Mignola, Mike Books

Backup

Jim Butcher

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 45 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Seriously Disappointed 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Up til now I have really loved the Dresden books. They are entertaining with great story lines. I pre-ordered Backup because of the description and was hoping to learn more about Thomas. What a disappointment when the "book" arrived. A slim thing of less than 80 pages, I'm still trying to figure out how one could charge $13 for this. And the story was even lighter than the number of pages. This seemed to be something that should have been a chapter in a book not a stand alone story. The writing was not up to the rest of the Dresden stories - no plot, no character, no heart. I hope this isn't a harbringer of what's coming for this series.

Editorial Review:

Let's get something clear right up front.

I'm not Harry Dresden.

Harry's a wizard. A genuine, honest-to-goodness wizard. He's Gandalf on crack and an IV of Red Bull, with a big leather coat and a .44 revolver in his pocket. He'll spit in the eye of gods and demons alike if he thinks it needs to be done, and to hell with the consequences--and yet somehow my little brother manages to remain a decent human being.

I'll be damned if I know how.

But then, I'll be damned regardless.
My name is Thomas Raith, and I'm a monster.

So begins "Backup," a twelve thousand word novelette set in Jim Butcher s ultra-popular Dresden Files series. This time Harry's in trouble he knows nothing about, and it's up to his big brother Thomas to track him down and solve those little life-threatening difficulties without his little brother even noticing.

Hellboy Library Edition, Vol. 2: The Chained Coffin, The Right Hand of Doom, and Others

Mike Mignola

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Halloween is here early! 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Wow, Dark Horse continues the good work with HELLBOY. This second volume, as with the first book, shows us the way this work of art was meant to be enjoyed. The oversized book is handsome, tightly bound and beautifully printed on heavy-stock paper. Sure, the book is expensive but it really is worth every cent. Dark Horse shame larger companies such as Mravel and DC in the presentation, quality and pricing of their product.

Like other readers I was disappointed with the original HELLBOY softcover editions which would fall apart after a few readings due to poor bindings but these new versions are sturdy and will look amazing on your bookshelf. The mistakes of the past have been rectified and the new editions are so different that even old fans will marvel at the way the HELLBOY tales flow across the canvas. The vast pools of black paint now almost resemble liquid velvet. And the reds erupt like pulsating lava. The book throbs in your hands!

Mike Mignola's art has never looked this gorgeous. Absolutely lovely, rich and gothic. Get this baroque horror book now and while away the dark autumn evenings as we head towards All Hallows Eve.

Editorial Review:

Since Mike Mignola's Hellboy first hit the stands in 1993, it has become a cultural sensation, racking up a dozen Eisner Awards and inspiring numerous spinoffs - from a novel line, to video games, to feature films. Now, Dark Horse is pleased to present the comics that started it all, collected in deluxe hardcover editions. Sized at a generous 9' x 12', and handsomely bound to match The Art of Hellboy, each volume contains the equivalent of two full trade paperbacks.

B.P.R.D. Volume 9: 1946 (B.P.R.D. (Graphic Novels))

Joshua Dysart, Mike Mignola, Paul Azaceta

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Editorial Review:

In the wake of the second world war, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm - occult investigator and guardian of the infant Hellboy - founded the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense to investigate and defuse the remains of the Axis's sophisticated occult-warfare projects and potential Soviet threats. Now, with the help of a handful of war-weary American soldiers and their erstwhile Soviet allies, Bruttenholm unravels the mystery of the Nazi Occult Bureau's greatest and most threatening initiative: Project Vampir Sturm.

Hellboy Library Edition, Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil

Mike Mignola, John Byrne

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great volume of Hellboy goodness! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is an amazing volume!

It contains many Hellboy stories all in one book. Each book included in this compilation included has a nice intro and dedication. There's also a very cool sketchbook section in the back and some other extras.

The stories themselves are of course amazing. If you love Hellboy but don't own the early comics, this book might be the one you want to pick up.

The binding is very well made. The cover is sturdy and coated in fabric. The book itself is big and the paper is thick and glossy. It's the most well constructed book of comics I've ever seen!

