Do We Really Need Hellboy to "Come Out"?

I love smashing, and lighting things on fire, and monsters fighting on top of giant gears with huge mechanical creatures covered in golden carapaces — but I don't love a sloppy allegory about minority rights, and that's unfortunately what you'll get in the new Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. And no, the stuff about minorities isn't something I'm "reading into" the plot of this awesome monster extravaganza from the brains of comic book artist Mike Mignola and director Guillermo del Toro. It's right there on the surface, with a Magneto-style separatist from the elf underworld wanting to crush humans who make his people "ashamed" to be open about their monstery ways. Also, at one point, we hear a television news anchor complaining about how Hellboy's organization, the Bureau for Paranormal Defense and Research (BPRD), "promotes inter-species relations, thereby undermining traditional marriage." Gee, do you smell a subtext? Spoilers ahead. More »