Hellboy: Library Edition, Vol. 3: Conqueror Worm and Strange Places

Hellboy: Library Edition

by Mike Mignola

Hellboy Library Edition Volume 3 collects three pivotal stories of Hellboy's journey, as he leaves behind the world of men and journeys into the unknown: the award-winning Conqueror Worm, which brings back some of Hellboy's earliest foes, in the story that ends his career with the B.P.R.D., and marks his first run-in with the fan-favorite masked hero Lobster Johnson; the haunting fairy tale The Third Wish; and The Island, a dark and surreal glimpse into the true origin of the Right Hand of Doom and Hellboy's own destiny; along with a new, expanded sketchbook of never-before-seen Mignola artwork.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Comic Book

328 pages, Library Binding

First published October 15, 2009

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

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This new Hellboy collection is a bit underwhelming compared to the first two releases. The fact that this contained "Conqueror Worm" saved this collection as this story changed the Hellboy status quo and the gave rise to the very good "BPRD" series.

It also introduced Lobster Johnson, a character Mike Mignola created in the same vein as the pulp heroes of the pre-comic or pre-Action Comics #1 past.

I'll recommend this for Hellboy completists only.

Since I rated those two first books highly, this one isn't too bad itself. Just that those two first books were really, really good.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Третє бібліотечне видання повертається від синґлів до сюжетної арки з кількох номерів, як у коміксі «Хробак-завойовник», чи до ваншотних довгих історій «Третє бажання» й «Острів», як у частині під назвою «Дивні місця».

Комікс «Хробак-завойовник» — можна назвати каталізатором усіх попередніх подій, де ми зустрічаємо знайомих нам нацистів, Германа фон Клемпта, Распутіна чи робота-горилу Кріґаффе. Основним завданням тут є дослідження таємниці щодо містичної появи жахливої істоти з-поза меж земного світу. Але потрібно саме звернути увагу на двох важливих моментах. Першим є те, що ми познайомилися із таким героєм, як Лобстер Джонсон, який відіграє свою визначену роль у цій історії та у всесвіті загалом. А другим — БПРО почало ставити рамки Геллбою, які йому не до вподоби, бо він змушений вибирати поміж своєю доброчесністю та відданістю бюро. І цей вибір у результаті буде важливою віхою у розвитку всесвіту.

Щодо другої частини «Дивні місця», то історія тут стає більш метафізичною та містичною, а місцями, мені навіть, трішки незрозумілою. Геллбой відправляється до неназваної країни десь у Африці, де він за певних обставин потрапляє в глибини океану, щоби виявити, що між ним та душею стоять якісь кістки мертвого перевертня, душі загиблих моряків та сестри-русалки. Вважаю, що це важливі історії, особливо для побудови світу, який вигадав Міньйола. Звісно, що ми отримуємо тут багато відповідей, але натомість з’явилося ще більше запитань. Африка, океан, містичні створіння. Просто супер.

Важко стверджувати, яка з цих трьох бібілотечок є кращою, адже історії в них кардинально різні. Тому скажу, що чим далі заглиблююся в цей світ, тим більше він мені подобається.

[Aildiin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three story in this one :
- Conqueror Worm which is a major Hellboy universe story. ( it ties into B.P.R.D., and Lobster Johnson and marks a key point in HellBoy's adventures.
- 3 Wishes and the Island : Slightly shorter stories where we see HellBoy wandering the earth alone for the first time.
The Island is the weirdest HellBoy story so far.

[OmniBen · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review for both volumes contained within this edition) 4.5/5
A little slow at first. A grower, not a shower I believe they call it. Enough so to make me think this may be the first Hellboy story I've read that was something of a dud, comparatively speaking, at least. That was until around half way through, and those typical Mignola vibes started to drift back in. The simple yet gorgeously beautiful narrative. The endlessly inventive plot. The hauntingly evocative visuals. By the end, it was all but another Mignola classic. Be sure to get those big, beautiful library editions and really treat your eyes to those Mignola pages.

