BOOM! Studios; $4.99 

As a longtime Hellraiser fan, I was interested in seeing what they would do with Butterball. He's one of those Cenobites who immediately sticks in your memory because of his appearance, but he's never been given the same kind of attention as Pinhead or some of the other major characters. 

Hell's Council #1 is a decent addition to the Hellraiser universe, but I didn't connect with it quite as much as some of the other Resurrections stories. The artwork and gore are definitely there, and I thought Butterball looked fantastic. Francesca Ciregia does a great job with the character, making him every bit as grotesque as I remember from the movies. 

The story picks up from Butterball's condition after Hellbound: Hellraiser II, which gives the issue a nice connection to the older films. I liked seeing the character brought back into the spotlight and getting some additional history surrounding what happened to him. 

My biggest problem was that I kept waiting for the story to give me more. There's a subplot involving a woman selling supplements that felt disconnected from the main Butterball story to me. Maybe that material will become more important later, especially since this series is helping establish pieces for a larger ongoing story, but in this particular issue it felt like it was taking up space that could have been used to explore Butterball further. 

That's probably my biggest complaint with Butterball himself. I've always thought he looked great. I actually own the old Hellraiser Screamin' model kits, including a Butterball, so this is a character I've literally had sitting around my house for years. When I first saw Hellraiser in the theater as a kid, Butterball looked terrifying. But compared with characters like Pinhead, the Priestess of Pain, or Dr. Channard, there isn't quite as much going on with him. 

The fact that Butterball doesn't speak isn't automatically a problem. Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees aren't exactly known for carrying on conversations either. The difference is that those characters have a presence that can carry an entire scene without saying anything. Butterball doesn't quite have that same impact for me. 

I also think the story could have done more with the idea of what it actually means to be a Cenobite. Characters like Pinhead have always been frightening because they can make it clear that what awaits you isn't necessarily a quick death. The whole concept revolves around suffering, sensation, and an existence far worse than simply being killed. I would have liked this issue to lean harder into that side of Butterball. 

Still, I don't want to make it sound like I disliked the comic. I didn't. The artwork is strong, the horror elements work, and it's always fun seeing one of the classic Cenobites brought back into the spotlight. It also adds another piece to the larger Hellraiser mythology, even if I found some of the other Resurrections stories more interesting. 

For me, Hell's Council #1 is a solid Hellraiser story that just doesn't hit quite as hard as the best entries in this new series so far. As a longtime fan of Clive Barker's world, I'm still happy to see these characters getting new stories, and I'm interested in seeing how all of these pieces eventually connect. 

–Scott Schlazer