Hellboy: The Chained Coffin and Others ( Mignola, 2003)

[shariqq]

I received this book as a gift a month ago, and gobbled it up in two evenings. It consists a series of shorts by Mike Mignola himself that were published at various times, and are now recolored for this compilation. Mike gives an introduction to each story, especially what how he included myths and legends into his stories.

Since each story is not more than 4 pages long, reading them is quite fun. At the same time, Hellboy has his trademark scoff at everything evil - almost like belittling every creature because he knows he is ultimately the Prince of Darkness himself. So whether he is dealing with vampires or werewolves, ghosts or corpses, monsters or witches - his uncharacteristic dealing with them makes for the fun, entertaining and sometimes beautiful reading (Case in point: A Christmas Underground).

If you have not read Hellboy ever, this is a great place to start.

Stories I particularly liked:

"The Corpse and the Iron Shoes"  (This one will pleasantly remind fans of the first movie)
"A Christmas Underground"
"Wolves of Saint August"
"The Chained Coffin"
"Almost Colossus"

My rating --> 4 of 5

[shariqq]

...and becoming familiar with the character in print also cements the idea that Ron Perlman was indeed born to play the part.

[fizz]

Wouldn't mind picking this up form you when ever you're done. I've always been an admirer of Mingola the artist (who I grew up on), but by the time I stopped collecting comics he had traded careers and become a writer (and a good one I've been told).

[shariqq]

Yours (to read) when we meet. Just take care of the issue though, it's not in the best physical condition...