10 Amazing Hellboy Spin-Offs Mignola Fans Must Read
5. The Visitor: How And Why He Stayed
Way back in the original Hellboy story Seed Of Destruction, we got a brief glimpse that alien entities were observing the arrival of the Beast Of The Apocalypse with fear for the future. Then that thread was basically dropped completely from the comics for years afterwards.
That was until 2017, when this miniseries returned to the idea in one of the most mysterious but also sweetest Hellboy spin-off stories.
The unnamed Visitor is an alien shapeshifter sent to eliminate the demon destined to end the universe. He infiltrates the US Army to get close to the newly summoned Hellboy, but on seeing Professor Bruttenholm show mercy to the infant demon he too stays his hand. Instead the Visitor spends the following decades as an observer, always delaying carrying out his orders.
In the 1950s he assumes the form of a homeless man in rural Tennessee and is helped out by a friendly waitress, leading the alien to settle down with a wife and come to appreciate the goodness that can exist in humanity. At the same time, he continues to observe Hellboy's early adventures from the sidelines, occasionally lending a helping hand unseen in the original comics.
The Visitor is a poignant little story about humanity and the freedom to shape our own destinies. It is also one that may appeal to people who want a completely standalone spin-off which does not rely on forming connections with the labyrinthine mythology in the rest of the Mignolaverse.