950

Outstanding. When the stories get shorter, Mignola's writing gets more charming and rivals the excellence of his art. It reminds me of some of the best of Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo work, where the creator is really on a roll in all facets of the stories short and long. ( )

This collection of stories might be my favorite of the Hellboy books I've read. Especially the Humunculus and the Wolves. ( )

Well that was a weird tonal shift. After two books[^firsttwo] chock full of Nazis and demonic imagery and larger worldbuilding, [b:Hellboy, Vol. 3: The Chained Coffin and Others|102461|Hellboy, Vol. 3 The Chained Coffin and Others|Mike Mignola|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486039255l/102461._SY75_.jpg|412217] basically feels like a number of short stories all told in the Hellboy universe.

That's not to say they aren't weird and wonderful:



And we do at least have some continuation of the main story:



But it's just weird.

One neat thing was to see the talking body that plays a major role in the 2004 Hellboy film. I remember that being bizarre and fun to watch.



Cool to see it's origin.

Overall, I didn't enjoy it as much as the first, but I still enjoyed it a heck of a bunch.



[^firsttwo]: [b:Hellboy, Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction|102458|Hellboy, Vol. 1 Seed of Destruction|Mike Mignola|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486039246l/102458._SY75_.jpg|98784] and [b:Hellboy, Vol. 2: Wake the Devil|102459|Hellboy, Vol. 2 Wake the Devil|Mike Mignola|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486039250l/102459._SY75_.jpg|98785] ( )

In a departure from the past 2 collections, The Chained Coffin is a collection of shorter stories that don't serve a larger arc. (Fear not, numbering obsessives like myself, as this nicely builds on and explains events from the past 2 collections and is more than worthy of the "3" on the spine.) Mignola's art is as beautiful as ever, and the scripting manages to juggle horror, adventure, and the occasional joke with aplomb. Worth the read, and more than worth the $9 I spent (thanks, used shelf). ( )