A fucking masterpiece, not to put too finer point on it. Kicking things off with The Third Wish, which may just be one of, if not my favourite single issue (Ok, it's actually two) of the year. Coming in clutch with a few days to go.
It's probably not the first time I've said this in my short time with Hellboy, but superlatives are really failing me. Finding new ways to praise this series is getting more and more difficult, and continually heaping the same fawning praise upon it is starting to get a tad tiresome. I should really leave a little longer in between books to allow me to repeat my affections without it being too obvious, even for me. But then, I would have to deprive myself of this greatness. Surely you don't want me to do that to myself, do you? Don't be cruel. 4.75/5

[Pinkerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

English (but not so good) / Italiano
Shadows of war from the past in this story that brings into play probably the most weird villain of the series: Von Klempt with his ape! There is nothing to laugh however considered the bitter truth that comes out and, nevermore B.P.R.D. for Hellboy.
The consequent mystic journey in Africa wasn’t so exciting, too dreamlike and inappropriate to a pragmatic character as this. It’s like HB was listening Toto…
Toto - Africa
Nice the underwater adventure, meanwhile in the background a little big bastard called Gruagach cries revenge.

Italiano
Ombre di guerra dal passato in questo racconto che vede in gioco il villain probabilmente più strambo di tutta la serie: Von Klempt con la sua scimmia! Non c’è nulla da ridere però date le amare verità che emergono e, mai più B.P.R.D. per Hellboy.
Il conseguente viaggio mistico in Africa non è stato così appassionante, troppo onirico e inadatto ad un personaggio pragmatico come questo. E’ come se HB si fosse messo ad ascoltare Toto…
Toto - Africa
Bella invece l’avventura sottomarina, mentre sullo sfondo un piccolo grande bastardo chiamato Gruagach grida vendetta.

[Václav · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the catalyzation of preceding events. Conqueror Worm is the big tale. With Alien, Lobster, Roger it is a strong story which I enjoyed very much. And the side-conclusion of this story is Hellboy leaving the bureau. Since that moment, for the second half of the book, Hellboy gets more metaphysical and mystical. The bar is high from the Conqueror Worm, so the rest feels little underperforming. But it is still good and first of all important for building universe - we both more pieces of the puzzle here and more hints (and even answers) than before. But no direction forward. No proper conclusion. Just widespread Hellboy universe with countless possibilities.
(The rating is 5 for average because the Worm Conqueror is solid 6.)

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conqueror Worm might be my favorite Hellboy story. It's thrilling, well-plotted, beautifully drawn. Maybe the most perfect Action/Adventure Hellboy story Mignola ever wrote. A page turner that also begins to develop out the character of Roger the Homunculus, who's also one of my favorite ongoing BPRD characters.

Once it gets into Strange Places and The Island, Mignola starts to venture into different territory. No longer is Hellboy a wisecracking ghost hunting vampire killing monster puncher or whatever, now he's going on a trippy, existential journey into the heart of who he is. I'm not sure it all fully works (there's a lot of exposition), but I love seeing the new direction start to take shape. Hellboy is simply one of the greatest comic series of all time.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me, Hellboy is more cool than deep. Walking around in old stories is fun, but when you introduce Hellboy to these stories the tension and messages of these stories remove a lot of the tension and the morals those stories would otherwise have. At best, the stories have been about not messing with things beyond the reach of human comprehension and that greed is bad. This story shakes things up by introducing anti-non human rhetoric from the B.P.R.D, giving Hellboy a duality that was previously only hinted towards.

I wish they had done more with it, as it feels like a bolt out of the blue and could have been more engaging, but I won't begrudge Hellboy for finally adding some more meat on its bones. Just that I wish there was more to it.

[Fraser Simons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conquerer Worm was alright, but mostly just fun. Whereas the second and third stories were excellent. Clearly I like Hellboy to be embroiled in wild occult and mythological shit. The Nazi stuff is still good, but does feel a bit played out, as much as I like Roger. It all felt a bit like it was going through the motions. Maybe because Roger constantly looks for peaks to jump from?

Art wise, it’s a bit uneven. I wonder if it’s because it compiles a bunch of different stuff and arranges it chronologically and from different sources? The second one sure did—to great effect. It would make sense if this was the case here because the second story was really light on detailing and seemed very hurried. But again: It ends on a high note.

