Hellboy: Weird Tales is a dark horse Comics bimonthly eight-issue comic book limited series that offered a variety of guest writers and artists the chance to give their own take on the Hellboy characters created by Mike Mignola while he was in Prague working on the first Hellboy movie. The issues were publishedin a two-volume BPRD one-shots volume. [1] [2]
Issues
Issue # 1
Published February 26, 2003 cover by John Cassaday . [3]
| title | Creators | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big-Top Hellboy | Story & Art: John Cassaday | ||||
| Hellboy, Sherman and Sapien go to the site of a spectral circus in Marktleuthen, Germany, 1994 which has been abducted by children in the local area at the turn of the 20th century. | |||||
| Sugar Coated Wire feat. Dr. Karl Ruprect Kroenen | Art: TyRuben Ellingson | ||||
| The first comic book pinup by Ellingson who worked alongside Mignola as designer on the movies Blade II and Hellboy . | |||||
| Party Pooper | Story & Art: Andi Watson | ||||
| Corrigan distractions Hellboy while Sherman, Sapien and Roger prepare for a surprise birthday party complete with pancakes and a candle. Hellboy sees a demonic presence and the Crown of Destruction. | |||||
| Children of the Black Mound |
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| An Orthodox priest in Tbilisi , Georgia , 1898, relates to the cautionary tale of Staynivolk, which fell victim to Baba Yaga in 1788 for renouncing its faith, to a seminary student. Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili who goes on to face the Russian witch. | |||||
| Doc Hollow’s Great Vibro-Destructo Machine: Episode 1 | Story & Art: John Cassaday | ||||
| Johnson attempts to apprehend the Crimson Hood but he uses trickery to escape. | |||||
Issue # 2
Published April 23, 2003 cover by Jason Pearson . [4]
| title | Creators | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lloyd McCay in Flight Risk |
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| Hellboy accompanies Lloyd McCay to Nevada , USA where an attempt to regain his freestyle jet-packing record altitude leads to an encounter with giant desert bats. | |||||
| Hot |
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| Hellboy and Hennessey to Shuzenji, Japan , 1967 to the Fukushima hot spring of a Tengu infestation that has been devouring tourists. | |||||
| Curse of the Haunted Doily |
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| A family heirloom brings back the ghost of Corrigan’s mother to nag her from beyond the grave. | |||||
| Midnight Cowboy |
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| A young Hellboy and his dog Mac penetrate the forbidden Hangar 7 at their home base in New Mexico , USA, 1947 to make a transforming discovery. | |||||
| Doc Hollow’s Great Vibro-Destructo Machine: Episode 2 | Story & Art: John Cassaday | ||||
| Johnson interrogates one of the Crimson Hood’s henchman to reveal the villains hiring. | |||||
Issue # 3
Published June 25, 2003 cover by Alex Maleev . [5]
| title | Creators | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still Born |
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| Hellboy, Sapien and Sherman rush to hospital to preside over a demonic birth. | |||||
| Down Time | Story & Art: Bob Fingerman | ||||
| Hellboy suffers from technical difficulties after insulting the BRPD ‘s new intern demon, Irving Goblinski. | |||||
| Hellboy v. Rasputin | Art: Galen Showman | ||||
| Full page pin-up. | |||||
| Family Story |
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| Hellboy finds himself in the midst of a domestic disturbance whilst researching in the library of a stately home. | |||||
| Hellboy at the Mountains of Madness | Art: William Stout | ||||
| Full page pin-up. | |||||
| Doc Hollow’s Great Vibro-Destructo Machine: Episode 3 | Story & Art: John Cassaday | ||||
| Johnson tracks down his kidnapped assistant to a mansion in upstate New York . | |||||
Issue # 4
Published August 27, 2003 cover by Leinil Francis Yu . [6]
| title | Creators | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dread Within | Story & Art: Jason Pearson | ||||
| Sherman, Ipswich and Apon go to face the ghosts in a haunted house in Portland, Oregon, on the anniversary of the death of Sherman’s parents. | |||||
| Abe Sapien: Star of the BPRD |
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| A day dreaming Sapien imagines an alternate universe where he has taken Hellboy’s place as the BPRD’s top agent. | |||||
| Haunted |
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| Hellboy goes to the Ravenschild Estate to investigate reported haunting. | |||||
| Shred | Art: Rick Cortes | ||||
| Full page pin-up. | |||||
| Doc Hollow’s Great Vibro-Destructo Machine: Episode 4 | Story & Art: John Cassaday | ||||
| Johnson bust up a meeting between the Crimson Hood and his Nazi contacts. | |||||
Issue # 5
Published October 15, 2003 cover by JH Williams III . [7]
| title | Creators | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Love is Scarier Than Monsters |
