Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club

Hellboy

by Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson, Christopher Mitten (Illustrator)

Hellboy learns firsthand about the history of the famed Silver Lantern Club!

His uncle and former member Simon Bruttenholm relates tales from his time with the Silver Lantern Club, which included Sir Edward Grey, Sarah Jewell, Lady Bai, and Major Singh, as they investigated the mysterious happenings in London near the end of the 19th century!
 
Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson expand the Hellboy universe with a new tale of strange spiritual happenings. They’re joined by artists Ben Stenbeck and Christopher Mitten, with colors by Dave Stewart.
 
Collects The Silver Lantern Club #1–#5.
 

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Comic Book

136 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 27, 2022

About the author

Mike Mignola was born September 16, 1960 in Berkeley, California and grew up in nearby Oakland. His fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age (he doesn't remember why) and reading Dracula at age 13 introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore from which he has never recovered.

In 1982, hoping to find a way to draw monsters for a living, he moved to New York City and began working for Marvel Comics, first as a (very terrible) inker and then as an artist on comics like Rocket Raccoon, Alpha Flight and The Hulk. By the late 80s he had begun to develop his signature style (thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black) and moved onto higher profile commercial projects like Cosmic Odyssey (1988) and Gotham by Gaslight (1989) for DC Comics, and the not-so-commercial Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (1990) for Marvel. In 1992, he drew the comic book adaptation of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Topps Comics.

In 1993, Mike moved to Dark Horse comics and created Hellboy, a half-demon occult detective who may or may not be the Beast of the Apocalypse. While the first story line (Seed of Destruction, 1994) was co-written by John Byrne, Mike has continued writing the series himself. There are, at this moment, 13 Hellboy graphic novel collections (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien and Witchfinder), three anthologies of prose stories, several novels, two animated films and two live-action films staring Ron Perlman. Hellboy has earned numerous comic industry awards and is published in a great many countries.

Mike also created the award-winning comic book The Amazing Screw-on Head and has co-written two novels (Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire and Joe Golem and the Drowning City) with best-selling author Christopher Golden.

Mike worked (very briefly) with Francis Ford Coppola on his film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer on the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). He lives somewhere in Southern California with his wife, daughter, a lot of books and a cat.

Reviews

[Peter Wild · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book feels like a bit of a fiddle to me. I know Dark Horse / Mignola do stories “from the world of Hellboy” - I buy them, I read them etc. But saying this is a Hellboy book when in fact it’s a portmanteau collection of stories that don’t feature Hellboy (that are in fact “from the world of…” etc) feels misjudged.

If this was The Silver Lantern Club with a teeny tiny “featuring Hellboy” I would feel better about it. As it is… I feel annoyed

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 2021, this Hellboy miniseries has Hellboy and Professor Buttenholm talking with his uncle Simon, one of the founding members of the Silver Lantern Club.

The comic is bookended by Hellboy in a pub having a bit too much to drink, but the core of the story is a flashback told by Simon. It's an alright way to present the tale actually. A bit misleading to call this a Hellboy comic.

In the story Simon and Miss Jewell investigate a mystery that ends up getting them embroiled in a conspiracy involving the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra.

[Sud666 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I was expecting far more. The Silver Lantern Club is just a collection of very short stories.

Hellboy and Dr. Bruttenholm spend some time with the Doctor's uncle, who is also a famous paranormal hunter. Over multiple beers, Uncle Bruttenholm tells five tales of his old group- The Silver Lantern Club.

This Club is Mignola's knock off of Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. This strange grouping of people acted like a BPRD during the Victorian times. We are introduced to them via these four stories. The first, is a case of a haunted gramophone. The second revolves around a mysterious creature that is killing people. The third covers a demon that has been summoned into our reality. The fourth tale, one of my favorites, is a comedic tale about over drinking and werewolves. The final tale has to do with the Brotherhood of Ra trying to open a portal to Hell.

While these stories are not awful, they are not great. Short stories with a no name group fighting generic monsters didn't do it for me. Hellboy has nothing to do with any of it. Also the art is not Mignolas. It's ok to decent but this would have been better, at least one more star, if he had been the artist. Again neither the stories nor the art is awful, but it simply does not measure up to the quality and standards of Mignola's other Hellboy works.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hellboy might be in the title, but he barely appears in The Silver Lantern Club. He's part of the framing story, in which an old member of the Club relays stories from the Club's glory days. I thought I would be disappointed (I like Hellboy in my Hellboy), but the various shorts were pretty decent. Some pleasantly twisty, most at least charming.

