Longbox Junk - One Shots (part 1)

Welcome to Longbox Junk, the comic blog stuffed absolutely full of reviews you never asked for!

One shots! I DO love the one shots!

I have a LOT of one shots in my collection. They're actually my favorite kind of comic book. Not that I mind following a favorite character month to month, but there's definitely something to be said for having a complete story in one issue. No cliffhangers. No waiting. One issue. . .that's it.

In my extremely humble opinion, the one-shot is a true test for comic book creative teams. They have very limited space to craft a complete narrative. Because of that limitation, one shots can be a bit of a mixed bag. Some teams simply aren't up to the challenge. Others manage to create often-overlooked nuggets of pure comics gold.

Let's take a look at this handful of one-shots and see what we get!  I'm still trying to keep things a little shorter, so I guess we'll see how that works out as well.  Ready? Let's do it!

ONE SHOTS (Part 1)

HELLBOY: 2017 WINTER SPECIAL

DARK HORSE (2017)

COVER: Sebastian Fiumara

First off. What an absolutely fantastic cover! Definitely worthy of a turn on the rotating office wall comic cover display. It captures the spirit of Hellboy perfectly.

There are three short unconnected stories in this special, let's take a look at them individually. . .

THE GREAT BLIZZARD
SCRIPT: Mike Mignola & Chris Roberson
PENCILS: Christopher Mitten

This story doesn't feature Hellboy or any of the B.P.R.D. characters, but some characters I'm unfamiliar with who seem to be paranormal investigators in the 1800's (David Grey and Sarah Jewell). The art is very nicely done on this one, and the dialogue between the characters is snappy. The story is very short, but well written, and I wouldn't mind finding out more about these characters.

GOD REST YE MERRY
SCRIPT: Mike Mignola & Chris Roberson
PENCILS: Paul Grist

A tale set at Christmas in the 1950's starring Hellboy and Professor Bruttenholm versus a possessed Santa Claus. It's played for laughs and the art isn't great. . .very cartoony. I got a chuckle out of Hellboy getting an ugly sweater for Christmas, though. Probably the worst of the three. Still, not terrible.

THE LAST WITCH OF FAIRFIELD
SCRIPT: Mike Mignola & Scott Allie
PENCILS: Sebastian Fiumara

Now HERE'S some good Hellboy. The classic team of Hellboy, Abe Sapien, and Liz Sherman tracking down some lost children and coming in conflict with a witch. The ending is a chilling reminder that when it comes to the supernatural, sometimes when you win, you still lose. The best of the bunch with a great story and great art by the same artist who did that fantastic cover.

All in all, I really enjoyed this one shot. The middle story was pretty light, but that didn't drag the whole thing down. I can heartily recommend this one, even if you aren't a big Hellboy fan.

NEXT!

RED SONJA: ONE MORE DAY

DYNAMITE (2005)

COVER: Liam Sharp

ONE MORE DAY
SCRIPT: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
PENCILS: Liam Sharp

I REALLY liked the physical quality of this one shot. It's a heavy, thick book with a minimum of ads on good quality paper. Dynamite always knows how to put together a nice comic. The cover is a fantastic Frazetta homage that's almost worth the price of the comic alone!

The story is a simple, straightforward tale of Sonja repaying an old friend (now a king) a favor by helping defeat a rampaging army led by a brutal general. She demonstrates that it isn't always the strongest army that wins the day by leading them into a deadly trap instead of meeting them on the battlefield. I liked the simplicity of the story and how it took Sonja from her usual lone wolf adventures and put her in the position of being the leader of an army.

With the simplicity of the story, the art is the star of the show. From the beautiful cover all the way through to the last page. The artist DID seem to have some trouble getting a handle on what Sonja's face was supposed to look like (a bit inconsistent through the comic). But a small complaint like that won't keep me from highly recommending this fantastic one shot to any fan of fantasy comics.

Two for two good ones so far. Let's see what we've got next!

