Yesterday I picked up Hellboy: Wake the Devil from the base library.
My assessment: Pure alchemy.
I am mesmerized and jealous every time I pick up a Hellboy book. Mignola seamlessly melds history, mythology, the occult, and pure fun. His storytelling is elemental and irreducible. And that goes for the visual art too. It’s obvious that Mignola is the graphic storyteller as well as the scripter, because the two aspects are inseparable in style and psychic impression. And they are bewitching every time.
My only critique would be that Giurescu (who promised to be a cool villain with a great back story) and even Hellboy himself are upstaged by Rasputin and his crew. I dare say, given the page time dedicated to them, that Rasputin is the main character of the story. (Which isn’t all bad, but it does say “Hellboy” on the cover...)
If all you've seen are the movies, you're missing out!