Hellboy: Odder Jobs

This is a must read for any Hellboy fan, and Fiction fans alike. The stories are short but all are superb.

A reasonable selection of tales. The weaker ones are probably the earlier, more ghost story types. Because basically, the Right Hand of Doom cannot wail on ghosts, and Hellboy is there to see if he can find out what is going on, mostly. The best stories are the crossover, by Charles de Lint, with his Newford milieu. A veteran Newford cop has been ordered to set up a paranormal task force. He, of course, thinks this is a punishment. It pretty much appears the guy has been walking around oblivious. Then Hellboy comes to town, to assist in an investigation. A big, fishy eye-opener for the new paranormal task force. There are other monsters, including a relative, crazed Romanians, etc, and even a Lobster Johnston snippet, and a psychic regression story, starring Abe Sapien. Certainly worth it for fans. Hellboy Odder Jobs : 01 The Brotherhood of the Gun - Frank Darabont Hellboy Odder Jobs : 02 From an Enchanter Fleeing - Peter Crowther Hellboy Odder Jobs : 03 Down in the Flood - Scott Allie Hellboy Odder Jobs : 04 Newford Spook Squad - Charles de Lint Hellboy Odder Jobs : 05 Water Music - David J. Schow Hellboy Odder Jobs : 06 The Vampire Brief - James L. Cambias Hellboy Odder Jobs : 07 Unfinished Business - Ed Gorman and Richard Dean Starr Hellboy Odder Jobs : 08 Saint Hellboy - Tom Piccirilli Hellboy Odder Jobs : 09 Hellboy Odder Jobs : Sleepless in Manhattan - Nancy Kilpatrick Hellboy Odder Jobs : 10 The Wish Hounds - Sharyn McCrumb Hellboy Odder Jobs : 11 Act of Mercy - Tom E. Sniegoski Hellboy Odder Jobs : 12 The Thrice-Named Hill - Graham Joyce Hellboy Odder Jobs : 13 Of Blood Of Clay - James A. Moore Hellboy Odder Jobs : 14 A Full and Satisfying Life - Ray Garton Hellboy Odder Jobs : 15 The Glass Road - Tim Lebbon Hellboy Odder Jobs : 16 Tasty Teeth - Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins Ghostly gunslinger showdown loop. 4 out of 5 Fatal fog. 3.5 out of 5 Aquatic wifenapping. 3 out of 5 Hellboy gives a new cop team in Newford a leg up. 4 out of 5 Abe's ancestry. 3 out of 5 Vamp's fatal courtroom mistake. 3.5 out of 5 Succubus stalks soldiers. 3 out of 5 Floating mafia granny. 3.5 out of 5 Imp and undine, park interlopers. 4 out of 5 Scholar needs help with the Wild Hunt. 3.5 out of 5 Carrier crow leads to Romanian demon. 3.5 out of 5 Snake-woman sister surprise. 3.5 out of 5 Homunculus vs Golem. 3 out of 5 Manticore likes bits of boys. 4 out of 5 Fire Dogs from Hell. 4 out of 5 Tooth fairies, meet grenade. 3 out of 5

Hellboy: Odder Jobs is a great collection, by a batch of writers trying their hand at Mike Mignola's big red guy and his "family" of oddities, misfits and world-savin' weirdies. Christopher Golden has chosen some terrific stories for inclusion. This volume is a must-read for anyone who call him- or herself a Hellboy fan. Highly recommended!

Odder Jobs is, like the other Hellboy collections of short stories, an extremley absorbing read. I loved this collection. The stories are varied in their use of myth and legends which i one of the things that drew me to the Hellboy series in the first place. The only down to this book is that the first story, "Brotherhood of the Gun," is the best story in the book. It should've been the last story in the book. After reading it the following stories seem dull by comparison, even though they are very good stories by themselves. I highly recomend this book for Hellboy fans, or fans of science fiction.