Hellboy volume 4: The Right Hand of Doom (tpb)

Volume 4 of Hellboy published by Dark Horse Books is another collection of short stories all written and drawn by Mike Mignola. The stories range from hilarious to scary and as with the previous edition each short is accompanied by an introduction explaining how they came to be.

Mignola threads together various folklores from around the world and adapts them into his Hellboy universe. Each tale is well researched and brought to life not only through his words but also his fantastic artwork. Along with these journeys into various myths we also learn more of Hellboy’s origins and what his destiny is suppose to be.

These short, action-packed stories are anything but lean. Mignola packs a ton of knowledge into each one and of course he never disappoints with his artwork. My personal favorite is the Japanese folktale, Heads. Hellboy travels to Japan and encounters a group of ghouls who lay a trap for our big red hero. It’s a great story with superb art.

Overall this is an excellent collection of entertaining stories starring my favorite paranormal investigator.