PREDATOR: CAPTIVE

DARK HORSE (1998)

COVER: Dean Williams

CAPTIVE
SCRIPT: Gordon Rennie
PENCILS: Dean Ormston

This one was REALLY good!

For starters, the photo-realistic painted cover is superb. The interior art is dark and heavily-inked. It reminds me a lot of Keith Giffen's earlier work. It perfectly fits the story and every panel on every page is fantastic.

The story is one of the best Predator tales I've read. I could easily see this one as a movie. Basically it's about the only Predator that they managed to capture alive. . .but are they studying it, or is it studying them?

All in all, from front to back, I found this to be a fantastic one shot. If you're a Predator fan and haven't read this yet, find it! It's a great little story.

Three for Three! So far, so good.

NEXT!

PUNISHER: FORCE OF NATURE

Marvel/MAX (2008)

COVER: Mike Deodato

FORCE OF NATURE
SCRIPT: Duane Swierczynski
PENCILS: Michael Lacombe
Don't let the nicely-done, but somewhat ridiculous cover fool you. The story inside is actually a tense, almost Hitchcock-like "Lifeboat" story about 3 friends turning on each other after the Punisher carefully maneuvers them into position.

I liked that the story shows Punisher as a devious manipulator and that NO fish is too small for him. It did break down into violent Punisher business as usual at the end of things, but before that, it was a nice change of pace from the standard Punisher story.

The art throughout was generally pretty good, and reflected the tense psychological drama of a story that focuses less on violence than the usual Punisher story (at least until toward the end).

All in all, despite a somewhat predictable ending, this was a good read with an unusual story for The Punisher. It definitely earns its "Mature Readers" label for violence and language, but if you're a Punisher fan, that probably won't bother you. Ignore the cover that has nothing to do with the story and pick this one up if you spot it in the bargain bin.

AND FINALLY. . .

X: ONE SHOT TO THE HEAD

DARK HORSE/ COMICS GREATEST WORLD (1994)

COVER: Frank Miller

ONE SHOT TO THE HEAD
SCRIPT: Jerry Prosser
PENCILS: Chris Warner

I had never heard of this character, not even sure where or when I picked up this one shot, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's actually pretty damn good (in a grim-n-gritty 90's way).

This comic doesn't do any favors as far as introductions go. It's not new-reader friendly at all. I had to hit the internet for info on "X", who seems to be a Punisher/Batman combo. The story is very simple, but nicely done, with the title character stalking and trapping a crooked politician.

The art is a bit schizo. . .the cover by Frank Miller (before he went insane) is absolutely fantastic! Then the front 2/3 of the book is "Meh" art with lousy colors. Then the last 1/3 switches to a different art team (same pencils, but different inker and colorist) and it's superbly done! The great Tim Bradstreet on inks for the back half definitely elevates things several notches.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. The art was hit and miss, but generally good. It was a lousy introduction, but enough of one that I want to dig up more "X" comics. Bad taken with good, I give this one an average score.

CONCLUSION

Overall, this was a great bunch of one shots. There's a few little complaints here and there, but really there's not a bad one in the bunch. There not being one truly BAD comic out of five is actually a very pleasant surprise, because it seems there's always ONE bad apple. Not this time!

Even better, not only isn't there any really bad ones to be found, there are a couple of truly excellent one shots to be found here! I can heartily recommend Red Sonja and Predator as fantastic examples of creative teams stepping up to the plate an hitting a home run!

Hellboy is ALMOST there, and still highly recommended. Punisher is good IF you're a Punisher fan. If you're not, then it's not going to change your mind. Lowest on the rung was X. . .and even that wasn't really BAD, it just had some art problems.

Up next. . .

I like one shots. How about some MORE one shots?

Sgt Rock, Wolverine, Star Wars, Wonder Woman, and Grimm Fairy Tales. . .

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk - One Shots Part 2: Hellboy, Punisher, Red Sonja, Boba Fett, Tomb of Dracula & X-Files

More one shots! I DO love these little bite-size pieces of the comic world. . .


Let's do this!

