Guest Review: The Visitor How & Why He Stayed #1

   Stepping into the Guest Review spot is an old friend who prefers to remain Anonymous - but trust me, he knows his comics (and since he was kind enough to write this review, I forgive him for stealing this comic from me). 

   Take it away, Anon:

   As long-time comic book reader, I am familiar with the “Point A to Point A” storyline. In other words:

- Villain threatens city.

- Hero arrives to save the day.

- Hero and villain fight.

- Villain escapes to fight the hero another day.

 - The storyline resets to be told again in the near future.

   Rinse and repeat.

   The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed is the new foray into the Hellboy Universe (Mignolaverse?) that seems intent on changing what we know about Hellboy, but in an unexpected way. 

   Written by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and IZombie co-creator Chris Roberson, this story adds a new character, The Visitor, to what we know about Hellboy and his beginnings. 

   Sans spoilers, The Visitor gives us a new look at Hellboy that is clearly going to give us a look at the development of the popular demonic character as he finds his way in the world.

   Another great aspect of this comic is the wonderfully cartoonish artwork of Paul Grist. While this British artist’s work might not be everyone’s cup of tea, I have always enjoyed his work. His Kane series brings a hard-edged crime drama to life and his Jack Staff series gives England a proper superhero with a wide array of characters along the way. 

   Grist is a great fit to tell The Visitor’s story and his rendering of Hellboy and his world is a not-to-far-off version of Mignola’s own work.

   The first of five issues, the first issue of The Visitor gives readers a strong start and it will be interesting to see where this story leads. 

   I should add that I was lucky to read this story as it was nearly stolen from my pull file by none of other than Chuck of Chuck’s Comic of the Day! Luckily, my faithful comic shop owner protected my previously ordered copy. Thanks, John!

Grade: A

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