Dark Horse Presents #31 Review


DarkHorsePresents BannerWhat will the series that introduced Hellboy have to offer next? Read on to find out in this Dark Horse Presents #31 review.

The official description from Dark Horse:

In a direct follow-up to the uberpopular Hellboy in Mexico, Mike Mignola and Mick McMahon tell another tale set south of the border, in which . . . Hellboy gets married! First of two parts!

Gain some insight into the next arc of Matt Kindt’s runaway hit MIND MGMT as we meet . . . the Magician! Bryan J. L. Glass and Victor Santos reveal the brutal new heroine of their new creator-owned series, Furious! And Chad Lambert and Christine Larsen give new meaning to the phrase “Kill me!” in the new story of the same name.

Plus, new installments of Integer City, Alabaster, Nexus, Monstrous, City of Roses, and Saint George!

dark horse presents 31 review coverHellboy Gets Married Chapter One would be the opening story in this massive comic with Mike Mignola as usual writing with Mick McMahon on art. Now the story itself was rather poor for a Hellboy story, even though it shows potential. McMahon’s art however was brilliant and very similar to Mignola’s

Interger City Chapter Two is the next story in this issue, written by Jamie S. Rich and drawn by Brent Schoonover. The art in this story was probably the best part, as although I loved the overall tone and pacing of this tale, it also felt ever so slightly too random for me, though it may get better in time.

Matt Kindt’s Mind MGMT: Dream Job. The series as a whole has had a lot of praise and although I’ve never read it I enjoyed this installment, finding it to be rather fun and unique with Kindt’s art being simply amazing, though overall the story didn’t astound me.

Alabaster: Boxcar Tales Chapter Twelve written by Caitlín R. Kiernan with artwork from Steve Lieber. This was probably one of the better stories in this issue having a lot of suspense with a brilliant dark tone to it, with Lieber’s art complimenting this.

Nexus: Into The Past Chapter Seven written by Mike Baron and featuring artwork from Steve Rude. There was a few things I really enjoyed about this story with the art being the main thing, though the story itself would be a little too weird for and muddled for me.

Monstrous Chapter Two written by Steve Horton and featuring art by Ryan Cody. I really enjoyed the tone and emotion in this story, as although it wasn’t amazing, it would be very interesting, having outstanding artwork.

Crime Does Not Pay: City of Roses Chapter Ten written by Phil Standford with art by Patric Reynolds would be next in this issue and would also be one of the poorer stories. The artwork and flow of this story would be amazing though it would be let down by the overall content, having some awkward moments.

Fred Van Lente and Reily Brown’s Saint George: Dragonslayer Chapter Two would be next in this issue and in my opinion was one of the best stories featured. Now the artwork itself was simply outstanding, but the story emotionally ends with a very fun conclusion which grabbed my attention.

The penultimate tale in this issue would be from writer Bryan J.L. Glass and artist Victor Santos with a story called Furious: Role Model, which is a teaser for a upcoming series. Now this would be a very exciting story with brilliant art, but the story itself wasn’t quite as good, feeling a bit cramped.

Kill Me Part One written by Chad Lambert and drawn by Christine Larsen was the last story in this comics and probably one of the better as it was very fun with Larsen’s artwork fitting the tone of the story perfectly. I also loved the suspenseful ending and how it has me hooked for the next part.

Overall this was a great collection of tales, but I feel it would be better to have less tales with them lasting a bit longer, as they all feel rather cramped with most needing a few more pages.

3.5/5

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