Editorial Review:

Since Mike Mignola's Hellboy first hit the stands in 1993, it has become a cultural sensation, racking up a dozen Eisner Awards and inspiring numerous spinoffs, from a novel line, to video games, to feature films. Now, Dark Horse is pleased to present the comics that started it all, collected in deluxe hardcover editions. Sized at 9" by 12", and handsomely bound to match The Art of Hellboy hardcover, each volume contains two full story-arcs - the equivalent of two trade-paperbacks. Each volume of the Hellboy Library Editions also includes extensive supplemental materials, including previously unreleased sketches and designs.

Hellboy, Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction

Mike Mignola, John Byrne

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 36 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

5 star story, 1 star binding 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Great story, great art, book fell apart in my hands on the first read through - something that's *never* happened to me before.

Surprisingly Great Story; Weak Binding 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

"Hellboy." I first heard the title quite a number of years ago when I saw the trailer for the movie adaptation in a theater. I pretty much scoffed, rolled my eyes, and said "Hellboy?" under my breath. Long story short, time passes, I got into comics, and began to hear a lot of good things about "Hellboy." I even read some quotes from the actual book that intrigued me. However, it was the trailer for the second movie--sheer, unadulterated awesomeness--that pushed me over the edge and made me buy the first volume of the comic series.

Creator and artist Mignola enlisted John Byrne to write the first script for this series, and the team works together very well. Hellboy's attitude and way of looking at things is very entertaining (which keeps his internal dialogue always interesting), but the mythology of this series is pure magic. The sorcerers, Liz, Abe, Hellboy himself, the Lovecraftian beasts, all of it works together, forming this very dark yet attractive story. The main story arc, "Seed of Destruction," is very much an origin story for Hellboy, but you can tell how well-read both Byrne and Mignola are from the brilliance they churn out here.

Apart from the main four issue story arc, there are two short Hellboy stories in the back, as well as a cover gallery. The two shorts were promotional pieces, and they were interesting little tidbits to give us an idea of who Hellboy is and what he does. That part of the TPB was great, but I also have a huge complaint that has nothing to do with the story or the art. The binding was horrible. As another reviewer mentioned, the cover simply falls off when you're reading it. There will be an audible crack, and the cover will simply separate from the book. As a fan of Dark Horse's books (I've gotten many of their TPBs and this has never happened before) I was quite upset with that.

7/10

Editorial Review:

Hellboy is one of the most celebrated comics series in recent years. The ultimate artists' artist and a great storyteller whose work is in turns haunting, hilarious, and spellbinding, Mike Mignola has won numerous awards in the comics industry and beyond. When strangeness threatens to engulf the world, a strange man will come to save it. Sent to investigate a mystery with supernatural overtones, Hellboy discovers the secrets of his own origins, and his link to the Nazi occultists who promised Hitler a final solution in the form of a demonic avatar.

Hellboy, Vol. 8: Darkness Calls

Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo, Dave Stewart

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

close - but no original Hellboy 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.

As others have mentioned before - the story is quite thrilling.
BUT - the artwork is not by Mike Mignola! The novel has been drawn by some artist called Fegredo. The style comes close to Mignolas style, but its definitely not as good as his. So, be aware that you will buy a book which says "Hellboy by Mike Mignola" on the cover but offers something completely different inside.

Editorial Review:

Hellboy has finally returned from his adventures at sea, but no sooner has he settled on land than a conclave of witches drags him from his respite and into the heart of Russian folklore, where he becomes the quarry of the powerful and bloodthirsty witch Baba Yaga. Bent on revenge for the eye she had lost to Hellboy, Baba Yaga has enlisted the aid of a deathless warrior who will stop at nothing to destroy Hellboy. Creator Mike Mignola turns over drawing duties to Duncan Fegredo (Enigma, Ultimate Adventures) for a new chapter in the life of the World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator. Hellboy: Darkness Calls collects the entire six-issue miniseries, along with two new epilogues-one drawn by Mignola, and one by Fegredo-and an extensive sketchbook section from both artists and includes many plot elements from the major motion picture, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, directed by Academy Award winner, Guillermo del Toro and slated for release in July 2008!

Hellboy, Vol. 2: Wake the Devil

Mike Mignola

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Way Better Than "Seed of Destruction" 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Wake The Devil is better than its predecessor, "Seed of Destruction". The writing is far more cohesive, entertaining, and flows without the hiccups that plagued "Seed".