[Vladimír · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hellboy maratón pokračuje! Dočítal som tretí library book a som nadšený. Mignola vie na relatívne malom priestore rozbehnúť komplexný príbeh s ďalekosiahlymi následkami. Okrem Hellboya skvele fungujú aj vedľajšie postavy. Najmä Lobster Johnson je skvelý. Conqueror Worm je nosný príbeh tohto booku a aktuálne je môj najobľúbenejší zo všetkých, ktoré som s Hellboyom čítal. Toto si treba jednoducho prečítať. Je to úžasné. 👿👍

[Reece Lannan · Rating 3 out of 5]

(7/10)

Art is consistently great and I love the world, but this collection is not quite as strong as the first two. A lot of the new villains/monsters feel like variations of ones we've seen before and overall the narrative structure is getting a bit repetitive. Love the character and the series generally so hoping we see things shaken up in the next volume.

[Wojciechus Wroobellus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nie wiem, czy to ja się urabiam się pod myślunek Mignoli, czy faktycznie z tomu na tom Hellboy staje się coraz lepszą opowieścią. Dalej jest to prosta historia, ale w powtarzaniu tematu mrocznego przeznaczenia, wypartej tożsamości i apokalipsy znajduję niespodziewaną głębię.
Scena w „Wyspie” gdy Hellboy rozmawia z pradawnym starcem, widmem konkwistadora, który przepowiada zagładę ludzkości i nadejście straszliwego bóstwa z innego wymiaru, ma urok prawdziwej psychomachii (nawet jeśli Hellboy jest postacią irytująco stoicką).
Może też cała seria zyskuje w moich oczach, dzięki temu, że dowiedziałem się jak mniej więcej się kończy (i że w ogóle się kończy!).

Do tego pierwsza historia w tym tomie z Lobsterem Johnsonem, nazistami w zrujnowanym zamku i Czerwiem Zdobywcą jest fascynująco pulpowa.

[Yives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trzecie życzenie i Wyspa są najlepsze z tej kolekcji.
Nie mogę dalej przejść nad tym jak dodanie szkicowniku, było takim prostym a świetnym pomysłem. Proces tworzenia Wyspy >>>

[Brenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The deluxe reprinting of the Hellboy catalog continues! Again, all the same praise I gave to the first two Library Editions (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/..., http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...) in terms of the physical printing and contents applies here, too; these are sturdy, gorgeous books with rich coloring jobs and fun sketchbook extras complete with notes from creator Mike Mignola, along with the introductions from the original trade paperbacks, a foreward by series editor Scott Allie, and an afterward by Mignola. I've come to appreciate these forwards and afterwards a great deal, as Allie and Mignola recount and analyze the progression of the narrative over the years.

Thus far into the publication of Hellboy, Mignola has given us two major categories of tale - those of the pulpy, noirish main story arc that have to do with Lovecraftian elder gods, occultists of the Third Reich and such, and those of Hellboy's younger days, often self-contained stories that appropriate from or re-imagine myth, folklore and legend. The Nazi/elder god story arc has dominated the series, while the folklore and mythology bits have served as fun asides that flesh out the world of Hellboy a bit more. Library Edition Volume 3 is a pivotal collection; this is where you can see Mignola shifting gears from the first of those story categories to the second, bringing the mythological side of Hellboy's universe into the forefront.

First, we witness Hellboy's final battle against the Nazi remnants in The Conqueror Worm. This can be viewed as the last part in a trilogy of Hellboy Nazi tales, and it culminates in Hellboy quitting the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense and setting off on his own to figure out his destiny. The three Nazi books are solid adventure, and as I've said before, Mignola nailed it with his combination of Lovecraftian horror, Nazi goons, old abandoned European castles, and good ol' Indiana Jones-style duking. But even with as fine a creator as Mignola at the helm, such a concoction bears the risk of going stale. If there's one major complaint I've had about adventure/hero comics, it's that nothing ever changes, and everything gets recycled - the same plot elements and McGuffins are repurposed over and over and over. Mignola seems to be allergic to this, and he puts an end to this stage of Hellboy's life at its peak, and takes his character into a realm with infinitely more possibility: that of myth and legend and folklore.

