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Customer Reviews of Hellboy

You Had To Have Been there
There is possibly no easier, or harder task in writing than adapting a screenplay into a novel. The plot is set, the characters defined, and the ending resolved. And a good deal of the dialog is written. The writer's task is primarily to fill in the inner and outer details, and hope, desperately, that the film follows the screenplay as closely as the novel does. The biggest drawback is that every error of scriptwriting and every internal inconsistency cannot be ignored, but must be somehow justified. Often, the latter is not always possible.

Navarro is fortunate in that Hellboy the film resonates with Hellboy the script. She captures the action of the film well, and the interior motivations and interactions are well communicated. Once the reader gets past a somewhat chaotic beginning, the story of a young demon who has given himself to the good, and the other members of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense unfolds easily.

The good fight moves from New Jersey to the darkesses of Russian crypts as Hellboy struggles against a host of enemies incarnated by the same evil forces that brought him into this world. Friendship and love are prime motivations for this teenager with the body of a giant as he faces enemies without and within.

My complaint is that Navarro is less able in taking the disjointed scenes in the script and creating the same continuity that the film builds with visual imagery. The beginning is where this is really apparent, and Navarro seems to have adopted a 'see the film first' approach. Of course, in most cases this will be true, but it never hurts to give the reader an even break. Once things settle down, Navarro's well-proven skills win the day, producing an eminently readable story.

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not the best i've ever read, not the worst either
usually i enjoy novelizations because they give me further insight into the characters. well, for this one, i'd have to say i get more new insight from reading character bios on the official site. navarro sticks pretty much to what you see on screen, maybe not even. unless you've seen the movie and have a pretty good recollection while reading the book, it's hard to visualize how exactly some scenes play out. also, a lot of the dialogue was altered slightly. not enough so that it lost its meaning, but my favorite- RED MEANS STOP!- was dissapointingly cut.
nonetheless, there are bright sides to the novel too. the myers/liz interactions were well handled, as well as hellboy's reactions to them. the writing style was also good- clear and entertaining.
this book was far from a literary masterpiece, but it was a good read for the pure fun of it. i'd give it a 3.5, rounding it down to a three for the rating above.

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Hellboy
TITLE: Hellboy
AUTHOR: Yvonne Navarro
PUBLISHER: Pocket Books
PAGES: 295
PRICE (softback): $6.99
PUBLICATION DATE: March 2004
ISBN: 0-7434-9289-7
CATEGORY: Fiction

During WWII, Grigori Rasputin gathers with a horde of Nazi soldiers inside an old ruin on a desolate island. Using black magic and advanced machinery, they embark on an excursion to unleash the Ogdru Jahad- the Seven Gods of Chaos. In the midst of the excursion a team of American soldiers, lead by Professor Broom, halts the ceremony. However before the portal is closed, something escapes from the dark void. From the depths of hell comes an extraordinary creature that baffles mankind and is known by his founders as Hellboy.

Sixty years later, Hellboy is spoken of as a modern-day Bigfoot. Sanctioned by the American government, he spends his time eluding society while he combats supernatural villains. Then one day Grigori Rasputin returns to attempt, once again, to open the portal to Ogdru Jahad. Rasputin forces Hellboy to confront the reason for his existence. He is made to choose either the dark side from which he was born or the good side in which he was raised.

Hellboy is based off a comic strip superhero and a movie directed and written by Guillermo Del Toro. In keeping with the comic book theme, the story is written in a manner which is short and to the point. If the reader can imagine reading a comic strip without the pictures, then he/she essentially has an understanding of the style the writer uses. Nearly every scene is comprised of some adventurous ordeal. Gore is a basic component in the book. The reader should be warned that the novel is filled with numerous carnage and murder scenes.

The author, Yvonne Navarro, intentionally advances through the beginning by giving little description of the surroundings or the character's background. Instead, she leads you right into the intensity of the story. As the beginning of the book flies by, the reader is left thinking that they missed something. The start also excludes enough inner-dialogue to allow the reader to connect with the characters emotionally. This is damaging to the introduction but after the first third of the book, the writing improves and the novel ends explosively.

The book, Hellboy, is comprised of exotic creatures and magical events. The plot behind the book is interesting, but the beginning is hard to swallow because it lacks character background and intentionally houses vague descriptions. The magnitude of action scenes may keep the audience captivated, but overall, without the ability to connect to the characters thoroughly, a person might as well pay the same price to see the movie.

Reviewer: Mary Dietrich
Date: May 3, 2004