Theoretically, Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land #1 should be about little Hellboy, right? Well, it mostly is. But then a certain supersized gorilla has to show up and completely steal the show.
Warning: minor spoilers for Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land #1. If you have any desire to read the adventures of Faux King Kong for yourself, please stop here.
As is all the other Hellboy comics, Mike Mignola is also responsible for creating Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land. However, he isn’t a one-man team here. Thomas Sniegoski (Talent, several Buffyverse comics) serves as the writer for this comic book. Craig Rosseau (Harley Quinn, Batman Beyond, Impulse) is responsible for the art, while Dave Stewart returns as the colorist for this story about our little half-demon hero.
Young Hellboy: The True Star
As I mentioned before, Hellboy is the nominal hero of Young Hellboy, since this is apparently supposed to be a prequel to the main series. However, that’s not quite true. Turns out, he’s definitely a human father. Professor Bruttenholm is also a major character here. They actually share the screen-time equally here, with both of them feeling like the protagonists. However, both of them pale in comparison to the true star of issue #1: King Kong.
Okay, to be fair, no one ever actually refers to the creature who stars in Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land #1 as King Kong. But seriously. When you have a giant gorilla appear in your story, it’s not hard for readers to get the reference. Not to mention, the creature even acts kind of like King Kong. Even though he does save the Prof. and his half-demon son, it doesn’t really come off as intentional on Mr. Kong’s part. It comes off more like the giant gorilla challenging some rival monsters that were intruding on its territory. Either that or Mr. Kong just had the munchies for giant crabs at the moment. I know gorillas don’t normally eat meat, but in case you haven’t noticed, this ain’t no normal ape here.
Conclusion
Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land #1 is theoretically a prequel comic book series detailing the adventures of the chibi version of our half-demon hero and his Professor Dad. From what I’ve read through, that’s a lie. The true star of this story is Faux King Kong and his glorious fights against various monsters that happen to threaten our heroes. All hail our gorilla monarch, for he is the best.
Source: Dark Horse Comics
