Hellboy vol. 7: The Troll Witch and Others

The seventh volume of Hellboy includes many short stories and an tiny miniseries that has in common the Prague Mignola's travel and the collaboration of two great artist from the Seventies and Eighties that expanded their careers into the category of god-like authors: Richard Corben and P. Craig Russell. Instead of the up and down compilation, this book is full of great stories.

The Penanggalan

The first Hellboy adventure where our hero fights a demon from the Malaysian folklore. It is a common craziness of Mignola. Hellboy walks willingly into the lair of a monster, this time a body-less head with his intestines as tentacles that give the big guy a great fight. Cool story. 

The Hydra and the Lion

A classic monster renewed from a Disney's adaptation of the classic myths (Hercules, you know), Mignola's daughter's imagination and an epilogue to try to come up something from it. A fun story again.

The Troll-witch

One of the best Hellboy stories is the sad Norwegian folktale adaptation into a modern comic by Mignola. Two sisters, one lovely and one troll-like create a bond so strong than the damnation over the human sister. The Troll sister explains her vengeance and how to get rid of the killers that in fact are the bad trolls that cursed her sister.

The Vampire of Prague

This story came with Mignola from his travel to Europe to help Guillemo del Toro in the first Hellboy movie. It is drawn by P. Craig Russell and although it has so many cool ingredients lacks in real interest and energy. The fight against a vampire that always runs away it is only sustained by the amazing art of the comic legend author.

Dr. Carp's Experiment

A haunted house where Hellboy remembers a long forgotten memory of a Doctor using Hellboy's blood to transform an ape into a killing machine is the only reason for this cool fight scene where we see how cool a monkey could be in the hands of Mignola.

The Ghoul

The story of a ghoul that sacrifices himself to serve his master to the end mixed with Hamlet. It was an experiment, but It worked better than other well-plotted Hellboy adventures. It could not be a fan favourite, but I really like it.

Makoma

Makoma, the longest story in the album is the comic miniseries (two issues) that showcased the talents of Mignola and Corben. An Africa legend, as big as the continent itself is the reason for this adventure. Hellboy impersonates Makoma a legendary hero that spawned himself the whole continent. Hellboy travels in this half-dream memories far and across Africa, searching for Giants and demons that he defeat one by one. Each one of them make him stronger until he helps the Spirit of Africa (an amazing giant rino) to give birth to all the life. A great read and one of the best Hellboy stories.