The DC Universe by Mike Mignola

by Mike Mignola, Paul Kupperberg, John Byrne

Mike Mignola, best known as the creator of Hellboy, started out his comics art career drawing the adventures of the World's Greatest Super-Heroes, applying his moody artwork to tales of Superman, Batman, Swamp Thing and more. Now, this new collection assembles these stories written by John Byrne, Neil Gaiman and others for the first time.

Collecting: Superman: The World of Krypton 1-4; Action Comics Annual 1; Superman 18, 23; Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 54; Batman: Gotham Knights 36; Swamp Thing Annual 5; Phantom Stranger 1-4; & much more!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Fiction, Fantasy, Superheroes, Science Fiction

395 pages, Hardcover

First published May 16, 2017

About the author

Mike Mignola was born September 16, 1960 in Berkeley, California and grew up in nearby Oakland. His fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age (he doesn't remember why) and reading Dracula at age 13 introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore from which he has never recovered.

In 1982, hoping to find a way to draw monsters for a living, he moved to New York City and began working for Marvel Comics, first as a (very terrible) inker and then as an artist on comics like Rocket Raccoon, Alpha Flight and The Hulk. By the late 80s he had begun to develop his signature style (thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black) and moved onto higher profile commercial projects like Cosmic Odyssey (1988) and Gotham by Gaslight (1989) for DC Comics, and the not-so-commercial Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (1990) for Marvel. In 1992, he drew the comic book adaptation of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Topps Comics.

In 1993, Mike moved to Dark Horse comics and created Hellboy, a half-demon occult detective who may or may not be the Beast of the Apocalypse. While the first story line (Seed of Destruction, 1994) was co-written by John Byrne, Mike has continued writing the series himself. There are, at this moment, 13 Hellboy graphic novel collections (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien and Witchfinder), three anthologies of prose stories, several novels, two animated films and two live-action films staring Ron Perlman. Hellboy has earned numerous comic industry awards and is published in a great many countries.

Mike also created the award-winning comic book The Amazing Screw-on Head and has co-written two novels (Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire and Joe Golem and the Drowning City) with best-selling author Christopher Golden.

Mike worked (very briefly) with Francis Ford Coppola on his film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer on the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). He lives somewhere in Southern California with his wife, daughter, a lot of books and a cat.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collects all of Mignola's DC work (including covers) outside the work that has been published on its own such of Cosmic Odyssey and Gotham by Gaslight. The issues are printed in chronological order and you can see the art get more Mignola-like as the book progresses. Early on, his work is at the mercy of his inkers, i.e. the P. Craig Russell inked book looks like P. Craig Russell, the George Perez inked Superman book looks like George Perez. His art shines through in his use of shadow and drawing of aliens. Later on, Mike quits using an inker and you can see the Mike Mignola art you're used to.

The Good: All those gorgeous Mike Mignola covers. It was a nice treat to see them interspersed between the interior art.

The Bad: That Phantom Stranger miniseries is terrible. Never even knew that existed and now I know why. The World of Krypton miniseries was surprisingly brain-numbing. WAY too much narration from John Bryne. Trying to keep track of a hundred characters with names ending in "-L" just sort of had me giving up. At least Superman stepped into the last issue and told his origin himself.

The Ugly: Mignola illustrates Superman's origin 3 times in the book. The last thing I need from comics is yet another origin story from a character that's been around for 75 years.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is mostly work Mignola did before he became the legend he is today. I mean, even the first volume of Hellboy isn't Mignola has the height of his powers.

-The Phantom Stranger (1987)
Mignola doing more of a house style here. The story was very boring.

-The World of Krypton (1987)
Quite good actually. The story is meh, but Mignola is starting to show his chops.

-Short superman stories (1988-1989)
Action Comics 600, Superman 18, Superman 23, Action Comics Annual 2
I really just couldn't get into any of these stories. I just skimmed it.

-Swamp Thing annual 5 (1989)
Written by Neil Gaiman

-Sanctum from Batman Legends of the Dark Knight 54 (1993)
The most accomplished work by Mignola before he'd do Hellboy. All the Hellboy tropes are here. It's at night, in a graveyard full of lush stone work. Replace Batman for Hellboy, and I think this story still works.

More modern works:
-The Gasworks from Batman Gotham Knights (2002)
not drawn by Mignola
-If Man be Clay from Batman Villains (2005)
short and fun

There's also a large collection of Mingola coverart from various years (mostly late 80s)

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a large and vaguely disappointing collection of work that Mignola did for DC, almost all of it from the pre-Hellboy late 1980s. There's a long and tedious Phantom Stranger story that has little going for it, a World of Krypton with art in the retro-style of Alex Raymond that I really liked that's written by John Byrne (who apparently had a lot of extra words lying about and so he decided to use them all up here), and several shorter Superman and Batman pieces (and a Swamp Thing by Neil Gaiman) that are mostly okay but not too memorable. Also included are several covers he did for DC; some of the Batman ones are really striking. It's a mostly okay book, but I'd recommend asking your library to find a copy rather than paying the cover price.

