| Title | : | Hellboy: Odd Jobs |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1569714401 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781569714409 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 212 |
| Publication | : | First published February 1, 2000 |
Hellboy: Odd Jobs Reviews
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Hellboy: Odd Jobs
By Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola
These are short stories featuring our favorite creature from below. Most were entertaining but some felt incomplete. I have the audio version and it was written to compensate for lack of visual cues. -
i really enjoyed these stories and learning more about Hellboy. Each one was unique and original. I liked all of them, there wasn't any bad ones in this bunch.
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Sometimes it's nice to take a break from the long story arcs and plots and just have a few adventures to relieve the stress of saving the cosmos. These short story adventures that take place between story arcs are a nice read for Hellboy fans. Recommended
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None of these stories are bad, but I think Hellboy really just is best in the comics.
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This is the first Hellboy short story collection, and I hope the next two are as entertaining as this one. Really good collection of stories, none of which were bad. Some, of course, were better than others. Most of the stories dealt with myths and legends of various countries. We got to see Hellboy battle Medusa, Grendel, and a several more beasties. We also got some Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman tossed in as well. I would recommened this book to any Hellboy fan!
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I've got to admit that I judge Hellboy things to a different standard than other things (which is why they don't all just get five stars across the board), and I also have to admit that, when it comes to Hellboy, anything that
Mike Mignola didn't write himself usually manages to miss, to some greater extent or another, the weird alchemy that makes his Hellboy stories work so perfectly for me. So keep all that in mind when I say that I was actually kind of disappointed in
Odd Jobs.
Some of the stories are quite good, but most of them seem to me to miss the tone of the Hellboy comics. I know that sort of the point of these anthologies is to get different voices, different approaches, but a lot of the stories in
Odd Jobs just lose the magic, at least for me.
Christopher Golden's story (w/
Mignola) is a big exception, and
Poppy Z. Brite turns in a good Liz Sherman story. There are other good stories, like I said, they just... don't quite get that old Hellboy magic that I'm looking for.
I own all three of the Hellboy short story anthologies, and this wasn't the first time I read through
Odd Jobs, but I decided recently to revisit them all bit by bit. If my memory serves, the subsequent anthologies improve a bit for me, so we'll see if that bears out. -
Falls into a familiar patter but pretty fun.
World: The world building is solid and fairly self contained. These stories are not canon but they do fall into the time when a full Mignolaverse was not yet established and Anastasia was still a thing. Each little tale does have it’s little piece of world building but as a whole it does not build towards something bigger. The monsters we face and the people and places we see are fun and I do like the diversity in the world.
Story: The stories are all a mixed bunch and are fun, although they do fall into a very similar pattern. Hellboy investigates, meets monster fights monster next story. This was the case of early Hellboy and this collection of stories does fall into that so if you like endless fights and mythology it will be fun, if you are looking for something deeper this is not the place. I liked the stories they were fun, some big names are found in this collection which surprised me.
Characters: Hellboy is what you expect him to be around the first 3 trades, he’s blue collar and there is not a lot of depth in him or the other characters. It’s actually the the new characters created by each author that brings something new and there are quite a few good ones. I won’t spoil them for you but they feel like they stepped right out of a HB book and in some cases out of Twin Peaks.
I liked this collection, not diverse at all but it’s a good formula and if you enjoy it you will enjoy it.
Onward to the next book! -
Una selección bastante pareja que, sin embargo, va de menos a más a medida que avanza la lectura. La selección de autores - algunos más certeros que otros - hacen del personaje un comodín para relatos amenos que bailan entre la fantasía gótica al horror folclórico, captando a ratos la intención del creador Mike Mignola y - en casos puntuales - despertando simpatía hacia aquellos seres que, tenidos por amenazas, se revelan como los auténticos moradores de un mundo que los humanos arrebataron para sí; precisamente el corazón del viejo cuento fantasmagórico.
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I love these anthologies. While the comic books and movies are great, Hellboy translates so well to novels and short stories. This is an excellent collection of work
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http://www.schefikuvblog.eu/christoph... -
This is, by far, my favorite Hellboy book that's not a comic. Here we have a collection of short stories, all from talented writers, focusing on the strange world in which Hellboy operates. The stories span throughout time and location, and show our hero taking on Medusa, faeries, and even Grendel! There is even a story devoted entirely to Liz Sherman and a moment from her past.