Admittedly, The Silver Lantern Club is an entirely skippable package of shorts that doesn't really tie into the new Mignolaverse narrative, but it's a fine diversion if you need a dose of paranormal mystery.

[Matt Maielli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming collection. Loved the structure and that each cover shows Hellboy getting sleepier. Love the idea of a Victorian occult detective club — reminded me most of Mignola’s “Baltimore” days. Also love how in his own books, Sir Edward Grey is an occult genius who is hired by the Queen, and here he’s depicted as a paranoid weirdo who thinks one cult is behind every single ghost and ghoul that he hears about. Some of the stories are so-so, but my fave was probably the one with lesbian detective Sarah Jewell and the William Blake-esque monster — which was also mostly unexplained? Okay.

[Václav · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3,5 of 5 for the hook and bait Hellboy book)
I don't dislike this book, but hear me out... Back in 1953, Trevor Bruttenholm and Hellboy meet Trevor's uncle, Simon. They sit in a pub, talk, Trevor struggling to finish his story as Simon often goes back in time to the Silver Lantern Club, the group of occult, supernatural and paranormal "investigators". Back in the day, that club met regularly at Monk's Head pub, with characters like Ed Grey, Sarah Jewell and many more, including Simon. Very interesting pitch, but my issue with the result - there is, of course, more of the Silver Lantern Club than professor and Hellboy. But the part with them is in art by Ben Stenbeck, which I consider very Hellboyish and likeable. However, the club's part is handled by Chris Mitten, and, at least in my opinion, it's far from likeable. The stories are good, I like the plethora of references (in both timelines), and I like how "flawed humans" are the members of SLC depicted. However, Mitten's Art is diminishing the experience for me by its roughness and a certain "cheapness", which is a bit disappointing for an otherwise storywise good comic.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the Sarah Jewell Mystery came out last year I desperately wanted to read her previous adventures that happen in this book but the trade paperback edition was sadly out of print. Thankfully due to the success of Sarah and her newer adventures Dark Horse realized that I wasn't alone in wanted to read about her previous adventures and thankfully have re-released the exploits of The Silver Lantern Club in a lovely hardcover edition. And it was worth the wait. I loved the rambling nature of one story leading not quite directing into the next issue to issue. My favorite though was the story about William Blake and seances. I also was bemused that in the final "modern day" section that resolution was oddly the same as in a book I had just read because sometimes where you see a ghost isn't where the ghost source really is. I want more Silver Lantern adventures! Thankfully this year brought us The British Paranormal Society, but I want more!

[Luke Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Edward Grey/Sarah Jewell corner of the Mignolaverse, and this does a nice job of being a cute little anthology of stories from there. Not big on the art, but it's charming enough as a whole. I also enjoy that the only other comic book I've ever read to reference William Blake's GHOST OF A FLEA is now parked on my shelf right next to FROM HELL, thanks to the alphabetical proximity of Mignola and Moore.

[Cail Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished the fifth issue today. I enjoyed the first story immensely, but the last couple issues were pretty thin. Still a fun ride, and cool to see all the heavy hitters from Sir Edward Grey’s era team-up.

[Sohan Surag · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exactly a Hellboy tale. More like Adventures of/with Uncle Simon Bruttenholm and The Silver Lantern Club. It's an enjoyable read but really expected more Hellboy.

[Lacee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Silver Lantern Club isn't really a Hellboy story, which was disappointing. I was bored, to be honest. Witchfinder wasn't my favorite in the Hellboy universe so I'm not surprised The Silver Lantern Club didn't land for me either. Most of the stories would start out intriguing but once the mystery was unraveled the reveal would be pretty lackluster and predictable. I would have skipped this if I wasn't already heavily invested in the Hellboy Universe.

[Etain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not afraid to admit that I absolutely loved that story. It had and energy an sense of fun that is sorely lacking from most other stories. Every character gets there little moment to shine and Edward grey is finally let off the protagonist leash and allowed to be a bumbling drunken idiot. him and Sarah Jewel are one of my favorite character dynamics in the whole series. Sarah is also definitely a lesbian. Lesbian occult detectives what else do you need!?

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminiscing about the past and small victories against the darkness. Great group name. Lots of little mysteries to solve.

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Here's to the glory days. Sounds like they were really something."

[Óscar López · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories centered on the Silver Lantern Club, a group of occult investigators in 19th century London – having as members the likes of Sir Edward Gray and Simon Bruttenholm (Trevor's uncle.)

