American soldiers and paranormal
expert Professor Broom of the Bureau
for Paranormal Research and Defence
(BPRD). Professor Broom takes
Hellboy home to the US and raises
him to battle the very evil that pro-
duced him. Hellboy is raised along
with a couple of other misfits: tele-
pathic merman, Abe Sapien (David
Jones), and beautiful pyrokineticist,
Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), who
Hellboy is not-so-secretly in love
with.

Even though Hellboy was born a
devil and was brought to earth via the
evil forces of the Nazis, he has been
raised by Dr. Broom to be a good and
kind young man. Yes, he’s red, seven
feet tall, smokes short fat cigars while
lifting weights, and uses a small
orbital sander to keep his horns from
growing. Oh, and did I mention that
his right arm is made of rock? An
awesome weapon and also the key
which could bring on Armageddon,
should Hellboy ever succumb to the
evil forces that he battles during the
movie.

Emotionally, Hellboy (played fault-
lessly by Ron Perlman) is a teenager,
with the rebelliousness and sarcastic
wit that often comes with that age.
He’s got a smart-mouth and a defiant
streak, but in spite of his tail twitch-
ing and fearsome appearance Hellboy
is a tender and gentle spirit. This
movie doesn't hit you over the head
with its message, you have to be aware
and watching for the nuanced way in
which Ron Perlman and the other

& Entertainment

 

actors show us who their characters
are and how they feel about each
other.

Watch for the moment in the
movie when Hellboy quickly tries to
hide the evidence that he’s been
smoking as he sees his father,
Professor Bloom (John Hurt), walk
into the room. Or, in one of the
movie’s most moving scenes, Hellboy
passes his giant red hand dismissively
in front of his face, apologizing for
the way he looks as he awkwardly
tries to confess his love to Liz. It’s
these nuances that make this movie as
good as it is.

Don't get me wrong though, there
is enough hell-raising and adventure
in this movie to keep it exciting. The
special effects aren't as high-tech as X-
Men, but they fit this movie as does
Guillermo Del Toro’s skilled use of
colour and lighting to create or
emphasize the movie's many moods
and unique moments.

Like all comic books, folk tales, and
myths, it’s not just entertaining—it
also has an underlying moral message,
and Hellboy’s message is delivered
with wit and style. It reminds us that
there is good and evil within all of us
and that the choices we make in every
moment determine our future and
our fate. As the narrator in the movie
says, “What makes a man? It’s the
choices he makes. Not how he starts
things, but how he decides to end
them.”

If you're a comic book fan—get to
the theatre and see Hellboy. If you're
not a comic book fan, wait until it
comes out in video—but rent it any-
way.

Rated PG 13

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