[Donovan · Rating 1 out of 5]

A better title would be, Forgettable Stories Not Written By Mignola, Pencilled But Don't Look Like Mignola Either. I love Hellboy but damn, this was a waste of time. Mignola does not write any of these stories--in fact he only pencils them, no inks, no colors--and many of them are done in that sleepy Bronze Age style that looks nothing like that Mignola edge. That fact aside, the stories are kinda bad and didn't engage me at all.

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good read with some good superman stories but don’t be fooled this book does NOT contain all of Mike Mignolas DC art. Cosmic odyssey, Gotham by Gaslight and the Hellboy/Batman crossover are not collected here which is really disappointing considering that those stories are generally considered to be some of his best DC work. But overall this is good as it does contain all of his classic DC cover work. And the stories themselves collected here are not bad with the exception of the stupid Clayface story which was really terribly written although it did contain good art from Mignola (Clayface has never been a good villain to begin with though).

[Kamakana · Rating 4 out of 5]

280419: interesting to see evolution of mignola’s style. early work more usual comic book images, or maybe i am not familiar enough with how this or that story is different, though i do try and read it quickly, glancing, impressing images with little critical awareness. but this is after all, organized around the artist, not characters, not stories, and visual art must be integrated with verbal art. and this is what i appreciate best. for me there is too much writing, dialogue, monologue, explanatory passages. i can see with complexity of some stories this is required but does not interest me more...

his later use, predominantly shadows with bright contrast to dark edges, contours, black, are to me much more what i have liked in all his works. there are some great splash pages (166-169etc) even if the story is not, as i never do like superman, there is great work on swamp thing, story by neil gaiman, but visual peak is definitely the batman work. these are not avant-garde or postmodern or anything but usual comics stories, even with nested flashbacks, infodump side stories, surprise depiction of emotions, this is not difficult to read. i like some of the covers. i like some images...

[Artur Coelho · Rating 4 out of 5]

O estilo gráfico de Mike Mignola evolui de forma distintiva a partir dos constrangimentos estéticos dos comics, que exigem um forte realismo. Mignola seguiu noutra direcção, num expressionismo gótico que se coaduna muito bem com o ambiente de histórias de terror. O estilo visual que tornou Hellboy um sucesso começou a desenhar-se nas páginas e capas de diversas revistas da DC, algumas das quais são coligidas nesta antologia. É intrigante notar a evolução do traço, de um realismo banal já com algumas indicações dos caminhos que iria seguir, até ao emergir do cunho pessoal do ilustrador.

A antologia não começa bem, com a republicação de uma série dedicada a Phantom Stranger, um daqueles personagens da DC que funciona muito bem enquanto personagem secundário mas que nunca teve um tratamento interessante em série própria. A seguir melhora, com algumas das icónicas histórias que Mignola assinou para Superman, cuja estética exótica e diferente veio a influenciar as novas representações cinematográficas do personagem. Contém também algumas histórias de Batman, onde o estilo gótico do ilustrador é assumido com mais força.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of Mike Mignola's work for DC, excluding anything that was collected in its own volume (such as Cosmic Odyssey.) So like the similarly-designed DC Universe by John Byrne it is a book of odds 'n ends, though we do get two complete miniseries: in Phantom Stranger the ever-enigmatic title character is stripped of his powers and must keep Eclipso from ending the world one way or another; World of Krypton is a thousands-year chronicle of Superman's home planet before his birth. The rest of the book is more Superman and some Batman, plus a Swamp Thing short.

There are a lot of bizarrely low ratings on this book by people who were expecting, I don't know, Hellboy maybe? There is one Batman story done in that style and oddly enough would have also worked with Hellboy in the starring role. But it seems people couldn't even enjoy the stories even though they were written by the likes of John Byrne, Roger Stern, and Neil Gaiman. I know... it was all those words... (The earliest work dates back to 1987 when people used more words.)

The only piece I didn't care for was a Superman story that begins in the middle of situation and ends on a cliffhanger. It involves Superman forced to fight arena battles by Mongul, and is drawn by a variety of artists. I couldn't tell which bits were by Mike. It's just not that good.

