I read Hellboy to fill a diesel punk prompt for a reading challenge.  I never thought of this book as diesel punk, as most of the action takes place in the 90’s.  It does start in the diesel punk era of 1944, but I think moreover it is a feeling, and not just the period that makes it diesel punk.  It’s that dark and grittiness that comes after water and steam.  That smell of diesel fuel and heavy equipment, the feeling of oppression and resistance.  You get all that from the original Hellboy comics.  Hellboy is a monster, but a friendly one with a poor attitude.  He is a great anti-hero.  He is who he was raised to be.  I watched the movie years ago and loved it.  I have read newer iterations of Hellboy but going back to the original really shows off that Hellboy is not just another Merc with a mouth, or a supped-up version of Deadpool, but a sensitive, broad backed character, with unusual friends and abilities, that turn a teddy bear rock hard. I thoroughly enjoyed this read, between the unusual art style for a graphic novel and the modern story that was both historical and new.  It all works together to create a lasting work or fiction.