Rasputin returns with another presence from beyond calling the shots, but Mignola also works in a few more historical or legendary figures, including Dracula (or a stand-in for him), Baba Yaga and the Furies, as well as introducing new characters like the goddess Hecate, the evil industrialist Roderick Zinco, the "brain in a jar" mad scientist Herman Von Klempt and several other well-characterized Nazis. Mignola also adds a touch more overt humor to this volume along with some terrific banter and a sense of history between Hellboy and his B.P.R.D. compatriots, hints more at Hellboy's mysterious destiny without veering into "chosen one" cliches and basically maintains and even widens the eclectic mix of genre influences while seeming more focused and sharper in general. There's nothing really wrong with Seed of Destruction, but Wake The Devil is really where Hellboy comes together.

One of the things that really struck me about Wake The Devil was that the characters seemed to be having more fun, and that comes across in some ways as Mignola having more fun as well. Flying solo without Byrne as scripter and obviously bolstered by the success of his first Hellboy effort, Mignola seems more confident of himself, more sure that Hellboy is what he wants it to be, and that confidence comes across not just in a more complicated backstory for the villains but in a general sense of fun in the characters. There's even some outright slapstick, such as Hellboy's jetpack failing or Abe's sardonic "Hellboy's blowing things up again" when Castle Giurescu goes up.

What I really liked, though, was a slight shift in the dialogue. Though it's not so noticeable as to be jarring, Mignola does sort of get away from the more bombastic and Silver Age elements of Byrne's scripting in this volume, replacing it with a more wry tone that veers from scholarly to regular guy with ease. Quotes from William Blake and pompous, insane rants by Rasputin exist alongside good Hollywood banter like Hellboy heading off to Romania in search of good food with the Bendis-like turn of phrase "paprika chicken, baby!" Hellboy in particular benefits from an infusion of a little more humor and confidence, trash-talking his opponents and muttering to himself in self-deprecating tones when he gets himself into trouble. Of course, it's not just in the humor that the dialogue shines, as Mignola has a gift for the villainous turn of phrase, as when Nazi villainess Ilsa utters the memorable bon mot "Oh, I would cut open the world to see it bleed." Now that's what I call a bad guy line of dialogue!

Leaving aside the manner of the storytelling in terms of dialogue, Wake The Devil also benefits from a complexity of design. The plot that Hellboy goes out in search of is tracking down a vampire who may or may not be the legendary Dracula. In the course of this investigation, he runs afoul of his old nemesis Rasputin, who is tied in with an Elder God-like "Dragon" and a trio of Nazis who originally helped raise Hellboy, as well as a mad scientist villain that Hellboy had a run-in with in a previous short story. What's amazing isn't just that all of these villains (a good half dozen in all) are so interesting and well-fleshed-out on their own, but that Mignola's tale links them all, from vampire to Nazi to mad monk to mad goddess to Russian witch/goddess, and it all just flows so well together. There's a sense of a tapestry behind all of this, and if Mignola hadn't figured out by this point just what Hellboy's actual destiny was and how he tied into all of this, well, his script certainly had this reader fooled on that score.

The only aspect of Wake The Devil that isn't an improvement on Seed of Destruction is the artwork, because it would have been very difficult to improve upon. Mignola does open the book up a little, shedding some sunlight and open spaces on the B.P.R.D. and getting them out of creaky mansions and swamps exclusively, but he maintains the mood with European castles, forgotten labs and haunted forests too. The change in colorists, from Chiarello and Hollingsworth to Sinclair, is also a slight change but can't really be called an improvement, as all are expert colorists and Sinclair's work here is excellent, perhaps a little stronger on the brighter, sunlit aspects than Hollingsworth or Chiarello might have been but otherwise just a continuation of the strong coloring we've already seen. In addition, Mignola has some spectacularly choreographed action scenes in Wake The Devil. Probably the most memorable is Hellboy's brief but powerful showdown with Giurescu, but his fight with Hecate or the Furies is equally impressive.

Editorial Review:

A murder in a New York wax museum and a missing corpse lead Hellboy into ancient Romanian castles on the trail of a sleeping legend: the original nobleman vampire. Nazi scientists prepare for the return of their occult master and the end of the world, and Hellboy confronts his purpose on earth.

Abe Sapien: The Drowning

Mike Mignola, Jason Shawn Alexander

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good Story, Great Art 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Another great story from Mignola, but not drawn by him. He abandoned drawing BPRD a long time ago, brought on a new artist for Lobster Johnson, and finally gave up drawing Hellboy itself.

