Hellboy: Odd Jobs

Hellboy Novels #Anthology

by Christopher Golden, Mike Mignola (Illustrator)

Following the success of the 1996 illustrated novel The Lost Army, Dark Horse commissioned writer Christopher Golden to gather some of the brightest creative lights in horror and mystery fictionBrian Hodge, Poppy Z. Brite, Nancy A. Collins, Greg Rucka, Chet Williamson, legendary horror/humor cartoonist Gahan Wilson, and many moreto produce a prose anthology of Hellboy short stories, presenting original tales of the world's greatest paranormal investigator. Illustrated by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Short Stories

212 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2000

About the author

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, Of Saints and Shadows, and Red Hands. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Lady Baltimore. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden co-hosts the podcast Defenders Dialogue with horror author Brian Keene. In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards. For the Bram Stoker Awards, Golden has been nominated ten times in eight different categories. His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Latasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Siona Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

None of these stories are bad, but I think Hellboy really just is best in the comics.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[Orrin Grey · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Wing Kee · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was part of a Humble Bundle deal (great charity give them a look) that brought me back to the world of Hellboy and the BPRD. Here you have a collection of short stories from various famous authors who have made their name in this field.

The stories come from all over and have a wide range of focuses as well as styles which I found great fun and gave so much more depth in relatively so few pages. Yes you will not find any great secrets of revelations over Hellboy - for those you will need to look elsewhere but rather the "run of the mill" and mundane operations that Hellboy ran.

As such the stories were able to focus on other things - many of which are lost in the bigger stories and I think for that this anthology really does shine through. There are several others in the series I guess I need to read them too after this one

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am going to DNF this anthology for now because I am just not really feeling it at the moment. Also the first two stories were fine but not amazing which is contributing to not feeling it.

Rating is just for the first two stories.

Medusa’s Revenge by Yvonne Navarro
3 stars

A story about Medusa’s head being found and causing chaos and Hellboy having to bash his way to victory. Short and enjoyable.

Jigsaw by Stephen R. Bissette
3 stars

A story about a jigsaw head that wants to be put back together so it can grow powerful. A weird story that was a bit boring at times.

[Joe Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Petr Čapek · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.schefikuvblog.eu/christoph...

[Willow Redd · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

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).

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent collection of Hellboy short stories, that gives other authors a chance to play in Mike's universe. Like any anthology, it's a mixed bag, but I think the good outweighs the bad.
Like the illistrations that MIgnola provided for each story.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Antología de autores grossos en el Universo Hellboy.

[Ben Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first encounter with Hellboy, like many, was the 2004 movie directed by Guillermo del Toro. I was 20 years old when that movie premiered, back when comic book movies seemed to AVOID the big studios. I miss that time so much. Despite being a good age, I felt like I had aged out of comic books, and it was only a few years ago that I finally read some of the graphic novel collections of Hellboy's adventures and could see the connective tissue with that first movie.

I apparently picked up Odd Jobs for 49 cents at a Goodwill and it's sat untouched ever since. I assumed it was more comic stories, so I was pleasantly surprised that it was a short story collection! And it's a pretty solid one! Since my first exposure to Hellboy was Ron Perlman's interpretation of the character, that's always what I'm going to envision with these stories, but thankfully, he was pitch perfect casting, so even though the images are limited in this one, it was easy to bring these stories to life in my mind.

I also liked the fact that this collection was a handful of smaller but fun adventures. It reminded me a lot of The Dresden Files in tone and leaned more into the "paranormal investigation" aspect of things.

However, if you've never read Hellboy nor seen the movies, I would definitely not make this the first book you read. There is no handholding. It takes for granted that you not only know who Hellboy is but also who Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, Professor Bruttenholm, and Tom Manning are, although Liz gets one quasi-origin story in this collection.

So yeah, a good time, and it proves the effectiveness of Hellboy as a character because you don't always need visuals to go along with him. However, whether it's Mike Mignola's incredible artwork or GDT's use of practical effects, the visuals are so much FUN that they are kind of missed here!

[Sol · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.


"Medusa's Revenge" by Yvonne Navarro - Athena's shield (bearing the head of Medusa) is unearthed, and her statue-victims return to her control. Hellboy is partially petrified, allowing him to defeat her. Not bad, sets the small Grecian village setting well at the beginning. Mentions Anastasia.

★ "Jigsaw" by Stephen R. Bissette - A Parisian janitor discovers a puzzle, which assembles into a blood-sucking human head promising power and riches in exchange for assistance. Hellboy has dreams of his head being vivisected, and learns these dreams have a connection to Moro, a French occultist who organized the "Piedmontese Easter" massacre, whose head was cut apart when it failed to burn after his execution. Very creepy, especially the folded leaves, and Moro sucking the janitor's "vital essence". It does give the sense that it was an entirely unrelated horror story that had Hellboy grafted onto it (I assume the janitor's girlfriend would've killed Moro in the non-Hellboy version), but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Lots of great Hellboy stories have him as more or less a spectator to events having nothing to with him, and it's well written besides.

★ "A Mother Cries at Midnight" by Philip Nutman - Oppenheimer calls a young Hellboy back to New Mexico to find a missing boy, prompting Hellboy to recall a propitious childhood encounter with La Llorona. A melancholy story, ties in well to Hellboy's backstory, and forgoes the obvious by placing the vengeful ghost in a non-antagonistic role.