HELLBOY: DOUBLE FEATURE OF EVIL

Dark Horse (2010)
SCRIPTS: Mike Mignola
PENCILS: Richard Corben
COVER: Richard Corben


This one shot presents two stories: A haunted house that forces the occupants to bring it victims and a man who calls on the wrong God in an Egyptian museum, along with a framing device of both stories being movies shown to an audience of the dead in an abandoned movie theater.

Both stories are brilliantly illustrated by one of the true masters of horror comics, Richard Corben, and the art is worth the price of admission (heh) alone.

Likewise, both of the stories are well written by Mike Mignola, but the first is more enjoyable. The second story only fills a few pages and feels very rushed, but it's not bad at all. . .just very short.

Overall, this is a fantastic collaboration between two comic legends and is quality work from cover to cover. Very well done.

MARVEL MANGAVERSE: PUNISHER

MARVEL (2002)

SCRIPTS: Peter David

PENCILS: Lea Hernandez

COVER: Lea Hernandez

In this manga-style story, The Punisher (Sosumi Brown) is a teacher by day and "Tokyo's kinkiest superhero" by night as she seeks to destroy her nemesis. . .Skang Kee Ho.

Her teenage sister (Hashi Brown) discovers The Punisher's secret lair and takes up a cursed sword to rescue Sosumi after she's captured by the demon Oni Yew and Skang Kee Ho.

Okaaay. . .

For sheer strangeness, this story fills the bill.

I can tell. . .especially with names like "Skang Kee Ho" and "Hashi Brown", and I should mention that THIS Punisher doesn't kill, but "Punishes" by tickle torture and ass-paddling. . .that this isn't meant to be taken seriously, and given that, it's a fun little one shot with occasionally clever writing and very nice manga-inspired art.

But just because it's not bad, that doesn't mean it's all good either. The story is ridiculous, there's no backstory for the main character to tell how or why she became The Punisher, and there are a few truly groan-worthy moments.

Overall, this one shot is basically a lot of "WTF?" in a small package.

RED SONJA: SONJA GOES EAST

DYNAMITE (2006)

SCRIPTS: Ron Marz

PENCILS: Joe Ng

COVER: Alvin Lee

Red Sonja travels to the far eastern realm of Khitai where she allows herself to be captured by a ruthless warlord in order to rescue an enslaved princess, the daughter of a neighboring ruler.

Unfortunately, things aren't what they seem to be. . .the princess is no slave. . .and Sonja must fight her way to freedom.

I'll say this. . .Dynamite knows how to put together a very nice book. 40 pages, no ads, heavy gloss paper. This is a nice, thick comic for your money. You can just FEEL the heft and quality in your hand when you hold it.

The story is a simple one, but well written. The art is simply outstanding, Red Sonja portrayed in brilliantly-colored and highly-detailed manga/anime style is a VERY nice change from the usual sword and sorcery style.

Overall, this one-shot is pure quality comics from cover to cover.

STAR WARS: BOBA FETT - OVERKILL

DARK HORSE (2006)

SCRIPTS: Thomas Andrews

PENCILS: Francisco Ruiz Velasco

COVER: Adam Hughes

A scheming, low-level Imperial officer on a backwater mining planet hires notorious mercenary Boba Fett to resolve a miner strike behind the back of his commanding officer, hoping to reap the benefits of promotion for his problem-solving skills. 

Unfortunately, when Boba Fett solves a problem, it's usually not in a way that benefits anyone but himself, and his explosive "solution" attracts all the wrong kind of attention from Imperial higher ups. 

Dark Horse didn't always do a great job with Star Wars, but this one shot highlighting Boba Fett is a nice example of when they pretty much hit the nail on the head.

The story is pretty simple, but interesting, and even has a few nice moments of humor. The art is cartoony and exaggerated, but fits the tone of the story very well. . .and the 3/4 page reveal of Boba Fett is outstanding.

Overall, this wasn't the greatest Star Wars tale ever told. . .but it's far from the worst. It's actually pretty good, and is a fine example of how everything in the Star Wars universe doesn't HAVE to be epic in scope and dramatic in nature.

