Review - Hellboy : Into the Silent Sea

Yet again Mignola does not let us down with another Hellboy tale.  Actually, I found this story to be better than previous HB stories due to the artwork. The art was what enthralled me and made me want to read through this story as quickly as I did. The art has an engraving/woodcut look to it that reinforces the time shift that HB experiences.

The use of nautically themed poetry adds to the mystery of HB's seemingly self-discovery trip of him wandering the world. The reader is reminded of how he quit the agency to do some soul searching at the beginning of this tale. 

Where he ends up is the main part of the story and one in which I cannot spoil for you. But this was well worth reading. I really enjoyed revisiting this character, and the outcome of the tale was satisfying as well. I rated this 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, and recommend it for fans of Mignola's works.

Review: Abe Sapien Vol. 1 The Drowning

I've read a ton of Hellboy trades and a few BPRD books but I had never read this miniseries featuring one of my favorite HB sidekicks. Of course being that it's the merman, Abe Sapien this was Aquatic themed from the start, and he goes on a special mission that requires his aquatic abilities. The mission takes place in a small fishing village off the coast of France, and one that has a dark past. It turns out as do all of these Mignola tales that something sinister is afoot.

This was my first time reading an Abe solo story and wasn't sure how it would go, and the funny thing is that the title character feels and has similar doubts because he usually tags along with HB.

This read like a movie and it flowed beautifully. There were no dull moments with this first volume. I do not regret checking this out and honestly was not aware of this series until recently. Like I said it was action packed and of course paranormally packed too. I rated this 4 out of  5 stars on Goodreads and would recommend this to any fan of the Hellboy series.

                                                              

Review: Hellboy: Oddest Jobs

I totally thought this was a graphic novel at first, and it was a subtle surprise. I say this as I tend to avoid reading novelized books about comic book characters. Come to find out that this is the 3rd book of a trilogy of books about the title character. The fact that this was a collection of short stories really helped for me to get into and enjoy this book. Had it been one big novel about Hellboy I don't think I would have liked it that much. don't get me wrong I like HB, but like I said I tend to avoid those kinds of books. Of course, I rated each individual short story using a 5 point star system and came to an average overall rating for the collection based on those total sum ratings.

Each story was written by a known author such as Garth Nix, Joe Lansdale, and a few others who I had never heard of but after reading their tales of HB I may have to look them up. The story I enjoyed the most was by an author I had never heard of named Stephen Volk. His short story was called Monster Boy which was about a little boy who seemed to be in the spectrum based on his description who shared a common interest in movie monsters with his grandfather. The story I disliked the most was called Feet of Sciron by Rhys Hughes which featured a very strange character named Foggy Dicks. Apparently Foggy has an ectoplasmic power and he left the BPRD team to pursue a career in porn...yeah you heard me right....porn.

Each and every story could be read out of order, and I'm assuming the same could be said about the previous 2 volumes in this series. So I will have to go ahead and read the previous volumes. I rated this collection of short stories 3 out of 5 stars based on the above calculation. It is a decent collection of stories some of which I really enjoyed and some not so much. The majority I felt were just okay, but overall this book is worth checking out if you are a fan of the Hellboy series.

Review: Hellboy in Hell Vol. 2 Death Card

If you are like me then you absolutely love Hellboy. To be honest I don't think I have ever read a bad Hellboy book or even one that I did not enjoy. Of course one of the good things about Mignola's Hellboy is his stylistic drawing style that emphasizes heavy lines of shadow.

But enough of why Hellboy is so good. I read Hellboy in Hell Vol. 1 and of course I enjoyed that one too. So when I got the opportunity to read and review the follow-up, and finale for this series I jumped at the chance. This continues on with Hellboy's adventure through Hell. It features short stories about different people who have gone to Hell for some reason or another. Now I do not know if these are based on actual people, but there was a section of the book where it talked about them as if they were real people. The title is Death Card due to one short story being based on a gambler who could never lose. I really enjoyed reading this, and I rated it 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. This releases on Oct. 18, 2016. Below I have included a link so you can pre-order a copy now.

Mignola's Vampires

There are so many varieties of vampires in fiction nowadays. From sparkly Twilight vamps to vicious rip your throat out 30 Days of Night by Niles. I have read so many books about vampires, and some have rather impressed me while others were just okay.

One book series that has impressed me by being different, but remaining entertaining are Mike Mignola's take on the vampire myth.  I will admit that I read the sequel first before I read the starting book to the series.  I liked the classical feel that he used to tell the tale of a vampire hunter set during the early 20th century.  Mignola's vamps are not just undead who drink blood, but are shape shifting ghouls who also feast on the flesh of the dead, and near dying. He describes them as carrion creatures.

The volume shown above is a graphic novel, and is drawn very similar to the style that Mignola is known for in his Hellboy comics. So when I picked up which I later discovered to be the start of the series I expected it to be a graphic novel too. The starting book to the Baltimore series is actually an illustrated novel that he had co written with another author. This book tells the story of how Lord Baltimore came to be a vampire hunter, and also reveals some other supernatural mythology as told from the point of view of a few people that know him. Even though it was different than I had expected I still found this to be a very good read, and one that I would recommend to others who enjoy the vampire genre.

I have also written a list of vampire books that I feel are worthy of being read found here - Best Vampire Books