Hellboy, Vol. 4: The Right Hand of Doom (v. 4)
by Mike Mignola
(Click here)
Book Summary Information
Author: Mike MignolaEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2004-02-11
ISBN: 1593070934
Number of pages: 144
Publisher: Dark Horse
Book Reviews of Hellboy, Vol. 4: The Right Hand of Doom (v. 4)
Book Review: Hand of doom, crown of fire
Summary: 4 Stars
When Hellboy isn't saving the world from imminent destruction, he's doing a lot of little odd jobs across the world.
And by "odd jobs," I mean brief paranormal cases involving vampires, flying hunters, homunculi, "pamcakes" and disembodied heads. "Hellboy Volume 4: The Right Hand of Doom" collects a number of the demon anti-hero's assorted adventures, ranging from a new and unknown breakfast to a devilish plot to conquer the world. All in a day's work.
It opens with a baby Hellboy being given a plate of "pamcakes," which he pronounces to be "yucky." But when a general sternly orders him to eat one bite, the consequences are literally hell-raising.
Seriously, isn't that the cutest thing ever?
Many years later, Hellboy is called on to deal with mythological creatures large and small -- the Saint Leonard worm (a dragon) running amuck in a forest, a spectral huntsman followed by berserkers in wolf pelts, a Japanese house full of bouncing heads, a seance gone horribly wrong (with Lovecraftian tentacles!), and the supervampire Varcolac who is so large he can "eat the moon."
And though Hellboy tries to ignore his past and supposed destiny, he learns something quite disturbing when a kindly priest gives him an ancient, mysterious drawing of the "right hand of doom" -- which looks suspiciously like Hellboy's big rocky hand.
And a demon (which looks suspiciously like a housefly) sealed into a box is stolen from a secret compartment, and is soon "serving" a human master. Turns out they want to lure Hellboy to that place, in the hopes of stealing the evil, apocalyptic powers that he has already renounced.
Mike Mignola is awesome at full-length graphic novels, but his shorter works are even better -- these are lean, compact little action stories with nothing more or less than they need. And it's sort of nice to see Hellboy's more ordinary cases -- if you can call these ordinary -- with foes like a "Wild Huntesque" horseman, a dragon and even some traditional Japanese hobgoblins.
And Mignola's writing doesn't suffer from the shorter format, especially since he happily adapts some folktales to fit his world (legends, folk tales, saints). There's wonderfully sick moments ("Hey, that's not my spine!") and some poignant moments (Hellboy musing on his "destiny"). Naturally, also plenty of nastier moments including bouncing heads, giant monstrous tentacles from the "deep end of the pool," a vampire that can "eat the moon," and a man turning into a giant lizard.
Hellboy is basically your average investigator in most of these stories -- he goes in, gets the job done and fixes things (although sometimes he can't quite fix EVERYTHING). He's a nice straightforward kind of guy with a gruff manner, but Mignola reminds us at times that he has some unhappier facets ("You know how I live? I never deal with what I am"), and a destiny he keeps rejecting.
"Hellboy: The Right Hand of Doom" follows the example of the prior collection -- lots of solid standalone adventures for our horned anti-hero. Lovely read.
Summary of Hellboy, Vol. 4: The Right Hand of Doom (v. 4)
The second collection of short stories by award-winning cartoonist Mike Mignola includes the 1999 hit series Box Full of Evil; "The Right Hand of Doom," which concisely and thoroughly examines Hellboy's history; and "Pancakes," Mignola's most hilarious and surprising story to date; and others - many presented here in color for the first time.Hellboy Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Hellboy: The Complete Collection
The God Machine (Hellboy)by Thomas E. Sniegoski
Pocket Star; Published: 2006-07-25; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.05
Price in other shops:
Unnatural Selection (Hellboy)by Tim Lebbon
Pocket Star; Published: 2006-03-28; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.26
Price in other shops:
On Earth As It Is In Hell (Hellboy)by Brian Hodge
Pocket Star; Published: 2005-09-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.96
Price in other shops:
The Dragon Pool (Hellboy)by Christopher Golden
Pocket Star; Published: 2007-03-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.82
Price in other shops:
The Bones of Giants (Hellboy)by Christopher Golden
Pocket Star; Published: 2004-01-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
The Lost Army (Hellboy)by Christopher Golden
Pocket Star; Published: 2004-01-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Hellboy - Blood and Iron (Animated)STARZ HOME ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 2007-06-12; DVD
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops:
Hellboy: Sword of Storms (Animated)STARZ HOME ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 2007-02-06; DVD
Best price: $4.16
Price in other shops:
Hellboy (Two-Disc Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 2004-06-21; DVD
Best price: $12.88
Price in other shops:
Ghost Hellboy Specialby Mike Mignola
Dark Horse Comics; Published: 1997-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $39.94
Similar Books and other products
B.P.R.D. Volume 3: Plague of Frogsby Mike Mignola, Guy Davis, Dave Stewart, Clem Robbins
Dark Horse; Published: 2005-03-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.35
Price in other shops:
B.P.R.D. Volume 2: The Soul of Venice & Other Storiesby Mike Mignola, Michael Avon Oeming, Guy Davis
Dark Horse; Published: 2004-09-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
B.P.R.D., Vol. 1: Hollow Earth & Other Stories (Hellboy)by Mike Mignola
Dark Horse; Published: 2004-08-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.31
Price in other shops:
Hellboy, Vol. 8: Darkness Callsby Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo, Dave Stewart
Dark Horse Comics; Published: 2008-06-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.20
Price in other shops:
Hellboy, Vol. 7: The Troll Witch and Other Storiesby Mike Mignola
Dark Horse; Published: 2007-11-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
Hellboy, Vol. 1: Seed of Destructionby Mike Mignola, John Byrne
Dark Horse; Published: 2003-12-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.63
Price in other shops:
Hellboy, Vol. 6 : Strange Placesby Mike Mignola
Dark Horse; Published: 2006-05-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.63
Price in other shops:
Hellboy, Vol. 2: Wake the Devilby Mike Mignola
Dark Horse; Published: 2003-12-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.75
Price in other shops:
Hellboy, Vol. 5: Conqueror Wormby Mike Mignola
Dark Horse; Published: 2004-02-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.35
Price in other shops:
Hellboy, Vol. 3: The Chained Coffin and Othersby Mike Mignola
Dark Horse; Published: 2004-02-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.97
Price in other shops: