Hellboy Library Edition, Volume 4: The Crooked Man and The Troll Witch

I’m about a quarter of the way through (just finished the first story) and the details of the drawing has improved a lot since the first volume and story! Great addition to my collection!

i am not sure if the production costs have gone down but my copy of volume four seems cheaper than the previous three. i accidentally got some drops of water on the cover and the image on the front cover came right off. seemed to be a very cheap glue/paper used. aside from that, i love hellboy and my favorite thing about hellboy is mignola's artwork. the longest story in this volume is not illustrated by him which normally does not bother me, the alternate artists in the bprd series are just fine. but this artist simply does nothing for me, i was very distracted from the story by his very strange sense of facial features and scale. it might be just me, but i could not enjoy the one story in this volume that made up over half the book. like a previous reviewer pointed out, the story could have had hellboy removed from the plot and not have altered the story at all. other than that, i am still happy with the end product, i am a completest and if i must have volume 4 to complete the set, then i will have to enjoy it.

I was so disappointed when I heard that Mike Mignola was going to take a break from drawing Hellboy, and hand the job off to other artists. This book has assuaged my worries. What a cool collection of stories and art. I like that the artists aren't trying to draw like Mignola. They each have their own style of drawing horror.Having said that, The Crooked Man, one of the longer stories in this tome, could happen without Hellboy. It's a fantastic story, and I loved it, but Hellboy's adds nothing to it. He ends up being just some big, red observer. It's kinda bizarre.Regardless, I have to highly recommend Volume 4 for any Hellboy fan! If you're new to Hellboy, start with Volume 1; it's still my favorite so far. You won't be disappointed!

...then you probably already know what to expect from Mike Mignola, and he doesn't disappoint. The Troll King and The Crooked Man are dark, mature modern reinterpretations of mixed myths and represent Mignola at the pinnacle of his ability. The art style is a bit different than fans may be used to (I think this is the first Library Edition with another illustrator), however, it still maintains the flow and atmosphere to fit the story. The book itself, like the previous three, is gorgeous and well-constructed with cloth-bound covers - I wish my Absolute Editions of the Sandman series were produced to the same specs. Highly recommended!

Mignola always writes the Hellboy short subjects to be so interesting, that you require little of the mythos to follow along, but knowing the overall story adds much weight to them. These are my favorite Hellboy standalone stories, and all the art, especially that of Richard Corben is fantastically unusual and engrossing for a modern comic book.

The Hellboy Library editions are gorgeous and well-made collections, well worth the price if you are a fan of Hellboy, Mignola, or just darn good comics that deviate from the costume-clad norm. Volume 4 continues Hellboy's travels, introducing new artists and such to the mix (which would normally make me twitchy but works rather well here). These are a must have if you are already a fan, and it will not take long for you to fall in love with this series if you are a newbie. Highly recommended!

If you've bought these as they come out, you know that the quality is excellent, and the tales are terrific. I always felt the construction was beautiful, but there are flaws. The glossy pages absorb fingerprints, and the fabric cover attracts lint. For that reason, I wear a cheep pair of clean work gloves when I read the Library Editions. This one of course features a new art style that is very compatible with the old style. I quite like it. Well done.

Absolutely amazing book

Whoah! With volume 4, we're now venturing into a much darker realm of the Hellboy stories due to different storytellers and artists. The opening story of 'The Crooked Man' is quite a richly dark, compelling and, because of the artwork, almost disturbing story. Having said that, it's certainly not a bad thing to have different perspectives of Big Red, but it's also nice to have Mignola's humorous style pop up at intervals to remind us readers of why fell fell in love with Hellboy in the first place.Anyway, all in all, it is another monumental book in the series and will certainly not disappoint. Lots of great short stories, lots of amazing artwork, but above all, lots of great entertaining corners for you to escape to on a dark night.Just buy it, you won't be sorry.

Cover of these books are very good the spines are solid, the print is crisp, don't just splash out you're cash, prices on these books can be a bit steep, just be patient and wait for certain volumes to go down on special offer, I have 4 volumes, so far just waiting around for little deal, 😀

Great stories/artwork

Love the quality feel of this production, together with the great Mignola artwork & storeys really why wouldn't you buy this.

He loves it! Says it is a bit more gritty than the previous one but still worth every penny! Excellent quality of book as always!