The story follows Abe on his first solo mission and, of course, things get FUBAR. Ancient wizards, demons, witches, and sea monsters all appear. The story shows Abe resolve to get the job done right even when he is given an easy way out. It shows the tough job the BPRD crew has keeping the world safe paranormal foces.

With Abe Sapien, Mignola brings aboard another great artist to help him out with telling stories. Alexander has a very loose style (straight inking with no pencils) that almost looks painted in black before being expertly colored by Dave Stewart. If Mignola continues to use amazing artists, I'm fine with him giving up art duties in favor of fleshing out the Hellboy universe.

It is a little more wrapped up in its own mythologies than the looser and more action oriented Lobster Johnson and the latest Hellboy and BPRD stories. A little more action and cutting the back story down a bit (almost an entire chapter, alone) would have quickened the pacing a bit.

Editorial Review:

A century ago, paranormal investigator Edward Grey fought and destroyed a powerful warlock off the coast of the island of Saint Sebastien. In the early 1980s, the B.P.R.D.'s newest agent was sent to retrieve the warlock's remains. But Abe Sapien is ill prepared for the dark forces that block his way. Written by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, and featuring the haunting art of Jason Shawn Alexander (Damn Nation, The Secret, The Escapists), Abe Sapien: The Drowning is the story of Hellboy and B.P.R.D. mainstay Abe Sapien's first solo adventure.

Hellboy, Vol. 7: The Troll Witch and Other Stories

Mike Mignola

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Solid, but ultimately disappointing. 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.

These are some good additions to the Hellboy story line, but the stories all take place before events in Volume 6. That means that we still don't know what happened to Hellboy after he left the BPRD!

great collection! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

i've been collecting hellboy since i don't know when! and this collection strengthens my conviction in mike mignola and company! keep churning those wonderful stories and artwork!

Great stuff 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

it's great that now we can have all the hell boy stories compiled in volumes cause I read them all in single comics so now it's easier

Editorial Review:

As a new Hellboy series hits the stands, fans of the world's greatest paranormal detective can find older favorites collected for the first time in the seventh volume of the Hellboy Saga. Hellboy: The Troll Witch and Others collects short stories from The Dark Horse Books of the Dead, Witchcraft, Hauntings, and Monsters, the 2004 Hellboy: Wizard 1/2, as well as the critically acclaimed 2006 miniseries, Hellboy: Makoma by Mignola and comics legend Richard Corben, and a previously unpublished Hellboy story by P. Craig Russell and Mike Mignola, along with sketches and story notes.

Hellboy, Vol. 3: The Chained Coffin and Others

Mike Mignola

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great collection of Hellboy illustrated short stories 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Mike Mignola's first compilation graphic shorts is titled The Chained Coffin and Others. The stories within were compiled from sources such as the Dark Horse Presents comic issues all the way to promotional issue of the comic catalogue Diamond Comics. The one difference between those issues and this compilation was the coloring. The illustrated shorts where in black and white when they first appeared in those issues, but in this compilation book they have been retouched with bold primary colors.

Mignola wrote and drew all the shorts included in Chained Coffin and Others. The coloring he'd done for all the shorts lives up to the previous Hellboy books. There's some inconsistency to the look of each stories artwork, but that's due to some of them being drawn early in Hellboy's history. Some of these stories were done even before the Seed of Destruction story.

All the stories are well-written and they range from laugh-out funny to classically scary. Stand out entries in Chained Coffin and Others are "Christmas Underground" (Mignola's take on the vampire myth), The Wolves of St. August (a werewolf piece) and "Almost Colossus" (the introduction of recurring character Roger the Homunculus). These three takes are great examples of why the Hellboy books are a joy to read. "Christmas Underground" is my personal favorite for combining both a genuinely scary tale with some genuine humanity to turn a simple horror tale into one of redemption and forgiveness.

For readers who have seen the Hellboy feature film, they will recognize a character in the film who actually appears in this compilation: "The Corpse". In the end, I highly recommend this graphic compilation to new fans of Hellboy and for old, loyal fans to pick it up if their old copy has been dog-eared and tattered from frequent readings.

Editorial Review:

Mike Mignola's story notes accompany the long out-of-print stories, giving insight into their creation and inspiration. Some consider Mignola's short stories better than the full-length novels, and this collection makes a strong argument for that, especially with Mignola's masterpiece, "The Corpse."