[J.M. Giovine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This hardcover edition gathers some of the most uncommon stories and issues in which Mignola worked on while entering “DC Comics”, so artistically it already posses an incredible value since it essentially depicts the artists progression from 1987, to 2005. In total we’re talking about 9 titles, and around 53 covers he made for several different titles, most of them prior to his “Hellboy” creation at “Dark Horse”. The content are the following titles.
The Phantom Stranger #1-4 (1987): written by Paul Kupperberg, this mini-series places us in the perspective of Bruce Gordon, whose darkest side has unleashed the malevolent entity known as “Eclipso”, who is looking for the complete destruction of Earth so darkness can prevail, using a cult leader named Lycaon, who is brainwashing the masses after plenty of natural disasters, and the eminent nuclear threat between USA and the Soviet Union made people believe the end of the world is near. Bruce Gordon teams with the mysterious hero, simply referred to as “Stranger”, problem is, he is powerless, and the forces of evil he has to fight against are dangerously close to win. This one was okay, a clear response for the previous year’s Watchmen, in which a “DC” property uses the cold war menace involving the nuclear missiles’ potential launch, this time with a supernatural spin to it. It was as if Kupperberg chose to mix the elements of a political thriller, with a fantasy noir take and the mix does deliver, in a way. There are special appearances of known “DC” names, such as Jim Gordon, Jimmy Olsen, even Valentina Vostok, who is better known as “Negative Woman” (and also, created by Kupperberg), however, the story doesn’t really utilizes them as much as we might believe; Gordon is a mere cameo, Jimmy is a little bit more proactive, but his presence still feels a forced addition because of the Metropolis staging, and as for Vostok, her role had the feel of coming and going without much impact in the story, even if her character serves more as a potential bridge between the USA and the Soviet conflict. As for Phantom Stranger himself, he doesn’t feel as the focus of the story, and the villain in turn is your generic “evil creature” kind of antagonist that pulls the strings on third parties. The political conflict is by far the most interesting aspect of this series, even delighting us with an alternative take on the President of the time, Ronald Reagan, but the whole “Stranger Vs Eclipso” part was pretty basic in terms of comic book action, however, it’s Mignola’s very first work at “DC Comics”, and even comparing it to his later works, its interesting to appreciate his initial style. It’s an “okay story”, and artistically speaking, it delivers.
The World of Krypton #1-4 (1988): Mignola’s second “DC” contribution right after “The Phantom Stranger”, this time the duties in the writing department were granted to John Byrne, who was just coming out of his acclaimed “The Man of Steel” run from 1986 as one of the definitive modern takes on the character of Superman. This, in many ways, is a complement to that series, but at the same time, working as a stand-alone title related to Superman. Byrne’s purpose with this mini-series is to depict the historical context and background of Planet Krypton, and its society, using as a main character the ancestor of Superman himself, Van-L, who led the resistance against an organization of radicals called “Black Zero”, who are threatening to destroy the entire planet, and was involved in the “Clone Wars”- without any relation with the Lucas’ ones-, which were detonated after a woman uses her clone to be her son's bride, resulting in her and the clone's murder at the hands of her son. This is the starting point of Byrne’s script, and the cornerstone of the entire lore behind the Kryptonian culture; it seems that, thousands of years ago, the Kryptonians achieved a sort of “immortality” resource from the creation of clones that’ll work for them as organ banks (I can’t help but to think Michael Bay might’ve had read this before 2005), but the society scattered in two factions: those who approved of this method of life-preservation, and the ones opposed to it, believing those “mindless clones” deserve rights. This eventually place us in the point of view of Superman, who tells his origins to Lois Lane for the first time (Post-Crisis), and how his very existence came to be because of all those events that started with Van-L. An interesting pure sci-fi chapter in the Superman series that retcons the already established canon, and using Byrne’s impeccable imagination and domination in the subject, he manages to add even greater depth to this universe, offering an engaging and quite special background to Superman’s past, to the point which the whole story feels like a political science-fiction drama with tons of detail, and layers to learn and explore. Mignola’s art resembles that of Byrne’s but at this point he is starting to employ his peculiar use of shadows and landmarks, adopting his upcoming designs to familiar territory for the fans to recognize. Narratively, it is the strongest of the bunch in this collection, and one of the most interesting alternative stories in Superman comics.
Action Comics #600 (1988): Another one written by John Byrne, although, a part of the issue only consists of a few pages simply depicting how Superman has been affected by the worldwide scale contamination of Kryptonite radiation, leading to him trying to hide underneath a cavern in which Dr. Kirk Langstrom, a.k.a. “The Man-Bat” lives in. Both fight but mostly due to Superman’s mental condition. Pretty standard material, with a clash between both characters due to a misunderstanding that is quickly resolved, leading to the events of the next issue in the Superman series. Plenty of uses of shadows from Mignola, which granted, is taking shape with his most known style, mostly in the character of Man-Bat, which it isn’t something extraordinary, given how his specialty are monsters of any kind. However, unlike his work in “World of Krypton”, there’s something off about his Superman design in here, mostly in how he draws his face in a few frames; it looks silly and disproportionate, but not the “Mignola-disproportionate” he utilizes so well in his main works. The combination of Superman and Man-Bat feels oddly placed, and I don’t remember other pair of comic-book characters so detached from each other to the point where it feels weird seeing them together. Maybe it’s because of how cemented Superman’s relationship with the sci-fi genre is, putting him against a literal giant bat-hybrid is just weird, even if Langstrom’s condition isn’t supernatural at all. Anyway, pretty regular stuff in here but, as I mentioned, it’s just part of the whole issue, which leads to…
Superman #18/#23 (1988): the two issues consist of the self-conclusive stories “Return to Krypton”, and “Curse of the Banshee”, written by John Byrne, and Roger Stern respectively. The first one continues where “Action Comics #600” was left, and places Superman, Hawkwoman, and Hawkguy traveling through space searching for the remains of Krypton, but suddenly they discover that the planet’s ruins have been gathered by its gravity, creating a sort of “cosmic graveyard” that provokes Superman to be in contact with the memories of his father, due to the exposure of Kryptonite. The vision is essentially a “what if” version of Jor-El surviving alongside a handful of Kryptonians, all traveling to Earth, an eventually conquering it. On the other hand, “Curse…” plays entirely for the supernatural approach, adapting the legend of the mythical Irish folk creature to fight against Superman, after Batman gives him a book that keeps constantly adding pages depicting the destiny of Superman, and it all clashes at the castle of Clan McDoughal. This one ironically felt like something Mignola would’ve written for his “Hellboy” series, so I was actually surprised to find that Stern was the writer. Out of the two, “Return to Krypton” was by far the most interesting one. Mignola keeps struggling to draw Superman for some reason, but I’ve learned to appreciate his visual contributions when it comes to illustrate anything Krypton-related. “Curse…”, on the other hand, comes closer to what he’ll eventually will end up crafting in his upcoming author-works, dominating the whole supernatural themes with his now well-known darker style, even if this take doesn’t match Superman’s at all.