This is the vista that opens up before us as we read the contents of trade paperback six, Strange Places, which contains two stories: "The Third Wish" and "The Island". It is in these pages that we come to understand that Mignola has stretched, cracked his knuckles, and embarked on something very different from the noir-ish pulp of the Nazi trilogy. Hellboy seeks direction from an African witch doctor, and soon finds himself sparring with mer-people, an ancient sea-witch, and other denizens of the deep ocean. Emerging from the sea two years later, he shares a bottle of rum with some ghost pirates before stumbling across another of the Lovecraftian demi-god creatures that he tussled with from time to time in previous stories, and ultimately learns the secret history of earth from a very strange, and very dead, Spanish monk. It is here that Mignola fills in great swaths of the overarching mythology of his fictional world, a mythology that has only been hinted at or revealed in shadow up to this point in the comic series. This anchors the Hellboy narrative in a new place, telling us that the Nazi/noir/BPRD themes that seemed to be defining elements of the Hellboy franchise in the earlier books were merely a segment of Hellboy's life, and a segment of the greater story that Mignola wants to tell. Strange Places was the setup for the next major 'trilogy' of Hellboy adventures that would delve more deeply into this world of myth and legend, and we can no doubt look forward to that story arc being collected in the future Library Editions.

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

All in all I found this collection highly enjoyable. Conqueror Worm held up to the high standard of quality of the previous Hellboy stories and contains everything one has come to expect from them: Nazi villains doing occult research in Gothic castles, mixed with Lovecraftian creatures, ghosts and apocalyptic visions. Enter Hellboy: boom, Boom, BOOM .

The Third Wish is also very good, less Nazi-Gothic, more weird witchcraft and eclectic myth-mixing reminiscent of Wake the Devil.

While the final storyline collected in this volume The Island is also quite good, it feels a lot more patched together. In his afterword Mignola describes the problems he had writing it and the several different preliminary versions of the story, how he wrote, abandoned and re-wrote it. While the finished version we see here is not bad, I for one think that it seems more disparate than the other storylines. There's the Coleridge-skeleton-pirate thing that gets the story going but seems curiously unconnected with the rest of the story which in itself remains a bit enigmatic. How the deuce did the strange old man and the Inquisition come to this Island? Somehow these plot elements do not seem to fit the remote pirate island setting.

All of these tales are illustrated in Mignola's minimalist-expressionist artwork and extremely terse writing, that have become the trademark of the Hellboy series. Almost no words are needed, since the tightly-knit web of allusions relies heavily on the reader's familiarity with the conventions of the Gothic Novel, pulp super-heroes, Lovecraftian weird tales etc. There's almost no information about characters and their motivation, since they are provided by the original contexts their stereotype derives from. This makes the comic more demanding but also makes for a pleasurable (and at times highly ironic) reading-experience.

Last but not least another praise for the additional material included in the Library edition. In this volume we do not only get extracts from Mignola's sketchbook-drawings of various monsters and character studies. The real treat are the drafts of the various stages of The Island enabling the reader to retrace how the story developed and how the story might have been, had it gone as originally planned. This edition is well-worth it's price!

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conquerer Worm has it's faults, but is excellent for those who were already introduced to Lobster Johnson -- He was introduced in a backup story to... Box of Evil?, and it was great to see him again when this first came out.

Three Wishes was completely excellent. Even though a majority of it takes place under the ocean, it's surprisingly bright for Hellboy (color pallete wise) and that's a treat. To me, it's the most interesting story in this tome.

The Island is not so good. It harbors the sin of "magic" working in mysterious ways that save the hero without making real sense (even for magic). I was surprised by the fresh take on a "saviour" whose "blood" held the key to salvation, but, as Hellboy points out himself in the book, this guy is monologuing harder than anyone in the history of the Hellboy universe. It was grating.

In the afterward, Mignola explains why The Island ended up the way it did, and it makes sense why he did it, but it still doesn't make it good. However, I was glad the explanation, and 8 pages of cut story, made it into this library edition!