The premise is interesting; the artwork is totally fine, but for some reason the stories lack the spark that makes Mignola such a joy to read. And Hellboy is just an observer (well, listener) of the stories told by Simon. All the chapters share a similar structure and sometimes the ending appears rushed, also the plots tend to feel bland. Oh, and the Club members seem to have serious issues with alcohol!

It'd be nice to revisit the Club, with longer stories, better character development and less predictable twists – but as it is, most readers can safely skip this volume.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tarnished.

[Maciej · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club" autorstwa Mike’a Mignoli i Chrisa Robersona to komiks, który rozszerza znane uniwersum Hellboya, choć sam Hellboy pojawia się tutaj jedynie marginalnie. Komiks skupia się na opowieściach Simona Bruttenholma, wuja profesora Bruttenholma, który wspomina czasy, gdy działał w Klubie Srebrnej Latarni – grupie detektywów badających paranormalne zjawiska w Londynie pod koniec XIX wieku. Klub ten składał się z postaci takich jak Sir Edward Grey, Sarah Jewell, Lady Bai i Major Singh, którzy stawiali czoła nadprzyrodzonym zagrożeniom. Choć struktura opowieści w formie retrospekcji nadaje komiksowi pewien urok, niektórzy czytelnicy mogą poczuć się rozczarowani niewielką obecnością Hellboya.

Zbiór pięciu krótkich opowieści to fascynująca podróż przez tajemnicze wydarzenia, jak nawiedzony gramofon, potężny demon czy spisek bractwa Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra. Każda z historii wnosi coś nowego do mitologii świata Hellboya, choć niektóre są bardziej wciągające niż inne. Szczególnie wyróżnia się wątek z Sarah Jewell i Williamem Blake’iem, który zachwycił wielu fanów swoją mistyczną atmosferą. Choć sztuka graficzna nie dorównuje poziomowi wcześniejszych dzieł Mignoli, to jednak fani jego uniwersum docenią unikalny klimat i możliwość zgłębienia tajemnic Klubu Srebrnej Latarni.

Przyjemność 3,3/5
Styl: 3,5/5
Historia: 3,2/5

Ocena: 3,3/5
goodreads - 3/5
thestorygraph - 3,25/5
lubimyczytac - 6/10

[Kormak · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant, if ultimately peripheral, stroll through the outer provinces of the Hellboy Extended Universe... a tale that trades in its usual doom-laden gravitas for something lighter, stranger, and touched with the absurd.

Here, the darkness is softened by whimsy. Instead of brooding catacombs and eldritch portents, we’re treated to spectral hijinks: aiding a drunken Russian gentleman in a werewolf hunt through the enclosures of the London Zoo, or foiling an infernal apocalypse orchestrated, delightfully, by none other than Pauwels and Bergier themselves. A sly nod, that, and not unappreciated by those of us who keep our esoterica on the nightstand.

It’s not essential canon. No great secrets of the Right Hand revealed, no cosmic reckoning on the horizon. But it’s a charming digression, a footnote penned in laughter rather than blood. Not a must-read, but certainly not a waste of time. Think of it as Hellboy on holiday, listening to some tales of old in a pub. And who among us doesn’t deserve one of those?

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable, anthology-style collection of classic Hellboy tales, this time told secondhand as recollections from Trevor Bruttenholm's uncle Simon.

Over a pint (or four), Simon likes to reminisce about the old days of the Silver Lantern Club, where he, Sir Edward Gray and a bunch of "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"-esque adventurers used to wrangle with monsters and the occult. The storytelling here is light and engaging, and the art is strong, as always, but nothing in these "Classic Hellboy" collections seem to add up to much, given that we now know how it all ends.

The storytelling also seems to have lost something in the shift from the horror of the original installments to the more action-adventure tone today. I think that's largely because co-writer Chris Roberson lacks the sharpness of Mignola's earlier collaborators as well as the willingness to go to the darker places of the Hellboy mythos.

[Joseph R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1953, Hellboy and Professor Bruttenholm stop by an English pub to catch up with Bruttenholm's uncle Simon. Simon was a member of a turn-of-the-century band of paranormal investigators called the Silver Lantern Club, which included such luminaries as Sir Edward Grey and Sarah Jewell. Simon regales the duo with tales of hunting werewolves, exorcising demons, and dealing with other supernatural problems.

The stories are fun and harken back to the Hellboy "monster of the week" issues. The cast of characters are interesting and the framing device with Hellboy, Bruttenholm, and his uncle add some levity to the adventures. Roberson already has a lighter touch with his stories and dialogue. His skills shine here.

