Book Review: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Return of Effie Kolb and Others by M. Mignola et al.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Return of Effie Kolb and Others stories by Mike Mignola, art by Zach Howard, Matt Smith, Tiernen Trevallion, and Adam Hughes, and colors by Dave Stewart and Adam Hughes

I love me some Hellboy, so why not read another collection of recent(ly published) adventures?

The Return of Effie Kolb--Facing a monster from The Crooked Man story, Hellboy heads back to Appalachia in 1967 to visit his old friend Tommy. He's found a young girl who thinks she's a witch. She can see things that come true in the future. She sees trouble, bad trouble, up the mountain. She and Hellboy head off into the woods and have a harrowing adventure. I enjoyed this sort-of sequel. The ending left some other possibilities open, so that's intriguing too.

Long Night at Goloski Station--Hellboy is summoned to a remote Siberian train station by the promise of information. When he gets there, he finds a hunter who has killed the contact. The contact was a werewolf out for revenge since Hellboy shot Baba Yaga's eye out. A lot of Russian supernatural creatures have their sights on Hellboy. The hunter regales Hellboy with his own history when a trio of evil folk show up, clearly wanting to take down Hellboy. This story is another odd bit of folklore that Mignola is so good at crafting.

Her Fatal Hour--The daughter of another old friend summons Hellboy magically to help her get out of a marriage she does not want. The old friend was a crone who helped Hellboy fight the Beast of Vargu, so there's a supernatural element to the problem. Hellboy helps out in his usual style.

The Sending--A remote estate library in England has been ransacked by supernatural means, drawing the attention of the B.P.R.D. Hellboy and a bookish old guy come to find out what happened. The butler provides an interesting twist that leads to a clever confrontation. The usual action and resolution ensues.

The Seven Wives Club--Hellboy is out in the field with B.P.R.D. Agent Pauline Raskin. A young woman with a penchant for visiting haunted houses is accused of murder. She went to a house with a cute boy (the murdered person). The house was formerly owned by a Lothario who had seven wives, all in different houses in the city. He gathered them all at the house one night, burned the room they were locked in, and hanged himself. The B.P.R.D. is in to find out if the young woman was the victim of ghostly influence. The story gets weirder and more complex as it unravels, ending with the typical action and winsomeness.

The collection has a lot of interesting stories, including some sequels to previous one-shot tales. I enjoyed it a lot. Mignola's writing is very creative. The artists do a fine job presenting Hellboy in their own styles.

Recommended, highly for Hellboy fans.

Book Review: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Beast of Vargu and Others by M. Mignola et al.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Beast of Vargu and Others stories by Mike Mignola with art by Duncan Fegredo, Christopher Mitten, Adam Hughes, and Ben Stenbeck

Some more adventures from Hellboy's past...

The Beast of Vargu--Hellboy goes to Romania and encounters the titular beast at Vargu Castle. A local gypsy woman also tells him his own adventure via a puppet show which is bizarrely tied to the defeat of the beast. The tale is weird but not particularly satisfying. The art by Duncan Fegredo is great and makes up for other failings.

Saturn Returns--In 1974, a remote New England woodland grove is home to dozens of corpses. People had been vanishing or "leaving town" for decades. The rock wall of the grove is covered with occult symbols, so Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. have been called in to help the investigation. The fresher corpses show their rib cages pulled out and their hearts missing. Meanwhile, Liz Sherman makes an escape from the Connecticut headquarters and runs into trouble. Hellboy is pulled off the investigation to help out Liz. The stories are loosely tied together. The supernatural investigation is more interesting than the teenage runaway plight.

Krampusnacht--Hellboy faces off against the Krampus, a legendary Christmas monster who is interested in punishing those on Santa's naughty list. They face off a couple of days before Christmas in a remote Austrian home. Mignola does a great job building up some character and mythology for the Krampus, with the typical spooky and violent ending. The story is a fun cross of "monster of the week" and "Christmas special."

Return of the Lambton Worm--Hellboy and the Professor investigate a medieval knight's grave. The knight claimed to have defeated a dragon that he accidentally summoned to his neighborhood. The tomb of the knight has a few surprises in store. It's a fun, very short story.

Recommended--an enjoyable collection!

Book Review: Star Trek: Debt of Honor by C. Claremont et al.

Star Trek: Debt of Honor written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Adam Hughes and Karl Story

Captain Kirk is off on a holiday with Gillian (the cetacean biologist from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). He's a bit preoccupied with sad and angry memories from the fallout of the Genesis Project. His memories go farther back, to previous encounters with a Romulan commander, T'Cel, a past both romantic and full of peril. Kirk and T'Cel are teaming up with a Klingon (also from Kirk's past, but no romance there) to fight a threat that has endangered every species that's gone near it. 

This classic graphic novel from 1992 is chock full of references from the history of the original crew of the Enterprise. Claremont knows his Trek history and uses it well throughout the story. The easter egg extravaganza is just a side highlight, though, because the plot is well-paced and full of fun moments. Claremont's penchant for lots of dialogue (just look at any X-men book he has written) relegates action to the background. The most dramatic fights are verbal, not fisticuffs.

Claremont also knows the Trek ethos, where villains have often turned into allies and heroes. Star Trek looks to a brighter future where people have a better understanding of each other and work together. A fan of the original show will have a lot of fun reading this.

Recommended.