[Ed van der Winden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I put off finishing the last of the three Hellboy collections because I knew that I would regret finishing them. It is the Mignola's art that makes this series such a high point of comics for me. That and the character of Hellboy himself, a laconic teenage boy in a huge evil-looking body who is an utterly good person. The strength of the stories varies, but this matters only little to me. Mind you, some of the stories are great, especially the longer ones (The Conquerer Worm is really good). And there are some little gems among the shorter ones (The Nature of the Beast is one of my favorites).
The look-and-feel of the books differs from the Hellboy movies, although I like these too.
I love these books! 'Nuf said.

[RoseBlight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another 5/5 for me. Conqueror Worm was just perfect, can't wait to start reading Lobster Johnson. The Third Wish was a little weak compared to the others but it's still better than most comics I've read. The Island might just be my new favorite Hellboy story. I'm such a sucker for esoteric lore and secret histories and this one is chock full of that. The panel after Hellboy drinks with some sailors and turns to find out they're skeletons is just quintessential Mignola.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far this has been my favorite of the library volumes. Conqueror Worm is just a great overall storyline and Strange Places does indeed take us to a few (haunted banana trees, anyone?). I really can't recommend the library editions enough. The binding is great and because of the extra borders you don't miss any of the pictures or dialogue.

[Brian Dickerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Conqueror Worm - Maybe my favorite Hellboy story. 5 stars based on it alone.

Three Wishes - Another favorite of mine, love the whole Bog Rosh aspect.

Island - Hmmmm... I think I need to read it another time. Lots of background details, somewhat complex.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mignola continues to weird me out in the best possible way. This is great stuff!

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This large collection is wonderful, and the bonus art in the back made my day.

[Tylkotrocheczytam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jestem mega into Hellboy universe, ale na razie najlepszy był drugi tom 🤌🏻 te gotyckie arty były wspaniałe, historie też!
A tutaj najbardziej mi się podobały dwa ostatnie.

[Rolando Marono · Rating 5 out of 5]

Si bien los tres volúmenes de Hellboy que he leído me han parecido excepcionales, una obra maestra alimentada del floklore mundial, es el tercer volumen el que se me ha hecho el más ambicioso, épico fantástico de los tres.
Este volumen está compuesto por dos volúmenes: Conqueror worm y Strange Places. Conqueror worm digamos que es una de las "historias largas" de Hellboy, presenta muchos cambios para el personaje, nos da algunas explicaciones acerca de todo lo que vimos en el primer volumen (si, sigue habiendo secretos que desenterrar sobre el pasado y el destino de Hellboy). Lo que más me gustó, en el aspecto narrativo, es que Mignola se atreve a tocar un tema que estaba ahí desde el principio pero hasta este volumen lo pone sobre la mesa, Hellboy se pregunta si es un humano. Sé que la pregunta podría parecer sosa pero obviamente hay que manejarla a nivel profundo. Vale la pena ahondar en los sentimientos de Hellboy y es ahí donde Mignola obtiene una oportunidad para seguir construyendo al personaje con profundidad.
En este volumen también tenemos la introducción de un emblemático y enigmático personaje: Lobster Johnson.
La historia del conqueror worm, en su premisa es simple. Hellboy tiene que evitar el retorno de un experimento nazi de la segunda guerra mundial. Pero cuando se enteran qué es lo que está retornando en el cohete nazi, es cuando la historia da un giro interesante y nos ofrece explicaciones o al menos, otro ángulo desde donde ver todo lo que le ha pasado a Hellboy desde el primer volumen.
Recomiendo que se aventuren en este volumen con una lectura fresca de los dos anteriores. Mignola enloquece en el presente volumen ya que está lleno de personajes y referencias a lo anterior. El autor se toma la molestia de colocar notas sobre en qué volumen vimos lo que está referenciando, pero aún así créanme, son muchas referencias y son importantes para entender lo que estamos leyendo.
Las otras dos historias "cortas" que componen el volumen Strange Places, son interesantes. La que más me gustó fue la primera, 3 wishes. Se nota el dominio en el folklore y cuentos de hadas que el maestro Mignola posee. 3 wishes es como leer la versión original de la sirenita, eso fue algo que me sorprendió y me gustó muchísimo. Hellboy es obligado a enfrentar a una bruja submarina con sed de venganza, y los parecidos con la sirenita son impresionantes.
La segunda historia introduce herramientas narrativas que Mignola no había usado antes y que construyen perfectamente la historia. El autor aprovecha esta historia corta para cerrar de cierta manera lo que hemos visto en Hellboy y construir el camino para las siguientes partes de la historia. Todo parece apuntar a que se va a poner mucho más oscuro que lo que hemos visto ahora.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of this volume features the Conqueror Worm story arc, and I really enjoyed it. Mostly, I like how Roger the Homunculus is developed, with his perception of himself changing from being a thing to a person. This dehumanization of Roger by many around Hellboy in Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense also creates a good reason for the disillusionment of Hellboy leading him to take a sabbatical from BRPD.

