Hellboy: The Lost Army

By: Christopher Golden

Narrated by: Wayne Mitchell

Length: 7 hrs

Publisher's Summary

In 525 BC, the Persian king Cambyses sent 50,000 soldiers across the conquered Egyptian desert to take an oasis city not far from where the Libyan border stands today. According to Greek history, a hurricane-force sandstorm struck near the end of their 600-mile trek. The army - all 50,000 men - vanished without a single trace. 

Fast forward to 1986. A British archaeological team, sent to the edge of the Great Sand Sea to exhume evidence of the incident, has also gone missing. So the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense is sending the world's greatest paranormal investigator, Hellboy, to find the missing Brits and to discover what became of The Lost Army.

©2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Pretty Good

This was an experiment with the audio comic book thing and it was cool. I was mad that it ended. I think the narration could have been better with the voices, but i don't think i would have done better.

Yikes

A bad narrator can ruin an otherwise excellent book.

Case in point, here. The story is just fine, but I couldn’t even make it through the prologue, the narrator is so awful.

Blech.

Badass

Good ol hellboy doing his job and killing monsters. And they give him a love life.

The Romance Killed It

If you like tweenager style romances ala Twilight you might like this. Just about every 4th line was HB or the girl thinking longingly of each other and the romance they once shared. It really blew the immersion. I dont care if you want to make HB seem more relatably human by giving him a love interest, just dont do it so hamfistedly juvenile. What could have been the start of a great set of novels instead devolved into HB listening to her breath, and pontificating over how close they were.

Bloody amazing!

I absolutely loved every minute of it, Hellboy and some romance is a great mix!!

Diabolically Fun

I’ve been a fan of Hellboy since high school. He’s such a fun and strangely compelling character. He’s a true novelty. Add to that Mike Mignola’s pulp adventure meets noir meets chiaroscuro art style and dense yet fun Gaimenesque lore/world-building and you’ve got a totally engrossing universe. That’s without even mentioning Hellboy’s incredible roster of side-characters and villains. In my opinion, Hellboy comics are at their most fun when they’re a combination of Indiana Jones and H.P. Lovecraft. The mix of adventure and horror can make for a heady tonic indeed and that’s exactly what we have with The Lost Army.
At first blush it was difficult for me to imagine a Hellboy audiobook working the way it should. Without Mignola’s art style and world-building or even an iconic Ron Perlman performance as an anchor I wasn’t sure how invested I would be. It didn’t take long for me to realize I was definitely lacking in imagination. Without giving too much away, Hellboy: The Lost Army is a fun take on the pulpy desert adventure stories of old with a touch of “sword and sandals” and a splash of cosmic horror. Dark sorcerers, lost expeditions, undead armies, and extra-dimensional cataclysms abound (so basically your standard Hellboy romp) but there’s interesting character work as well that keeps what could become dull and familiar interesting and fun. For example, we get a more intimate peek into Hellboy’s love-life which adds context and nuance and helps keep us invested in our hero. Like any adaptation however, there are a few drawbacks. For one, Hellboy’s usual compatriots are for the most part completely absent, denying him someone familiar to bounce his signature pithy quotes off of. Also, I think some of the magic is lost in the action scenes. Mignola’s style and stark visuals lend themselves well to action and horror and I think both were a casualty to the format change. It’s also rather short (about 7 hours) and while that’s fine for a lot of people, I like listening to something I’m able to stretch out until next months audible credit. Again, that might be exactly what you’re looking for and if so more power to you. However, if you don’t have the money for extra credits you might want to wait. That said, there’s a lot to enjoy here. I think Hellboy fans will love it and it might make a great starting point for people just becoming interested in the character and his world. If you find you’re enjoying this you might also like Kim Newman’s Johnny Alucard where Hellboy makes a small cameo, Matt Ruff’s Lovecraft Country, Jonathan L. Howard’s Johannes Cabal series, or even Simon Kurt Unsworth’s Thomas Fool stories.

Love Hellboy!

I love the Hellboy comics and this sorry is nearly as good! I wasn’t a fan of the narrator, though. He can’t do voices, but overall, I’m very happy with the story!

As a narrator...

As the narrator doing the main narration or authors voice of the book, was okay. The character narration was not well done or thought through. This series needs a redo.

Not bad if you love Hellboy

inconsistent tone, Hellboy sounded like a mix between Puddy from Seinfeld and Indiana Jones. Decent.

Great Story, Great Narrator!!!

5his was a great Original Hellboy story, and the Narrator ABSOLUTLY Nailed how I "hear" Hellboy when reading the comics!
Cannot wait to Hear the next one!

It's fine.

If you're a fan of Hellboy and a completionist you'll get a kick out of this, but otherwise you're safe to skip it. The whole romance subplot is weird and kind of out of character, but as a stupid side adventure you can't really go wrong. Main issue is that none of the rest of the B.P.R.D. is here for Hellboy to bounce off of and the plot, such as it is, doesn't measure up to the quality of even the most forgettable oneshots written by Mignola and co. for the comic.

Narrator seems to be having a great time with it, he manages to make the material entertaining when on the page it'd probably drag like crazy.

Who hired this awful narrator?

I love Hellboy. I have read and watched all. I felt like a change and thought, ok an audiobook! What a mistake. The narrator is terrible. As 'dull as dishwater' is a term that comes to mind. His attempts at accents and voices in general are cringe worthy, and in normal narration, he sometimes sounds like an automated reader. Sorry Mr. Mitchell - you should have passed this one up.