TOMB OF DRACULA PRESENTS: THRONE OF BLOOD

MARVEL (2011)

SCRIPTS: Victor Gischler

PENCILS: Goran Parlov & Dalibor Talajic

COVER: Bryan Hitch

In this origin story of Marvel Vampire Raizo Kodo, Raizo and his younger brother infiltrate a seemingly unbeatable warlord's camp to assassinate him. They succeed, but barely escape with their lives.


During the battle, Raizo's brother is bitten. . .and the plague of vampirism sweeps through the Kodo clan, forcing Raizo to kill his entire family. But before it's all done with, he too is infected.

I had never heard of Raizo Kodo, not being much of an X-Men fan (where I guess he was an occasional recurring character), but as a stand-alone story about the origin of an ancient Japanese vampire, this was a pretty engaging story.

It was a little predictable, and the art (while generally pretty good) was dodgy in places, but overall this one shot checked all the boxes I wanted it to in a vampire story. It's not the best vampire story I've ever read, but it's not bad at all.  


The part I liked best about it was the unusual setting for a vampire tale. . .moving things away from the typical European locales to Japan.


And finally. . .

THE X-FILES: AFTERFLIGHT

TOPPS (1997)

SCRIPTS: Stefan Petrucha

PENCILS: Alexander Saviuk & Jill Thompson

COVER: Miran Kim

Scully and Mulder investigate a case in Texas that involves UFO sightings going back to the 1800's.

They quickly discover that there is more going on than they bargained for in a story involving the fading memories of an elderly professor, alien "greys", Men in Black, a scheming drifter, and the last flight of a steampunk airship. . .

There's a lot going on in this book. . .unfortunately, it seems like it is about 50% filler to pad the length out to make a 64 page "graphic novel" when the basic underlying story could have easily been a two issue story in the regular ongoing series (at the time).

That's not to say it's all bad. Once you strip away the two useless side plots that pad the book, you have a pretty good story about a man and his daughter struggling to understand what is real and what is the result of his accelerating dementia.

What I really liked about this story is that it touched on one of my personal favorite "X-Files", the mystery of UFO sightings long before the Wright Brother's first flight.

The art is a bit schizophrenic in that sometimes it is dark and moody, and sometimes it is cartoony. The artist never quite manages to capture the likeness of Scully or Mulder, and there are a few places where the art switches to an almost watercolor painted look. The art is all over the place.

Overall, I liked this book because of the unusual subject and nice touches of humor. What I didn't like was the pointless side plots to pad the length and the occasionally shaky art.

CONCLUSION

Overall, this handful of one shots were less of a mixed bag than the previous batch.  I generally enjoyed them all, and even though there were a few rough spots here and there, I could easily suggest reading any of these.  


I'm having a hard time deciding which one I liked best, but if I HAD to choose, I'd say Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil.  Corben.  Mignola.  How can you NOT like it? If I had to pick the worst of the bunch, I'd say X-Files: Afterflight.  A good underlying story unnecessarily padded for length and with somewhat shaky artwork.  It's not BAD, just a bit disappointing.


Up next. . .


Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Longbox Junk. . .
DC's Star Trek/Star Trek The Next Generation: The Modala Imperative 8 issue crossover mini.


Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk - Two Shots: Hellboy, Zorro & Friday The 13th

Two shots! Longer than a one shot, shorter than a mini!
Do they even make these any more?

Let's do this!

HELLBOY: THE ISLAND

Dark Horse (2005)

WRITER: Mike Mignola

ART: Mike Mignola

COVERS: Mike Mignola

ISSUE 1

Hellboy is washed up on a mysterious, haunted island where he meets a Greek Goddess and gets beaten down by a huge monster. But first, he drinks rum and sings sea chanties about pretty young cabin boys with dead pirates. . .wait. . .what?

From the letters column, I learn that this is Mignola's return to Hellboy after a 4 year absence where he was paying more attention to the B.P.R.D. comics.

The art is reliably Mig-Tastic. Yeah. . .I just made that word up, but the story is a hot, confusing mess. I guess this is another mini that's a sequel to one that came before and a prequel to one that comes after, so coming in cold I was more than a little lost.

In other words, if you aren't familiar with the ongoing Hellboy continuity, then you might not enjoy this two-shot.  If you're a huge Hellboy fan, then you're gonna love it.

All in all. . .fantastic art. Confusing story.

ISSUE 2

Hellboy learns the secret history of the world and where his stone right hand came from. Then he defeats an ancient monster from before the time of man with a tiny bell given to him by an African witch doctor.

Oooooookay. . .I want some of what Mike Mignola was smoking when he made this two-shot.

Once again, we're treated to some extremely strong Mig-Tastic art, but it's in service to a confusing (yet strangely entertaining) story that skips back and forth in time until neither Hellboy or the reader is sure of what's real.

Hellboy manages to punch his way through his confusion with the help of a deus ex machina that is never really explained (I think it came from a previous story). Too bad I couldn't do the same.

All in all, this issue had the same strengths and weaknesses as the first. . .extremely nice art. Extremely confusing story.

CONCLUSION

I'm a huge fan of Mignola's art, but I had a bit of a hard time getting through this one.  If you aren't familiar with Hellboy, then I'd definitely suggest you don't start trying to get familiar by starting with this two shot.  It's for established fans only.

ZORRO VERSUS DRACULA

Topps (1993)

WRITER: Don McGregor

ART: Thomas Yeates

COVERS: Thomas Yeates

ISSUE 1

Zorro travels to Spain to have a sword made by a legendary master craftsman. On his return voyage, he makes the acquaintance of the beautiful Carmelita and the mysterious Count Dracula. Later, he discovers Dracula in the act of drinking Carmelita's blood and that sets off a battle between Zorro and Dracula.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this first issue. It's pretty densely-written for such a simple story and the art is very nicely done.

The whole thing reminds me a LOT of old 70's monster comics. From the 3rd person narration full of hyperbole, to the dynamic art that is a pretty damn good Neal Adams imitation.

It's not perfect, though. It's a little TOO wordy in places, and sometimes the background colors obscure the narration, but all in all, a pretty good start.

ISSUE 2

After their first battle at sea, Zorro tracks Dracula to the crypts beneath Notre Dame Cathedral in France, where an epic confrontation between good and evil decides the fate of the beautiful Carmelita.

I liked this second issue even better than the first as the action leaves the ship where Zorro and Dracula first meet and moves to the crypts beneath Notre Dame Cathedral, where Zorro defeats Dracula using. . .er. . .Jesus' Crown of Thorns. It's good Monster-rific 70's style fun, so just roll with it!

The art on this second issue was even better than on the first. I think the artist is more comfortable with dark crypts and passages than he was with the swinging battle through the ropes and masts of the ship in the first issue. There's a full page shot of Zorro on a gargoyle on the side of Notre Dame at night above Paris that I'd like to have as a poster. Very nice!

All in all, despite the Deus ex Machina of having a handy artifact of Christ just laying around, this was a fun conclusion to this short story.

CONCLUSION

I'm a BIG Zorro fan.  Between that and the throwback nature to the monster comics of the 70's that I ALSO love, I really liked this two shot.  It was a little too wordy in places and Dracula was defeated with a handy plot device in a laughable way, but this was all pretty good fun.

If you're a Zorro fan or love those old monster comics, you're definitely going to want to check this out.

FRIDAY THE 13th: BAD LAND 

Wildstorm (2008)

WRITER: Ron Marz

ART: Mike Huddleston

COVERS: Mike McKone

ISSUE 1

In a story split between the past and present, the tale of how the land Camp Crystal Lake stands on became cursed by innocent blood is told.

This is really two stories that mirror each other. . .the first is set during the days of the Old West and tells about 3 trappers coming across an indian hut during a blizzard where they rape and kill a young indian woman and her baby.

The second story is set during present day when 3 hikers stumble across a Camp Crystal Lake cabin during a blizzard.  So the first story is about evil being done.  The second is about some poor suckers who pay the price hundreds of years later.

