Hellboy Volume 4: The Right Hand of Doom by Mike Mignola

For me Hellboy Volume 4: The Right Hand of Doom is worth the read just for the 2-page story on Hellboy and pancakes. I probably don’t need to say anymore, but I will.

This volume of Hellboy is a compilation of short stories divided into 3 sections. I enjoyed the notes at the beginning of each section from the author/illustrator on the background and inspirations for the stories. A lot of them were based on mythology and folktales such as King Volmer, Saint Leonard the Hermit, a Romanian vampire, and the Saint Dunstan legend. In the 3rd section is the title story The Right Hand of Doom, where Mike Mignola explains that he had been doing Hellboy for five years and people were no longer inquiring about what the deal was with Hellboy’s big stone hand and thought he needed to attract attention to it again with this story.

There were a few of the stories that I though had abrupt endings but overall I thought it was a fun and exciting read. I also found the sketchbook section in the back with the development of the illustrations fascinating.