Action Comics Annual 2 (1989): Superman has been imprisoned, and dragged to the planet Warworld, forced to fight against Mongul’s champions. At the same time, Superman presence alerts an elder alien known as “Cleric”, and who is deeply interested in Superman, since he is aware of Krypton’s destruction, he uses his telepathic abilities to reach Superman’s mind and confirm his roots. An annual that gathers several talents in a super issue that places Kal-El in one of his most problematic turmoils. Jerry Ordway serves as both writer, and penciller, combining the aid of George Perez- who also inks-, and Roger Stern, and sharing the illustrations of Mignola, and Curt Swan, this is essentially a recollection of some of the events in Action Comics #600, and “Return to Krypton”, when the Cleric realizes how Jor-El managed to re-write his son’s genetic material into the matrix that’ll take him out of the planet. We get to see, also, Cleric’s backstory back in Krypton, and how he left the planet without realizing Kryptonians weren’t supposed to leave. Tremendously interesting, and yes, it takes a lot of attention near the end on Superman’s definite rule of “not killing”, however, it is the first occasion in which Sups is forced to fight at the Warworld arena. An intense issue that, while having minimal of Mignola’s contributions, still delivers the thrills and the action, while also recapping on the stories conceived by John Byrne.
Swamp Thing Annual 5 (1989): By legendary writer, Neil Gaiman, and presenting what can be considered the very first truthful “Mignola” in a “DC” entry, this annual uses the character of Woodrue, already turned into Floronic Man, trying to find a way to become what he thinks is a “Swamp God”, which is delivered by Gaiman and Mignola as a visually striking, and beautifully presented dialogue between him, and the creature that took Alec Holland’s memories, the “Parliament of Trees”. It is by far the least dynamic of all these collected stories, in fact, there’s zero to no action whatsoever, but the whole point of the script is to feel immersed in the conversation between the two creatures, and as always, Gaiman succeeds at introducing and shape universal theology of multiple religions into his own worldbuilding, resulting in captivating allegories that fuse themselves within the story. As I said, this is the comic- I think- in which Mignola was finally aware, and in full control of his definitive style: the shadows, the eerie of his shapes, the abstract vibe of his designs, and the supernatural aura surrounding his creatures- with the aid of terrific and vibrant coloring by Tatjana Wood-, this is Mignola in all his signature glory, and I got to say, I’m surprised he never drew any further Swamp Thing issues after this one, because he seems to be an ideal pick. Out of all the issues collected in this book, this is the first one that has the Mignola in which his art makes us get lost beneath his pages.
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #54 (1993): This is the only issue I’d read prior to acquiring this collection. In fact, I’ll be lying if I say this wasn’t the reason I bought the book in general. Batman is fighting against a serial killer who, accidentally, gets killed, however he is wounded and ends up falling to an open grave, leaving him unconscious, and provoking a fever dream in which the ghost of the mausoleum in which he fell, Osric Drood, starts consuming Batman’s essence, since he is on the brink of death. Batman needs to escape that cursed place, or else, Drood will consume his life, to resurrect and, perhaps, unleash evil in the world. Classic Mignola here, with his art already perfected, and a story worthy of an entry in the “Hellboy” collection, this single issue of the considerably grounded and dark “Legends of the Dark Knight” is a self-conclusive one, although, it is easily one of the best in the entire series. Mixing Batman with the supernatural- even if implied that all of that might be an illusion-, is always a risky move, but done right, it results in some eerie, intriguing material that approaches the horror in ways very few comic book characters can accomplish, that is to say, Mignola + The Dark Knight is essentially a match made in heaven… or hell, depending on your preference. The carefully selected frames in which characters interact, the excessive uses of shadows and vibrant colors to enhance the haunting atmosphere, the close-ups to minimalistic-but-also-detailed objects that conjure a supernatural vibe to the scenery, and the struggle for the main characters to not be subdued to powers beyond their comprehension… oh, and the always anticipated cameo of a Lovecraftian entity as a potential imminent threat. Yes, Mignola was definitely playing it the way he best does.
Batman: Gotham Knights #36 (2002): A part of the “Black & White & Red” series, this little segment was crafted by Mignola in the script, and Troy Nixey at the pencils, and it’s a fine, serviceable little story about a pair of criminals manufacturing a hallucinogen that is mixed and activated throughout the blood. Nothing extraordinary, just your average “Batman-stops-criminals-but-something-wrong-happens”, and the plot is basically a rehash of every single time the “Scarecrow” has used his fear toxin, with Batman using it against his foes and them seeing him in twisted, horrific ways. It’s an okay entry in this collection, and the advantage is that the “Black & White…” series is mostly collected in trade paper backs, so being this short and average isn’t a problem.
Secret Files and Origins (2005): Going back to the Pre-Crisis era, this segment from the Batman Villains “Secret Files” collection recaps the classic origin of Clayface, the back then criminal Matt Hagen who stumbled across an underground pond of protoplasm, which grants him the ability to reshape his body into anything he can think of, starting his life of criminal activity, his obsession for art, and his early confrontations against Batman and Robin. Steve Purcell delivers the script, while Mignola does the pencils in a fairly serviceable way, mostly trying to mimic the pulp-style of the character’s original appearance. In a way this is mostly a tribute issue, since it also addresses the events of “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, and the fate of the character in them. It is a fine closure to the compilation, and a nice throwback to the silver age of “DC Comics”.
In the end, this is a fine collection that any self-proclaimed fan of Mignola should own. Sure, there’s some titles missing from this such as “Cosmic Odyssey”, and “The Doom that Came to Gotham”, or “Gotham by Gaslight”, but I understand that they’d take plenty of space out of the book, and honestly, they’re quite easy to acquire in TPB, or Hardcover editions, so in a way, I appreciate that they released a book specifically for the underground, lesser known works of the author. Also, there are plenty of covers included so, again, this is an essential addition to any die-hard fan of the author/artist. The quality of each title varies, but in general, it’s a good series of lectures any comic book fan most likely will appreciate, considering how each title showcases Mignola’s evolution, mostly as an artist.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before he created Hellboy, Mike Mignola did a lot of work for DC. Quite a bit of it is collected here. Unfortunately, besides the beautiful art there really isn’t much in here. Some Batman tales and a short piece featuring a Swamp Thing villain are really about all that’s worth bothering with. The opening section features the Phantom Stranger in a mini-series that can only find any kind of tension by taking away the hero’s powers. One of the single worst superhero cliches imaginable. I had read this before as the individual issues were coming out. It’s such a remarkable story that I’d completely forgotten that I’d read it. That illustrates just how good it is. Next up is a history of Krypton that I’d also read when it was first out as individual issues. This I’d remembered reading and I thought I’d give it another try. Entertaining, but I really have little interest in the ancient history of Superman’s home planet. Next is a series of stories which expand and reiterate elements and themes from this Krypton mini-series. They’re actually less interesting than the mini-series. There’s also a bunch of covers that Mignola did for various comics. All together the only thing worth while is the art work by Mignola. Fans of Mignola will undoubtedly enjoy this book, but unlikely for the stories. Otherwise don’t bother. I’m only giving it three stars because of the visual artistic contributions, not the stories themselves.