"Delivered" by Greg Rucka - New York's giant rats steal Hellboy's prized revolver, seeking a business arrangement with the B.P.R.D. Amusing.

"Folie À Deux" by Nancy Holder - Hellboy is charged with investigating reports of demons destroying American platoons in 1967 Vietnam. Eh.

"Demon Politics" by Craig Shaw Gardner - Senator Lipton (formerly Commander Freedom) calls Hellboy in to Washington to investigate the increasing acrimony of Beltway politics. Proves to be demon infestation. Eh.

"A Grim Fairy Tale" by Nancy A. Collins - Children are disappearing in Central Park, fairies prove to be the culprit. Fairies as parasitoids is an okay idea (if totally off-track from their treatment in the comics, even at this early stage), but the story is just a monster fight.

★ "Scared Crows" by Rick Hautala and Jim Connolly - Hellboy relates, on a dark and stormy night, the tale of a serial killer who possessed a scarecrow after death. The story-within-a-story isn't that interesting on its own, but the telling was atmospheric, and Hellboy's bickering with his friend spices it up ever so slightly. And there's a really funny "twist" at the end.

"Where Their Fire is Not Quenched" by Chet Williamson - After four black churches are deliberately burnt down, churches of a sect preaching against miscegenation appear to burn down by supernatural means. Hellboy tracks down a priest-turned-sorcerer in the act. He claims the racist churches are preaching evil, and his burnings are an act of good. His view is confirmed when a priest proves to be a demon. A bit on the nose, but not terrible.

"I Had Bigfoot's Baby!" by Max Allan Collins - Hellboy investigates a Bigfoot sighting. Plays with the idea by having both a hoaxer and the real Bigfoot appear, but not that interesting. Mentions Anastasia.

★ "The Nuckelavee" by Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola - The only story canon to the main series, as it was an idea for a comic that Mignola that shelved, and boy can you tell. It slots right into the "Hellboy stands around while someone tells a weirdass story to him" mould. It's an okay story, but I wish Mignola had drawn it, the mansion built around a fairy keep, the painting of the barbarian ancestor, the Nuckelavee most of all. At least we have Bogleech's old art contest.

"A Night at the Beach" by Matthew J. Costello - Hellboy goes to Coney Island to investigate people chewed up before they drown. What is with New York in this anthology? Other than bringing in Kate as a supporting character, doesn't do anything to stand out.

"Burn, Baby, Burn" by Poppy Z. Brite - The only story not featuring Hellboy, a tale of Liz's early years as a runaway of the B.P.R.D. Not particularly interesting to me, but I appreciate that it sets itself apart from the pack.

★ "Far Flew the Boast of Him" by Brian Hodge - More than two dozen historical reenactors are brutally killed in a deserted heath near Lindisfarne island, by none other than Grendel. Along the way Hellboy muses about UFOs, British big cats, and converses with the ghost of a hanged man. I really loved the style of this, and I'll definitely be checking out other writing by Hodge. One of the best stories in here.

[CHud · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, if you don't know about Hellboy then you probably will not enjoy this. You should first either read the Hellboy comics or watch the movies. if you watch the movies be sure to watch the first movie first, as it tells of Hellboy's origin.

This book is filled with a variety of Hellboy's missions, complete with description of the other worldly creatures he and his compadres in the adventures come up against.

I will not spoil the reading adventure by writing a synopsis. If you think this will be you cup of tea then you should jump in. I listened to the audible book and highly recommend it. The narrator did a terrific job!

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hellboy is back in this collection of short stories that drop him in the deep end time and again but with a lot of variety. So, when he’s not facing down Medusa, he’s figuring out how to handle U.S. Congressmen possessed by demons, or how to find a murderer’s hand as it scurries around seeking new victims. The best story was a tale in a bar where Hellboy explains how a serial murderer got to continue killing people after he himself was executed. Overall, it’s a fun collection that lets Hellboy strut his stuff.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Michael Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the weird comic characters that caught on with a bang. Whether a graphic novel/comic or a written tale, Hellboy and the hunt for the bad supernatural works. And like some other series, the Hellboy concept works for many to tell a story as outside of some of the comic loops, anything will work in the short story concept since there are so many bad things out there, Hellboy and his associates never lack in work.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the comic books and I enjoyed the movies but this book or short stories left me a bit empty. While there are a few stories which evoke some of the Hellboy excitement for action most are more emotionally based. It’s worth a read if you are a fan but if you are new to Hellboy read the comic first so you can get a better feel for the characters.

[Leander · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Jeffrey Kuchma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book of Hellboy short stories. I'm an old comic book reader, so I was familiar with the character from them. You should have at least seen one or more of the Hellboy movies to fully appreciate the book and the characters. Most of the stories were good, and a few fell a little short. All in all a good collection of tales.

[Mikael Cerbing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly 3 star stories (and a couple of 4. I really liked the one with a big talking rat that collect rare books and give dental to his employees. And the Grendel one was really good as well. Almost a bit Frankeinstein-ish). But I so enjoy my time that I spend in Hellbys world that I put another star on this one.

[Pghbekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.