I really like the style of Hellboy by Mike Mignola. I don't want to call it simplified, distilled might be a better way of expressing the high contrast illustrations. Even with this style, a lot of information is passed on. It seems like he really influenced people like Eric Powell of The Goon, Volume 0: Rough Stuff in capturing a certain spirit with illustration, or maybe the tone of these series, blending horror and humor, causes me to incorrectly conflate the two.

Last, this book has a nice mix of delving into arcana and esoteric information, while also making it navigable to people who haven't read a lot of folklore. There are even little footnotes referencing other Hellboy story arcs and the like. This is so much more reader-friendly than some people like Grant Morrison or Alan Moore, who seem to delight in being unapproachable.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another large Library Bound edition.

This one contains:
Conqueror Worm
Strange Places
The Island
and a bunch of sketches

Conqueror Worm:
I wanted to like this. It had a good setup. And then it turned into standard Hellboy. Nazis. Monsters. And I trudged through to the end. Disappointed but not really surprised.

Strange Places:
A bit better, certainly than the last story I read. Though I think I would have preferred a story in Africa OR under the sea. So Hellboy can breather under the water cause there is a nail in his head. But you take the nail out and he can still breathe underwater. This one seemed to be kind of a Little Mermaid crossed with a grim very of a Grimm's tale. It was fine and readable all the way to the end.

The Island:
Whatever. Somewhat incoherent. And clearly it thinks of itself as cool.

The sketches:
Some of them were interesting. The rest of them were whatever.

The forward was good. The afterword was good.

[Bepo · Rating 4 out of 5]

• What an amazing intro. I loved the poem and panels. The panels were dramatic and the poem complementary to that.
• The story of: Hellboy Conqueror worm, is building up very nicely.
• What an amazing chapter. It was built up very neatly, executed finely, and closed superbly. I genuinely liked this one. Unlike all the others I didn't lose interest along the way due to it not being gripping enough. Something always eluded me about why people loved Hellboy. This chapter in Hellboy's story made me understand the capability of Mike Mignola as a good writer. Dialogue didn't feel stiff, each scene was gorgeously painted, and everything shifted along nicely.
Conqueror of Worm is now my favorite out of his written chapters.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Mignola continues his strong work on Hellboy. The high quality art and intriguing narrative from the previous two volumes continues here and the new insights into the Hellboy mythos is worth the read alone.

The first story arc is very much in line with the previous volumes. Nazi related, dark castle, exciting but very similar to the previous two story arcs. The second story really shakes things up. Due to events in the first half of the volume Hellboy travels to Africa and the events that spin out of that prove to be both visually and narratively riveting. A much different story but still a great piece of Hellboys journey.

Very much looking forward to the next volume.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

[4.5]
Yes! Hellboy is back and in good form in volume 3. Longer and more impactful stories. By this point I’m certain to buy the rest of the library editions. For what it sets out to be, it doesn’t get much better than this. The artistic talent Mignola shows is incredible. Panels are ever interesting and eagerly push the story. Dialogue is secondary to the imagery, and for once that isn’t a bad thing. The scale is tipped perfectly between new settings and revisiting older characters and plot lines. I can only hope the series continue in this vein

[Andrew Seaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to basics. Rather than the one shots of volume 2, volume 3 is basically two long-form stories. I’m hooked.

My one complaint is about the reliance of exposition in certain parts. Comics by nature so this more often than over forms of media, and indeed when done sparsely this is one of their strengths, but I still think “Show, don’t tell” should apply. I want to see the action, not a narration of the action.