Recommended, highly for Hellboy fans.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kind of surprised at the middling to poor reviews of this one. It was pretty much perfect, to my taste. Hellboy and Professor Bruttenholm meet up with the professor's uncle, Simon, in a pub and he proceeds to tell them tales of the Silver Lantern Club, a group that included, among others, Sir Edward Grey and Sarah jewell (both featured in other Mignola series). The stories are all intriguing and at least one (the drunken werewolf hunter) is laugh-out-loud funny. As is Sir Edward Grey's sneaking suspicion that the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra is behind everything (he's finally vindicated!). The artwork is uniformly excellent throughout. I absolutely loved this and would welcome more stories in this vein.

[Rizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't be fooled by the title, this is functionally the 7th volume of "Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder". Hellboy is used as a clever framing device, which I enjoyed. Each issue is a standalone tale of Edward Grey and his fellow Silver Lantern Club members such as Sarah Jewell, Simon Bruttenholm, and others. These short tales are honestly more enjoyable to me than the longer Witchfinder volumes. I think these characters and this time period are far better suited to the short format. We don't really get any major story progression, but it's a nice fun epilogue that works well to link the Witchfinder comics to Hellboy a bit more directly. Short stories have always been the strength in the Hellboy universe, and I'm glad to see that holds true here. I wouldn't mind if they made more of these.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book fits into a long tradition of fantasy/horror stories where people sit around in a bar recounting this crazy thing that happened — Tales of the White Hart, for instance, though "Silver Lantern Club" is closer to Dunsany's Jorkens stories. Professor Bruttenholm, Hellboy and Bruttenholm's uncle sit around in a bar; uncle remembers one of his adventures with the Silver Lantern Club in the late 1890s (including Edward Grey, Sarah Jewell and a couple of other Hellboyverse characters from that era); oh, Hellboy, would you mind buying us another round while I tell another yarn?
If not first-rank for the Hellboy mythos, certainly fun.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bruttenholms uncle tells drunken stories about his time in the silver lantern club, chasing demons and (at least once) the brotherhood of Ra.

The set up is great, a barroom tale is already going to be a bit out there and especially when dealing with an occult aficionado BUT this feels like filler. The stories are just okay, the humor is weak and the art feels very plain.

I love Hellboy and was excited to read this based on the premise but was disappointed with the content. Easily a lower end trade for the Mignolaverse.

[Carson Mac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little anthology series. I liked the setup of Hellboy and the Professor in a pub reminiscing with an old timer from the Silver Lantern Club about some of their adventures. Only problem I had with it was the stories were very quick to wrap up as each one was only a single issue. None of the stories were truly fleshed out or engrossing hurting the overall appeal.

I love this world and universe but these were very quick stories and felt a little bit hollow.


Overall: 3.5/5

[Adan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was awesome! Five short stories about the Silver Lantern Club that counted Sir Edward Grey, Miss Sarah Jewell, Honora Grant, Lady Bai, and Major Singh among their members, as well as Simon Bruttenholm, Trevor Bruttenholm’s uncle. In fact, the whole series is Hellboy and Professor Bruttenholm meeting Simon at a tavern in 1953 and Simon telling them a bunch of stories from the late 1890s. I enjoyed spending time with these characters again after meeting most of them in earlier stories.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as the Mignolaverse goes this volume is rather light-hearted. Hellboy, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, and the professor's brother meet at a pub to catch up and have a few pints. This trio forms a framing device for the stories from the professor's brother's time with the Silver Lantern Club whose members included Sir Edward Gray and Sarah Jewel. It's an enjoyable set of drinking stories. And I wouldn't mind seeing another collection like this one.

[Andrew Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these stories. Very reminiscent of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen but with a Mignola flair.

It only has Hellboy as a framing device as he listens to stories of how The Silver Lantern Club solved paranormal mysteries. Each of them were good. None stood out that much better or worse than any other.

I would love to read more about the Silver Lantern Club as a whole or as individuals.

[Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is basically a collection of stories about Simon Bruttenholm and his time with the Silver Lantern Club, which included Sir Edward Grey, Sarah Jewell, Lady Bai, and Major Singh. Hellboy and Professor Bruttenholm are basically just drinking and listening to Simon tell these stories, which are interesting. I enjoyed seeing all these people work together to fight off supernaturals because most of what I have read with them has just been their individual tales.

[Yani · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was fun. Hellboy, but not Hellboy. I'd honestly dig a Silver Lantern Club graphic novel without the Hellboy framing device, maybe one longer story that digs more into their personalities.

But as an introduction, I enjoyed this. Some parts of it more than others (the first three are great, the werewolf one gets old very fast and the last one feels like a little rushed), but that always happens with "short stories".