Some of the most powerful stories in this collection focus on the government and religion (that second taking place in my home state of North Carolina) and how darker forces seem to have taken control. Something about those two tales in particular struck a chord with me, they felt a bit too possible, demon possession and all.
What I love about all Hellboy stories, many of these especially, is how the writers incorporate known folklore and mythology into the mix to create some truly terrifying tales.
On a more personal note, this was my second time reading this one, and the bookmark I used turned out to be an old friend's phone number. Brought back some memories. -
A collection of non-canon (with the exception of "The Nuckelavee") Hellboy stories. A couple really truly great ones, some more good ones, but 2/3s were okay to bad. The great ones were so great that I really want to try some other writing by their authors, so I'd say the whole exercise came out positively. You're never going to like every little hors d'oeuvre on a plate of 20 of them. There is a great variation in tone, from horror to adventure to melancholic tragedy to humour, so it at least wasn't monotonous, and most of the stories were on the short side, excepting "Jigsaw".
Each story gets a facing Mignola drawing, most of which are illustrations, though some are just portraits of Hellboy. "Jigsaw" gets an Abe and a Hellboy portrait within itself.
I most enjoyed "Far Flew the Boast of Him", "Jigsaw", "A Mother Cries at Midnight", "Scared Crows", and "Delivered", in that order. -
Hellboy is my favorite comic. It always has been and I was a collector of it, the B.P.R.D. comics, Lobster Johnson and others. It just hit me the right way. The occult, the raw art style, and excellent writing are all part of the innovative mix that make this so special. I read this book a few years back and it still resonates. There are another couple volumes to follow this, which I will read very soon.
what this is basically is very strange beings combating very strange events, creatures and evil doers. It is funny and sarcastic and just a true joy to leaf through. I am biased by my love of the comics, but these books are just so much deeper in detail. Seeing a story, as in a comic book is an amazing way to read, but it can never replace the images and feelings cooked up by one's imagination when consuming the written word. Such a good experience. More to come!
Danny -
Regardless of how much I enjoy the character this short story collection is like a lot such collections. Some hits, some misses, and in this one a lot of meh. This is not to say that some talented writers took a shot at Mignola's creation and did well. Poppy Brite's story doesn't even mention Hellboy and instead centers on a young Liz. Max Alan Collins and Joe Lansdale turn in good tales, but I confess the one that made me decide to pick up the collection and read it was Greg Rucka's tale about a giant talking rat (trust me it works).
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A fun collection of Hellboy/BPRD stories. (It even has a Gahan Wilson cartoon!) Though the quality of stories varies somewhat, the format allows more exploration into the lives of the lesser-exposed characters like Kate Corrigan and Liz Shaw. Excellent Mignola illustrations through-out.
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Antología de autores grossos en el Universo Hellboy.
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This is a collection of short stories and not a graphic comic collection of various authors strutting their stuff using Hellboy (or in one case, one of his close associates). The stories are enjoyable and one took a haunting deep dive where the secondary characters' story was more interesting than Hellboy. There simply are no bad stories in this collection but the short story format makes it hard to really develop the depth I prefer.
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As with all collections of short stores, some of the stories were good, some were bad, and some needed an editor. Seriously, if the story has such bad grammar or pacing or things out of order enough for me to notice it was bad. After reading the main Hellboy story up to the first end and a bunch of the other books in the Hellboy universe I have been lead to expect a certain level of quality. This did not fully reach that level of quality I had come to expect from the Hellboy name.
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Een aantal korte verhalen gebaseerd op de Hellboy strips. De meeste verhalen hebben Hellboy zelf in de hoofdrol, met als uitzondering één rondom Elizabeth Sherman (de vuurstarter) en één rondom Abe Sapien (de vismens). Het zijn licht gothische griezelverhalen die prima geschreven zijn maar nergens echt griezelig worden. Zeker wel het lezen waard, maar Hellboy werkt duidelijk beter als strip.
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A fun (and extensive) collection, but also rather uneven. Good, meh, and execrable writing intermingled.
Recommend as fun the stories by Yvonne Navarro, Greg Rucka, Nancy Collins, Max Allan Collins and Brian Hodge. -
Stories are getting better at the end and cut deeper into characters psyche.
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A mixed bag of short stories: Some good, many not.
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I quote this book way too often to annoy my fellow man as i describe the mans milk scene.
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Very good collection. Just didn't find one that really drug me into it.
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Highly enjoyable. Recommended for fans of the Dresden Files.
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Probably a 3.5 overall but there's some gems in there too.
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era pra dar medo e dá sono.
