The Corpse This story by Mike Mignola based on the
Irish folktale ''Teig O'Kane and the Corpse'' was originally serialized in two-page instalments in Capital City's
Advance Comics #75-#82 and was reprinted in full for the first time in the one-shot
The Corpse and the Iron Shoes (January 1,
1996) along with back-up feature
Iron Shoes. In 1959
Ireland, Hellboy is enlisted by the Monaghan couple to deal with their daughter Alice who was stolen by fairies and replaced with a changeling named Gruagach. After exposing Gruagach by burning him with iron, Hellboy learns that Alice will be returned on the condition that he gives the body of Tam O'Clannie a
Christian burial before dawn. While Dagda sees Hellboy will honor the deal, a revenge-driven Gruagach attempts to stop him with the aid of
Jenny Greenteeth before being swallowed by the released boar-headed giant Grom. Hellboy fights and defeats Grom, whose shrunken hide had bonded with Gruagach, and buried Tam. While Alice is returned to her parents, Hellboy learns that the fairies' child abduction was motivated by their need to avert their eventual extinction as they can no longer have children of their own. In the story Hellboy is in Ireland in 1961 for a story introduced by
folklorists Edwin D. Wolf and Katherine Boggs in which he battles with the demonic
Iron Shoes and delivers it to a local parish church for its destruction.
The Baba Yaga This story by Mike Mignola was planned as a back-up feature for the ''
Monkeyman and O'Brien'' mini-series by
Art Adams but delays to that title meant that in premiered in this collection. In the story Hellboy travels to
England on
Christmas Eve 1989 where he descends through a passage in a graveyard in search of the daughter of a dying woman who is married to a prince of the underworld. and was collected in trade paperback
Hellboy: The Wolves of Saint August (November
1995) with some additional pages to smooth out the rough edges. Mignola has stated that the story, based on an
Irish folktale about
St. Patrick cursing a group of pagans, was written on the advice of editor
Barbara Kesel to prove to the audience that the creator was committed to turning Hellboy into an ongoing franchise. Mignola won the
1998 "Best Writer/Artist: Drama"
Eisner Award in part for his work on this mini-series. Taking place a week after the events of
Hellboy: Wake the Devil, Hellboy and Corrigan search for the
rogue homunculus that Elizabeth Sherman's group discovered in the Ruins of Czege Castle as she is dying from her pyrokinesis powers being absorbed by the homunculus when he came to life. When Hellboy and Corrigan learn of someone who has been recently robbing graves, they follow the trail to an abandoned castle where are ambushed by the creations of a crude homunculus who is revealed to be 'older brother' to the rogue homunculus. The elder homunculus, having killed his alchemist 'father' to acquire his secrets, is creating a new colossus body for him using metal and human fat and captures Corrigan to add her into its composition. But the rogue homunculus sides with Hellboy and protect Corrigan, using Liz's pyrokinesis to destroy the colossus after his brother merged into it. The homunculus is named "Roger" as he returns to his lifeless state after restoring Liza, Manning have the body brought to the B.P.R.D. base.
Gallery This collection includes a pinup gallery featuring art by B. C. Boyer,
Duncan Fegredo,
Dave Johnson,
Kevin Nowlan, Thierry Robin, and
Matt Smith. ==References==