[kubelot · Rating 1 out of 5]

1,5 stars. A collection of various shorts illustrated by Mignola, written with a few exceptions by other authors.
the overall quality of the stories is mediocre or bad. Mignolas style also wasn't fully developed yet so the artwork is imho not as good as his works for Dark Horse.
Overall i'd consider this collection a total waste of time, if there wasn't Sanctum which is a really good and dark short.

[Burton Olivier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool stuff. Wild that Mignola did so much Superman.

[Ville-Markus Nevalainen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the most disappointing "collections" I've ever had the honor of looking at, and there's a lot of bad collections out there. I'd argue, that it's damned near false advertising at this point, and they knew what they were doing. The cover has that Mignola art style that is pretty damn perfect, especially with Batman. And then the cover blurb continues to bring up Hellboy, even more reaffirming that this is what it's going to be, but now with Superman and Batman, as told there.

Well, turns out, that was a goddamned lie.

Okay, perhaps it's not "a lie" but damn close to it. The stories are about some of the most obscure characters I've ever heard (or rather, never heard of), there's little to no Superman or Batman or any other major character from the DC universe you'd like to see done by Mignola. But no, it's not even that. If you think what most are thinking of when Mignola comes to mind, it's not that. The very last comic and few of the cover arts are done by his style, and yes, they're quite terrific, Batman looks menacing and stylish as hell in that style, but that's it. The rest of the collection is unrecognizable as his style, it might as well be someone entire different.

As a result, it's generic comics in the olden style about characters you've never heard of (Mister Stranger? Anyone?) and the only thing that "ties it together", is that it reads in small print Mike Mignola for art.