I liked the way the story switched back and forth between past and present, and the art was pretty good. . .nothing spectacular, but it did its job. I also liked the way that the background of Camp Crystal Lake being cursed long before Jason and his mother showed up (which was hinted at here and there in some of the movies).

Really, the problem here is that the very simple story seemed stretched out to fit into two issues. This could have easily been a single 40 page one shot. It's a pretty obvious money grab.

Overall, an underwhelming story filling in some interesting history with okay artwork, padded out to fill two issues. Decent, but not really that great.

ISSUE 2

Blood and gore galore as the two stories of Camp Crystal Lake past and present come together.

After the relatively bloodless setup of the first issue, the carnage begins for real in this one as the husband of the raped and murdered indian woman in the past stalks and kills the trappers who spilled her innocent blood.

In the present, Jason stalks and kills the three teens who took refuge in the Camp Crystal Lake cabin. . .playing out the same trail of bloody death that began hundreds of years ago.

Once again, I liked the IDEA of telling how Camp Crystal Lake became a cursed place of death and blood long before the movies, but the execution of that idea isn't really that great.

If you're a big fan of the movies, then this is somewhat interesting. If not, then it's just going to seem like gore for gore's sake in two issues that really should have just been a single long one.

CONCLUSION

As I said above.  I like the idea that Camp Crystal Lake has a bloody curse on it from the past, but the execution in telling the tale wasn't that great.  This story is definitely for Friday the 13th fans only.  I really can't think of anyone else who would be even slightly interested.

Up next. . .

It's the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. . .but with blood, gore, and Simon Bisley!

Image's 4 issue "Bodycount" mini, where Kevin Eastman slowly raised his middle finger to the world.  Can it possibly be any good? Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk - Two Shots Part 1: Predator vs. Magnus, Robot Fighter & Hellboy: Almost Colossus

TWO SHOTS PART 1

The Two Shot is a form of comics that doesn't exist in today's market (as far as I can tell).  It seems to have been popular in the short time between the phasing out of "Prestige Format" squarebound books (A Two Shot is generally the same length as a double-size PF book) and the coming in of "Writing For The Trade" 6 issue ongoing series story arcs and mini series.

I like two shots for the same reason that I like one shots. . .they are compressed storytelling where the creative team is pretty much forced to swing for the fences.  They don't have the 6 issues to tell a story.  They have to get right up on it and get the story started and finished in an extremely limited amount of page space.

Two shots. . .more than a one shot, less than a mini.  Let's do this!

PREDATOR VS. MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER 

Dark Horse/ Valiant (1992)

SCRIPT: John Ostrander & Jim Shooter

PENCILS: Lee Weeks

ISSUE 1: SPORT

There's nothing fancy about this first issue. The art, starting with a decent cover by the great Barry Winsor-Smith, is good, but not great. It's standard 90's layout, fairly heavily inked and colored. It does the job it's supposed to do.

The story is set in the far future and revolves around an encounter with the Predators where humans barely win and even manage to steal a trophy from the Predator ship before it explodes. Fast forward a bit and the Predators return to get their stolen trophy back. It's in the hands of a rich "Hunt Club" that hunts robots and people for sport, which brings them on the bad side of Magnus.The first issue brings together the 3 sides mostly as setup for shenanigans to follow.

The story is okay. Like the art, not great, but good. The problem here is that if you don't know anything about the Valiant version of Magnus and his world, you're probably going to be lost. This is not so much a Predator book as it is a Magnus book.

ISSUE 2: SPOILS

Once again, there's nothing bad about this issue. The art is nicely done, but not great. The Windsor-Smith cover isn't as good as the first issue, but there's nothing wrong with it.

After the setup in the first issue, this half deals with the running battle between the rich "Hunt Club" after the Predator and Magnus. . .Magnus after the Predator unwillingly trying to save the Hunt Club after discovering exactly what they're dealing with, and the Predator after the Hunt Club to recover the stolen trophy, and then after Magnus when it realizes that he's the best trophy around.

