The Chained Coffin and Others

Mike Mignola's first compilation graphic shorts is titled The Chained Coffin and Others. The stories within were compiled from sources such as the Dark Horse Presents comic issues all the way to promotional issue of the comic catalogue Diamond Comics. The one difference between those issues and this compilation was the coloring. The illustrated shorts where in black and white when they first appeared in those issues, but in this compilation book they have been retouched with bold primary colors. Mignola wrote and drew all the shorts included in Chained Coffin and Others. The coloring he'd done for all the shorts lives up to the previous Hellboy books. There's some inconsistency to the look of each stories artwork, but that's due to some of them being drawn early in Hellboy's history. Some of these stories were done even before the Seed of Destruction story. All the stories are well-written and they range from laugh-out funny to classically scary. Stand out entries in Chained Coffin and Others are "Christmas Underground" (Mignola's take on the vampire myth), The Wolves of St. August (a werewolf piece) and "Almost Colossus" (the introduction of recurring character Roger the Homunculus). These three takes are great examples of why the Hellboy books are a joy to read. "Christmas Underground" is my personal favorite for combining both a genuinely scary tale with some genuine humanity to turn a simple horror tale into one of redemption and forgiveness. For readers who have seen the Hellboy feature film, they will recognize a character in the film who actually appears in this compilation: "The Corpse". In the end, I highly recommend this graphic compilation to new fans of Hellboy and for old, loyal fans to pick it up if their old copy has been dog-eared and tattered from frequent readings.

I recently decided to review a couple of the graphic novels that I thought were the best I had read. This one popped into my head and was one of the handful that made the short list. Mike Mignola's character, Hellboy, is a devil who works for the BPRD, an X-Files type organization dedicated to protecting the world from the paranormal. For his stories, Mignola draws deeply on mythology, the occult and folklore from around the world. Some characters are familiar, like the villain Rasputin or the mythological Baba Yaga. I had as much fun reading about the underlying myths as I did reading the actual stories.If you have not read any Hellboy before, you may want to start with the first collection, Seed of Destruction. That being said, you really can't go wrong with this one. I think Mignola's real strength lies in his shorter stories, rather than the 4 or 5 issue ones. Here we have some of his best shorter work and I will say a bit about my two favorites. "The Iron Shoes" is a funny little story about a goblin that lives in a tower and attacks passers-by with his iron boots. Hellboy steps in to investigate. Not a long story and not much dialogue but I like its simplicity. "Almost Colossus" is another gem and tells the second part of the origin of one of Hellboy's partners at the BPRD. Great story from Norse Myths coupled with eye-popping art makes this one a winner. The remainder of the stories are equally good; these are just my personal preferences.This collection of stories should not be missed by anyone who enjoys comics. Mignola's art is great to look at, somewhat stylized and uses heavy shadows and blacks. His dialogue is great too. Hellboy's dry, witty lines fit him like a glove. Overall a must read.

The art is wonderful. The coloring is stunning. The stories are highly entertaining. There is no reason for me to go on because the preceding reviews say it best - "Hellboy" is fabulous entertainment. If you have any interest in Graphic Novels or the comic medium then "Hellboy" needs to be on your bookshelf.

"Hellboy: The Chained Coffin and Others" is my favorite Hellboy compilation. As shown by HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe, the short story works well for horror. This book is a collection of Hellboy short stories.Each story has roots in traditional fairy mythology combined with Lovecraftian overtones and just a splash of Nazi occultism. Magnolia has given his character Hellboy a very dry sense of humor, which works well in contrast to the talking corpses and various devils. The art is some of the finest seen in comics. "The Corpse" and "The Iron Shoes" is a short fairy stories. Clever and fun with a nice nod to Celtic mythology. "Christmas Underground" highlights Magnolia's wit. "The Chained Coffin" is one of the best in the collection, showing the folly of loving the devil. It has some of the best dialog. "God? Was not I God in ancient Babylon?" "The Baba Yaga" Always nice to see this ancient evil. Only available in this collection."Wolves of Saint August" is a werewolf tale, with a twist. Very good."Almost Colossus" adds a new member to the Hellboy cast.I would say, if you are curious about Hellboy, this is the collection to start with. Every one a gem.

First, I have to begin this by saying that I am a bit bias when it comes to Mike Mignola. I do enjoy his Hellboy work, and recommend it to anyone who likes Lovecraftian influences meshed with Nazi conspiracies and other, even more bizarre, tidbits of folklore. With The Chained Coffin and Others, I had read the reviews here and had noticed the gaps left in the questioning mind. For instance, I couldn't find a complete listing of what was compiled here, nor did the reviews truly state how good some of the stories, especially the Baba Yaga only printed here, actually were. So, here's a brief listing of the stories a few notes:1) The Corpse: A baby goes missing and a deal has to be struck to return it. And how hard is it to bury a corpse anyway? 2) The Iron Shoes: This seemed more like filler, actually, but is still not all that bad.3) The Baba Yaga: I like this story a lot, and had to have it. Unfortunately, it was only available in this TPB. If you read Wake the Devil, you'll want this side story, because references made are gaps to be filled in order to complete the entire Hellboy picture.4) Christmas Underground: Spirits looming, a castle under siege by some strange curse, and Hellboy Claus? Besides being creepy, it also provides a little laughter.5) The Chained Coffin: A true gem, presenting the origins of Hellboy (not to be confused with "how Hellboy arrive on Earth") in a most interesting format. Even people who have the original presentation of this should check it out, because the first page has been revamped a bit. Beautiful.6) Wolves of Saint August: All the pieces of this tale needed to be collected somewhere, so I'm happy for this. As the name implies, something Lupine plagues a town and Hellboy has to investigate. The backgrounding to this story is nice, in addition to the normal Mignola features. 7) Almost Colossus: Another needed piece if you want to understand the inner workings of the BPRD. Here, an addition is made to the cast, and "he" almost ends to life of two field agents right from the get-go. It is referenced to a lot, and is definitely worth checking out.Anyway, like I said, I am biased. Still, if you like Hellboy, even a little, this is a nice collection that is extremely inclusive. The only problem is finding a copy of it.