The most frustraiting part is that the comics aren't really even that good. I tried reading few of them but just couldn't finish them. I wasn't intrigued or interested and so I gave up because really, why would I finish any of it?

It's a shame because the cover art here, a cover page Mignola made to some Batman, looks fantastic. I just wish it had stories told in that style or anything even close to resembling it.

[Nate]

As a collection of early Mignola art, this book is terrific. The stories here offer much visual variety, from sci-if urban landscapes to supernatural horror to lush forests. Mignola’s style is basically fully formed from the start - you can see his signature shadows and stark faces right there in Phantom Stranger mini that opens the book. The inkers obscure his nuances somewhat, but on the whole, his art looks great reprinted in this collection; it’s a welcome complement to his bigger DC works, Cosmic Odyssey, Gotham by Gaslight, and The Doom That Came to Gotham. Including all his covers was the icing on the cake.

As for the stories themselves, they’re less impressive. The bulk of them are Superman comics, more specifically Superman comics taking place in Krypton’s past. And there’s a lot of repetition in these stories, to the point where Superman’s origin is recounted three times. The Phantom Stranger mini, while visually cool, is horribly overwritten by Paul Kupperberg. My favorite stories are two of the shorter ones: Neil Gaiman’s Floronic Man 10-pager, and the campy Matt Hagen Clayface origin that closes the collection. I found the rest pretty forgettable, unfortunately. At least Mignola’s art makes them nice to look at.

[Joseph R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before Hellboy, Mike Mignola earned his comicbook living by working at Marvel and then at DC Comics. He was illustrator on various projects that are collected here.

"The Phantom Stranger" 4-issue miniseries features the Stranger, a hero who was an immortal servant of the Lords of Order. He was stripped of most of his magical power and his immortality, making him basically human though with little experience of human limitations. He discovers a plot by the Lords of Chaos: Their agent Eclipso is planning on destroying all of reality. Eclipso actually has three plans, so after the initial set up in issue one, the next three chronicle how the Phantom Stranger defeats those schemes with the help of human friends. The story was mildly interesting and the art by Mignola shows some hints of his future style. Sometimes faces are in black shadow; occasional frames provide atmosphere more than narrative. Overall, I thought it was a fairly average superhero story.

"The World of Krypton" 4-issue miniseries gives a version of the fall of Krypton. After a massive war over whether clones should have human rights or not, Krypton turns into a wasteland. The new, restored Krypton is very antiseptic--people hardly ever meet each other in person. They are given hi-tech suits that keep them from dying except by accident. Anytime someone does die, a new child is crafted in a birth chamber with the parents having minimal if any contact. Superman's parents are, of course, rebellious and do meet. Superman's father discovers that a plague killing Kryptons is not their biggest problem since the planet is about to explode. He sends his son to Earth where he can survive, maybe have superpowers, and definitely have emotions. The story drags a bit. Mignola's art is mostly perfunctory, with one wordless action sequence that shows his style to come.

In a follow-up to "The World of Krypton," John Byrne wrote a two-issue story illustrated by Mike Mignola for the fiftieth anniversary of Superman in 1988. The Earth is bathed in a wave of Kryptonian radiation that nearly kills the Man of Steel. Hawkman and Hawkgirl help Superman travel to the spot where Krypton blew up, which is the source of the radiation. Superman falls into a fever dream where he sees what would have been if many Kryptonians had escaped to Earth. I found the story a little obvious and underwhelming. The art is nice and mimics the World of Krypton miniseries.

"Curse of the Banshee" is another Superman story (with a cameo by Batman) where Superman fights the Silver Banshee, a Celtic villain from an island castle in the sea between Ireland and Scotland. The story is spooky--Batman delivers a magic tome he took from a Gotham City criminal. The book is written in Gaelic except for the English part at the end which shows Batman giving the book to Superman. As the story continues, the book gets more pages describing events that just happened. In typical Superman-story fashion, Jimmy Olson and Lois Lane go to the castle to get a story on Clan McDougal and wind up in the clutches of the Silver Banshee's family. Superman needs to save them and end the threat. The story has some classic Mignola elements--the magical book, the Celtic island, elder beings granting (and taking back) powers to humans. His style is on show as well--the black shadows and odd details.

"Memories of Kryptons Past" is an Action Comics Annual issue (so longer than usual) that has Superman taken in chains to an alien prison planet where he is forced to be a gladiator under the tyranny of Mongul. As he fights, he remembers his Kryptonian past. But the planet has another prisoner, an old wise man, who had gone to Krypton as a missionary and opposed the cloning culture there. The two stories of Krypton come together at the end, but the plot it self does not finish. The story continued in the regular Action Comics issues but the finale is not included here, presumably because Mignola didn't draw them! Frustrating.

"Shaggy God Stories" is from a Swamp Thing Annual issue and is notable because it was written by Neil Gaiman. The story has a swamp creature, seemingly not Swamp Thing, wandering in a swamp talking to a venus fly trap it is carrying. The creature tells the fly trap (which he calls "Milton") about various theories and stories about divine beings. The story is only a few pages long, so it must have been part of a longer series and perhaps makes more sense in context. The art is appropriately odd.

