When it comes to Hellboy I'm a purist. I truly believe that Mike Mignola is the only person who can do his character justice in the comics. That's in terms of writing. While it's true Mignola's artwork for his creation simply cannot be matched, I have become more accepting of other illustrators' renditions of the meat and potatoes hero and his co-starring cast.

Richard Corben is no stranger to Hellboy, and I liked his take on the character well enough in previous adventures. In The Crooked Man, I can see Mignola's reasoning behind bringing Corben in for a reunion.

The Crooked Man is the most overtly sexual story in Mignola's oeuvre. Mignola has dipped his toe in this theme before. For example, the way in which pyrokinetic Liz Sherman resuscitated Roger the Homunculus dripped with eroticism.

The Crooked Man requires nudity that at times tempts, disgusts and simply is. Corben's experience with his creation Den in Metal Hurlant makes him an ideal choice for artist.

Corben brings a grotesque singularity to the look of the Appalachian people. Clearly victims of genetic drift, their blobbiness is ubiquitous. Corben is the perfect choice to bring this kind of organic ugliness to characters. This is not to say that he cannot draw chiseled good looks. His Hellboy is just as sharp as Mignola's and in contrast to the Appalachians, an Adonis.

I like that Mignola makes this culture smarter than normally portrayed. Nobody for instance gets freaked out by Hellboy. His story has been plastered in the press, and the mountain folk do read.

Mignola's atmospheric tale fits the eerie, rurality of the setting. Satan has come a calling. Witches, or if you prefer, Wise Women, abound. Some skin fits too loosely. Hellboy's here to bring sledge-hammer sanity and put an end to it all. The soul of one of the Appalachians seems to be the prize.

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