Hellboy: Weird Tales, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

~ John Cassaday (Author, Artist), (Author, Artist), Jason Pearson (Author, Artist), Mike Mignola (Author) "We make no pretension of publishing, or even trying to publish, a magazine that will please everybody..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mike Mignola's popular character Hellboy is headed toward the big screen, and Mignola's turned him over to an array of creators to produce short stories, collected in this volume. Hellboy is a devilish looking paranormal investigator with a sense of humor, and his adventures are infused with a spooky gothic horror, sarcastic wit and a sense of movie serial fun held over from the 1940s. Hellboy's basic concept is broad, allowing creators room to play with ghosts, demons, foreign landscapes and a well-designed character who lends himself to a multitude of interpretations from dead serious to wacky. The collection of 13 stories has no duds, and quite a few excellent pieces. Of the more successful ones, a few stand out. Bob Fingerman's hilarious slapstick version of Hellboy has him investigating a soda machine that ate his dollar. John Cassaday contributes a solemn and cinematic story about a ghostly circus that pays off with a dramatic ending. And Andi Watson tells a seemingly serious birthday story with a touching finale. Roger Langridge and Eric Powell keep things light, both contributing funny, lovingly rendered stories that treat Hellboy and the paranormal as fertile ground for jokes. This entertaining collection is accessible to even the Hellboy neophyte, and highly recommended for adventure comics lovers.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up-Weird Tales was a horror/fantasy/pulp anthology published in prewar America. Hellboy is a paranormal detective from Hell (where else?). This collection of stories is in the spirit of the original, featuring Hellboy depicted by a wide variety of comic creators; some stay true to the appearance of the original character. The plots are as varied as the creators. In a softly drawn story by Haden Blackman and J. H. Williams III, Hellboy gets hit on by a sexy female fellow investigator; courtesy of Kia Asamiya and Akira Yoshida, he has a manga-style adventure; and in Evan Dorkin's entry, he experiences a sickly hilarious run-in with a Norwegian black metal band. Mignola gave these artists free reign, and they do indeed take it-though each story is 10 pages or less, the plots are elaborate yet self-contained. Dorkin's contribution, for example, also features a giant regurgitating baby and a fake psychologist, which make perfect sense by tale's end. It's not necessary to be a Hellboy fan to enjoy the selections.-Jamie Watson, Harford County Public Library, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (December 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569716226
• ISBN-13: 978-1569716229
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #417,711 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hellboy Seen Through The Eyes of Others, April 19, 2004

By	Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Hellboy has become a huge success and creator Mike Mignola is busier than ever. So what do you do when the public wants more of your character than you can safely create? You invite other artists to put their own spin on things. This volume is a collection of such stories.

Midnight Cowboy - A young Hellboy gets into trouble at Area 51.
Haunted - Hellboy investigates a supposedly haunted house but finds no trace of ghosts but they find him.
Family Story - Hellboy is doing research and discovers some strange goings on in the family that owns the library.
Hot - Hellboy investigates something that is scaring people out of some Chinese hot springs. The Water Sprite he finds awakens the horn in him.
The Children of the Black Mound - Cold hard reason squares off against ghosts, legends and religion. A tale of a young historical figure.
Big-Top-hell-Boy - Hellboy investigates a cunning array of circus ghosts and find a curious property of his right hand.
Flight Risk - Aces of the jetpack vie for altitude records but some rather large bats may have other ideas.
Hellboy & Co in Downtime - Hellboy has tackled some evil entities in his time. Now he must face his ultimate challenges as he goes up against the office copier and the soda machine
Abe Sapien Star of the BPRD - Hellboy is just a musclebound bulk while Abe Sapien is the one who really brings home the sushi (I mean bacon).
Hey, Hey, Suckers! - Hellboy returns from a gala and can't help boasting and rubbing it in.
Curse of the Haunted Doily - Kate faces her mom's ghost
The Dread Within - Liz vs Possession
Still Born - Hellboy attends a dangerous birth in reality and in his dreams.
Party Pooper - Hellboy's birthday party

This is a fun collection. The stories vary between the silly to the dark and eerie. Art styles also cover most of the spectrum from the beautiful pencils of Hot to the cartoonish Hellboy and Co in Downtime. A must read for any Hellboy fan.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Graphic SF Reader, September 3, 2007

By	Blue Tyson "- http://freesf.blogspot.com" - See all my reviews

Weird Tales was a famous old magazine that turned up a lot of legends, so the title is a homage to that particular publication.

Mike Mignola lets some other people play with his character, and there are some pretty amusing things happen to him, as a girl chases him, a band harrasses him and other fun.

There are also stories featuring other BPRD luminaries.

5.0 out of 5 stars ahhh... the artwork.., September 28, 2009

By	kremley stilts "the gnarley artist" (sumass, wa) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Hellboy: Weird Tales, Vol. 2 (Paperback)

as some of the other reviews stated already, mike mignola didn't do any of the art or stories in this collection. that being said, this is a great collection of stories that have different takes on the characters, and the art especially but all still have the hellboy feel. the artwork is awesome. there is a variety of styles and mediums. i especially liked the colored pencil. there are some old lobster johnson comics in the back, along with pencil sketches from two artists, an afterword by mike mignola and some extra hellboys pics from the other artists. the stories are really entertaining and some parts made me laugh out loud. all in all if you are a hellboy fan you will enjoy this collection.