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| Hellboy and FBI Agent Emma Granger go on stakeout in Prince George’s County, Maryland to capture the Goatman. | |||||
| Cool Your Head | Story & Art: Scott Morse | ||||
| Hellboy goes on holiday to Yosemite National Park , California where he runs into an aging beatnik. | |||||
| Shattered |
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| Hellboy travels to Guatemala , 1979 to recover a mysterious Mayan artifact known as Xul Chalak. | |||||
| Pin up | Art: Cameron Stewart | ||||
| Full page pin-up. | |||||
| Doc Hollow’s Great Vibro-Destructo Machine: Episode 5 | Story & Art: John Cassaday | ||||
| Johnson unmasks the true identity of the villainous Crimson Hood. | |||||
Issue # 6
Published December 10, 2003 cover by Frank Cho . [8]
| title | Creators | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Command Performance |
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| Hellboy travels to Paris 1991 to end the murderous run of the Grand Guignol Theater Troupe. | |||||
| Friday |
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| Sherman and Sapien go after a demon in an aquarium. | |||||
| My Vacation in Hell | Story & Art: Craig Thompson | ||||
| Hellboy introduces a slideshow of his holiday in Hell. | |||||
| Pin up | Art: Steve Purcell | ||||
| Full page pin-up. | |||||
| Doc Hollow’s Great Vibro-Destructo Machine: Episode 6 | Story & Art: John Cassaday | ||||
| Johnson battles the Nazis but in the ensuing chaos the vibration machine starts. | |||||
Issue # 7
Published February 11, 2004 cover by Phil Noto . [9]
| title | Creators | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Love Story | Story & Art: Tommy Lee Edwards | ||||
| Hellboy Travels to India , 1964 to investigate a restored World War II era P-40 plane that appears haunted. | |||||
| Theater of the Dead |
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| Hellboy and Sapien face a gun toting headless corpse, a zombie orchestra, and a bunch of gangsters. | |||||
| Long Distance Caller | Story & Art: Kev Walker | ||||
| Krauss deals with the alien takeover of an Australian SETI station while on an insomnia-driven astral journey. | |||||
| Pin up | Art: Dave Stevens | ||||
| Full page pin-up. | |||||
| Doc Hollow’s Great Vibro-Destructo Machine: Episode 7 | Story & Art: John Cassaday | ||||
| The vibration machine brings the building down to Johnson and his assistant. | |||||
Issue # 8
Published April 14, 2004 cover by Michael William Kaluta . [10]
| title | Creators | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fifteen Minutes … | Story & Art: Jill Thompson | ||||
| A group of living skeletons sign-up to be set decoration for Hellboy’s battle with a giant rat in their SAG cards. | |||||
| Toy Soldier |
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| Hellboy and Sasaki attempt to rid the Dai Bang toy company of the child spirits in its warehouse. | |||||
| Professional Help | Story & Art: Evan Dorkin | ||||
| A mission to Oslo , Norway with Agent Izzy Kemper leaves Roger seeking the services of psychiatrist Dr. Ramsey. | |||||
| Pin up | Art: Gary Fields | ||||
| Full page pin-up. | |||||
| Doc Hollow’s Great Vibro-Destructo Machine: Episode 8 | Story & Art: John Cassaday | ||||
| Johnson and his assistant escape the collapsing building but the Nazis get away. Johnson vows to pursue them to Hunte Castle , Austria . | |||||
Collected editions
The series has been collected in two paperbacks and one hardcover edition:
- Volume 1 ( Hellboy Collects : Weird Tales # 1-4, February 2003, ISBN 978-1-56971-622-9 )
- Volume 2 ( Hellboy Collects : Weird Tales # 5-8, October 2004, ISBN 978-1-56971-953-4 )
- HC – Hardcover ( Hellboy Collects : Weird Tales # 1-8 (Volume 1 & 2) and the “How Koshchei Became Deathless” and “Baba Yaga’s Feast” back-ups from Hellboy: The Wild Hunt # 2-4, December 2014, ISBN 978-1-61655-510-8 )
Awards
- The character Hellboy in Hellboy: Weird Tales was nominated for the 2003 “Favorite Hero” Wizard Fan Award .
- John Cassady won the 2004 “Best Artist / Penciller / Inker” Eisner Award .
Notes
- Jump up^ Hellboy: Weird Tales Volume 1 . Dark Horse Comics. 2006. ISBN 978-1-56971-622-9 .
- Jump up^ Hellboy: Weird Tales Volume 2 . Dark Horse Comics. 2006. ISBN 978-1-56971-953-4 .
- Jump up^ “Hellboy Weird Tales # 1” . Dark Horse Comics . Retrieved February 19, 2009 .
- Jump up^ “Hellboy Weird Tales # 2” . Dark Horse Comics . Retrieved February 19, 2009 .
- Jump up^ “Hellboy Weird Tales # 3” . Dark Horse Comics . Retrieved February 19, 2009 .
- Jump up^ “Hellboy Weird Tales # 4” . Dark Horse Comics . Retrieved February 19, 2009 .
- Jump up^ “Hellboy Weird Tales # 5” . Dark Horse Comics . Retrieved February 19, 2009 .
- Jump up^ “Hellboy Weird Tales # 6” . Dark Horse Comics . Retrieved February 19, 2009 .
- Jump up^ “Hellboy Weird Tales # 7” . Dark Horse Comics . Retrieved February 19, 2009 .
- Jump up^ “Hellboy Weird Tales # 8” . Dark Horse Comics . Retrieved February 19, 2009 .
References
- ‘ Hellboy: Weird Tales’ at the Grand Comics Database
- Hellboy: Weird Tales at the DB Comic Book