"Sanctum" is a Batman story where the Dark Knight has caught up with a killer in a graveyard. The killer is using the blood he has gathered in a strange ritual. Batman fights him and is injured while the killer dies. Batman falls through the roof of a mausoleum and into the sanctum of a long-dead man who uses Batman's blood to come back to life. The story follows a familiar dark arc and is clearly a prototype of Hellboy stories to come. Mignola did the writing and the art; he's clearly warming up for Hellboy.

"The Gasworks" is another Batman story from the Batman Black and White series. Batman finds a couple of hoods experimenting with a hallucinogen that causes abject terror. They get some on Batman, who is incapacitated. They start beating him to death, causing enough pain to overcome the hallucinogen. Batman turns the tables by getting some of the goo on them. Their nightmares lead them to death. The story is black and white with some red to represent the effects of the drug. The art isn't as clean as typical Mignola work but it works with the story.

"If a Man Be Clay" gives an origin story for the Batman villain Clayface. This particular Batman seems inspired by the old Adam West TV version, with some silly wisecracks from Robin and various Bat-gadgets that exactly fit the needs of the situation. Both the story and the art work well.

Interspersed among the stories are covers that Mignola drew for other comics like Blue Beetle and various DC heroes. That was a nice bonus.

Overall, the volume is a fun read for Mignola fans.

Recommended for Mignola fans.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's great for filling in the gaps in Mignola's DC work, but it doesn't contain some of his best DC stuff that is in print in other collections, including Cosmic Odyssey and Gotham By Gaslight. I understand the reasoning, but don't mistake this for a comprehensive anthology.

[Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to see early Mignola's artwork, and how you can see his current style developing in the latter part of this collection.

[Roger L. Boyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great variety of stories and amazing art by a master.

[E.R. Torre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great older Mignola works

I’m a big fan of Mike Mignola’s art and stories. Best known for his work on Hellboy, Mr. Mignola started in Marvel before moving to DC comics, where his artwork, at least to my eyes, evolved into the form it is today.

Within this volume you’ll find his Phantom Stranger mini-series, his Tales From Krypton four parter (written by John Byrne) as well as several odds and ends and covers. The Phantom Stranger mini, which I bought way back when as it was released to newsstands, sadly hasn’t aged all that well. The story proved slow and not terribly exciting and the art by Mr. Mignola was just starting to show hints of the elegance to come. Slightly better is the Tales From Krypton and subsequent Superman stories, almost all written by John Byrne and which offer an interesting take on the eventual destruction of Krypton. There are a couple of other Superman stories presented afterwards, including the return to Krypton and a gladiatorial contest overseen by Mogul (which, it should be noted, only features minimal Mignola art), which cribs and expands on the Kryptonian mini-presented earlier.

There are also some Batman stories, a Neil Gaiman written Jason Woodrue story, and plenty of covers. Missing from this collection, it should be noted, is the Cosmic Odyssey mini and a couple of the Batman Elseworlds stories Mr. Mignola worked on in and around this time. These are available in separate trade paperbacks/Kindle books.

Overall a good, though perhaps not quite great product that gives you an appreciation of Mr. Mignola’s growth as an artist.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dla niejednego fana twórczości Pana Mignoli ten zbiór będzie sporym zaskoczeniem. I może być to zarówno na plus, jak i na minus. A wszystko dlatego, że co prawda przy każdym zamieszczonym tu zeszycie pracował Mignola, ale w różnych rolach. I tych co oczekiwali jego prac z rodem z Hellboy'a, tu może spotkać srogi zawód. Bo stylu artysty zaznamy tutaj w ilościach śladowych.

I tak. Zeszyt z Batmanem, który przeżywa jakąś formę nawiedzenia, jest boski. Tyle, że to JEDEN zeszyt. Mamy tu też króciutki fragment z Batman Black and White'e i taki, który pokazuje origin Cleyface'a. Tyle. W reszcie lektury autor "tylko" używał ołówka i to jeszcze sprzed czasów, gdy wypracował swój genialny styl, więc całość jak najbardziej zlewa się z ówczesnymi standardami.

Mamy tu na początek Phantom Strangera, który jest poprawną opowieścią, ale nie urywa żadnej części ciała. Przygody Supermana i jego rodu, które stanowią lwią część omawianej pozycji są słabe. Znów mamy upadek Kryptona, klonowanie Kryptończyków, godzenie się ze swoją spuścizną. Tyle. Dla mnie była to męcząca lektura, bo całość się mocno zestarzała i nie jest atrakcyjna na współczesnego czytelnika. I o ile opowiadania ze schyłku lat. 80 XX wieku mogą stanowić jakąś ciekawostkę, tak w większej ilości nużą.