So basically, everyone is hunting everyone. The Hunt Club is the biggest loser, as they are decimated before the final showdown between Magnus and Predator. Of course, in the end Magnus triumphs. . .then refuses a trophy from the other Predators who arrive.

Once again, the only real problem is that the reader really needs to be familiar with Valiant's version of Magnus, as well as X-O Manowar. . .the trophy is an X-O helmet and figures heavily in the story, as Magnus' girlfriend is able to telepathically communicate with it.

CONCLUSION

I'm not a big Magnus, Robot Fighter fan, but I DO love me some Predator. . .so this two-shot fell a little flat for me.  There was nothing wrong with it overall, and it was interesting to see a FAR future Predator visit to Earth, but I had a hard time getting behind this story since I have no particular like for the hero or the world he lives in.  If you are a fan of Magnus (Valiant's version) then you might really like this book, as it's basically a Magnus book with a Predator being his "Monster of the month".  

HELLBOY: ALMOST COLOSSUS

Dark Horse (1997)

SCRIPT: Mike Mignola (Almost Colossus) & Gary Gianni (Autopsy in B Flat)

PENCILS: Mike Mignola (Almost Colossus) & Gary Gianni (Autopsy in B Flat)

ISSUE 1

Be warned that this is not a stand-alone story. It leads on directly from events in Hellboy: Wake The Devil and sets up events in Hellboy: Conqueror Worm.

That said, it's not bad at all. Mignola's art is one of those unique flavors of "Love it or hate it." and I'm definitely on the "Love it" side.

The story concerns Hellboy trying to save Liz Sherman, who gave up her soul to revive an ancient artificial man (Roger the Homniculus). He travels to Romania and tracks the creature to an ancient, cursed ruin, but discovers that there's a lot more going on than he thought.

The story is good, but fairly short. . .first because there's quite a bit of exposition up front, secondly because there's a backup story in back.

The backup, by Gary Gianni is a "Corpus Monstrum" tale where two agents are in a tomb waiting for a vampire to return and one of them tells the strange story of when he was alone on a tropical island and is pretty much raped by a squid-headed woman.

Oooookay. . .Hmmm. . .I like the art and the imagination, but what the hell was Gary Gianni smoking?

ISSUE 2

If you like Mignola's art, you'll find his work in this issue remarkable. If not. . .well. . .you won't. He's one of those kind of artists. I found it remarkable. Mignola at his best when Hellboy was still his baby alone.

The story concludes as Roger is offered immortality in a giant, Godlike body by his "Brother". . .a failed first attempt by Roger's creator. Hellboy stumbles into the plot and starts punching things, as Hellboy will. In the end, Roger destroys the gigantic "God Of Science" using Liz Sherman's fire powers, then he returns with Hellboy to B.P.R.D. and returns Liz's power/soul to her, thereby sacrificing his own life and coming out the hero of the tale.

I liked this half of the story. Unfortunately, it isn't really a resolution of anything. As I said in the review of the first issue, this is just a filler to set things up and tie loose ends between two larger stories (Wake The Devil and Conqueror Worm). As a matter of fact, while I enjoyed this, I wonder if it needed to exist. It could have easily filled a single issue without the backup, and could have been the first issue of Conqueror Worm.

Speaking of the backup. Once again, I have to wonder just what the hell Gary Gianni was smoking when he wrote it. Whatever it was. . .I want some.

Squid-faced pirates kill the narrator while he watches from outside his body, then they bury him alive (dead?) with a violin in a treasure chest.

What?

CONCLUSION

I'm a huge fan of Mignola's art, and this early Hellboy stuff is some premium Mignola at his best.  But like I said above, this story just feels like filler. . .like Mignola felt like he HAD to put out something Hellboy while he was working on his next big story.  Really, it could have fit into one issue.   Still, there wasn't anything really WRONG with it, I just had a hard time thinking of a reason for it to exist when (by dropping the backup) it could have just been the first issue of the next story.

Coming next. . .

More Two-Shots! The Thing From Another World and Trial of The Punisher.

Be there or be square!