Z plusów widzę tu też całą rzeszę okładek w stylu autora, które są świetne. Nie ma w tym wątpliwości. Doceniam kunszt autora, ale niestety tam gdzie jest "tylko" rysownikiem" to poziom fabularny jest momentami mierny. Dla kolekcjonerów, a i owszem. Dla fanów Hellboy'a. No nie za bardzo. Dla całej reszty, macie setki lepszych tytułów na rynku...

[Michael Emond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read many of these stories when they first came out because I was such a big Mignola fan back then. His style was fresh and exciting and unlike any other artist I had seen before. While I like his Hellboy work I do find his current style is a lot more choppy and rough than I like. But this collection brings me back to his heyday. And best yet we get some great stories and some outstanding inking - P. Craig Russell for example - on his pencils. The standouts of the book have to be the four part Phantom Stranger mini-series and the four part Krypton mini series. I was pleased to see they both stand the test of time, especially the Krypton series. John Byrne wrote it, when he was remaking Superman for the 80's and he was at the top of his game - it has a very pulp science fiction feel - it makes me wonder why Byrne didn't do more of this Sci fi stuff. I also like the Roger Stern Superman story with Banshee. Sometimes writing doesn't hold up in these collections but I can't say there was a true dud in the whole book (well okay Neil Gaiman's Plant man short story was pretty dumb). The only disappointment was whoever edited this collection left a lot of typos (especially in the fourth part of the Krypton book) - if I can spot them in one read, it makes me wonder who was in charge of editing.

For me - a fan of Mignola's early art style - this collection is a treat.

[Bene Vogt · Rating 1 out of 5]

To be avoided by just about anyone!
Fans of Mignola's art are presented with everything he ever drew for DC (except the money makers reprinted on their own) which means 300 pages of very bad comics (200 of those John Byrne!) that have tiny traces of Mignola's unique style if you look for them (well, mostly, Perez inking one issue leaves one with the impression Perez found little to like in Mignola's art and just drew the entire thing himself) but absolutely nothing else to recommend them.
Somewhere around Gaiman's short about Jason Woodrue (we're talking 300+ pages into the book) the Mignola we know and like suddenly appears, which leaves with three stories and a few dozen covers of what most people came here for, totaling about 80 pages.

[Ming · Rating 2 out of 5]

The bulk of this book dates from 1987-1989, and even in those two short years, it's apparent how much Mignola grew and evolved as an artist. You can literally see him using more and more blacks and less line detail as the pages go by. By the time the 1990s rolled around, his gorgeous signature style was there to stay, and it's obvious that his art looks best when it's inked by himself.

As for the writing, most of it is pretty readable for the eras they were written in, with one major exception: The Phantom Stranger miniseries is mind-blowingly verbose and just plain dull. If I had to pick one, my favourite would be the Legends of the Dark Knight one-and-done, co-written by Mignola - I remember that as the issue which blew my fragile little mind so many years ago.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool Collection of some of Mike Mignola's early DC work, the most stories are writen by others, so i mainly judge this by Mignola's artwork, the first story was very bad, gladly the rest was way better, some very cool Superman stories with fantastic art, a nice Swamp Thing short by Neil Gaiman, that was a nice surprise ! and some Kickass Batman tales ! its very cool to see his work get better and better through the years, and to read some for me unknown DC work. 3.5 starts.

[Luis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book a bit disappointing, though I should have expected this. Mignola's art was enjoyable to see. I have grown so accustomed to seeing hellboy and his increasingly minimalist style that you sometimes forget he once drew these more detailed figures and panels. So seeing his early DC work was good, but the writing was dated and overly wordy (to be expected from older comics).
The later Batman stories were quite fun however.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly not the best Mignola related stories I've read. In fact, the two minis that start the collection are hard to get through. Perhaps the most interesting element of the collection is seeing Mignola's art style develop and how different it can look depending on who is inking it. Only for hard-core Mignola fans really. If you want to read his good DC stuff, buy Gotham by Gaslight or The Doom That Came to Gotham.

[Wim Dewilde · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're searching for the best Mignola stories, this isn't the book you're looking for...

But The DC Universe by Mike Mignola does offer a wide and varied overview of his work. Sometimes it seems simpler times, I don't think that the powerhouse that is Mignola could get away with flimsy space opera starringSuperman. But once upon a time he could and won't spoil anything but it was fun.

[Jack Haringa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful compilation of much of Mignola's lesser-known, or at least less iconic work in the DC Univer. It includes two limited series in their entirety: The Phantom Stranger and The World of Krpton, which provides a John Byrne-penned story filling in that planet's history before Superman's birth. It also includes a number of Mignola covers for books not contained in this volume.

[Dantanian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Likely to be more of interest to diehard fans of mignola or/and DC. ONLY in some layer stories do we really see his spare but iconic style creep. In... Interestingly in pages of books or scrolls. Some great covers too but if you want mignola as the fully fledged visionary you know and love, he's not really around yet.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

It might be a reflection of being a Superman reader as a kid, but I liked the Krypton stories the best in this collection. I love seeing the different color pallettes of different times.

The only thing that bothered me was a "to be continued in" at the end of one of the stories.