Summary: After a series of mysterious deaths at a village inn Hellboy uncovers a plot by a vampire cabal.
Plot: I love vampires, and I have since I was just a kid. Something about the way Dracula dressed and commanded everyone's attention just made me obsessed with him and I was always disappointed that Hellboy wasn't neck deep in vampires over the years and this story not only scratched that vampire itch but also told us why Hellboy hadn't fought more vampires which was just a fantastic idea. The entrance of the first vampire at the opening of the book has to be one of the best beginnings in Hellboy, the image of the seductive vampire woman slowly materializing out of a silvery mist set to the English nursery rhyme, "Hark Hark, the dogs do bark!" was just deliciously creepy which perfectly set the tone for the rest of the book.
Art: Hampton's pencils have a softness to them that is in sharp contrast to terror he brings to the page in the form of the vampiric child. That sense of the real and the otherworldly is right at the forefront due to his style and that just fits what makes vampires so terrifying as a concept; they are monsters but they look just like us.

Grade:10/10  

Summary: While still in Japan Hellboy investigates a series of disappearances surrounding a hotspring. 
Plot: This is another story from the gap year Mignola took while working on the original Hellboy movie, and while these issues consisted of several stories each issue by various creative teams I'll be continuing to pick and choose which tales "count" and which don't. In this case as this short by Randy Stradley took place in Japan during the same year as "Heads" which was actually written and illustrated by Mignola it seemed like a no brainer to include it here. On top of that I really liked how the story played on the idea that the denizens of Hell were  able to inherently recognize Hellboy for what he was when ever they encountered him and after toying with him would leave with cryptic comments about favors when he came into his power. 
Art: Though Kim tells the story well the photorealistic look, while great for the people and even the spirit of the hot spring it just looked really wrong on Hellboy.
Grade: 6/10

Summary: After the tragic loss of her family Liz begins to find a home at the BPRD
Plot: Like the origin of Hellboy, I'm reviewing this small portion of a larger issue in isolation simply because as it tells of Liz's first days at the BPRD and her introduction to Hellboy is not only important to the character of Liz and the role she'll play later on but it's a great character study of Hellboy as well. A play on Steven King's Firestarter, Liz was a prominent character in Mignola's world from his earliest sketches of Hellboy but little was really done with her until BPRD got spun off into it's own book and the opening arc focused heavily on Liz with this issue in particular giving us her origin for the first time. What I really liked here was that although borrowing heavily from King's premise Liz was a much more human character than Charlie McGee as she's shown here wanting to reach out and be human where Charlie tended towards otherworldly upon developing her powers. On top of that this insight into Hellboy's first meeting with Liz was just pitch perfect, from the humor around someone trying to stop him from entering Liz's room without wearing a fire suit( which got a very dry, "You're kidding, right?" from Hellboy) to the heart warming yet simple gift of candy to break the ice. It's just a couple scenes but it really gives us solid moments for each character and serves to give us a softer look to Liz who had previously been very two dimensional in most of her previous outings.
Art: I think my favorite part of this flashback to Liz's origin is the way it was colored with a heavy yellow/orange lighting to it setting it apart from the rest of the issue but also fitting Liz's fire powers perfectly.

Grade:8/10

Summary: Liz Sherman spends her first Christmas with the BPRD and Hellboy and the Professor find they have a lot to learn about young girls.
Plot: Some Hellboy short stories are great because they are fun morsels of action, others because of their dark sense of humor and still others because of their mood or their retelling of folklore...but this one is special because its a tender character moment which is rare in Hellboy and is your first clue that this is a guest spot and not an actual story penned by Mignola. Although it's a story that ends with Hellboy and Liz fighting a small army of possessed snowmen, at its heart "Mood Swings" is really about a quiet moment between Liz and Hellboy. After an attempt at a humorous Christmas gift(the Professor and Hellboy got her a book titled, "Puberty: A Young Lady's to Pimples, Popularity and Mood Swings") went awry Hellboy tries to make amends by building a circle of Snowmen lit by candles; it's a cute scene and Hellboy's promise not to hide things from her though brief comes off as feeling incredibly heartfelt...and then the Snowmen attack. It should have felt abrupt, but  instead it gave Liz a real sense of agency because ultimately it was Liz who defeated them with her fire abilities...while Hellboy looked on smiling heavily implying that he allowed the Snowmen to be possessed by monsters so that Liz could not only blow off some steam but also to build up her confidence that her powers weren't all bad. It's a great moment and that it fits so well with what we know about these characters is a real testament to Cain's understanding of the world she's visiting in doing this guest spot.  
Art: Oeming is great at Hellboy, his angular, Toth inspired look is so close to Mignola's own that you find yourself forgetting that Mignola isn't the artist here which makes this guest spot feel all the better as Cain did the same narrativly. 
Grade:10/10

Summary: Following up from her Christmas wish to be a larger member of the BPRD, Professor Bruttenholm takes Liz on her first investigation.
Plot: This has been a favorite of mine since it first came out in 2011, and it still remains a top ten Hellboy story to this day( and Hellboy is only in in for like three panels). What makes it so good? In just three short issues The Dead Remembered manages to combine everything I love about the world of Hellboy in one story. I've said before that Mignola basically tells three kinds of stories: Lore stories that explore Hellboy's role as the beast of the apocalypse, Folktale stories that play off the various myths and legends of the world and Punch Em' Ups which are short tales where Hellboy encounters a weird monster, get's his ass whooped but manages to eek out a win in the end. Many times Mignola has combined two of these types in one story, whether it's a punch em' up where Hellboy fights a mythical creature, or a lore story that ends with Hellboy punching something in the face...but seldom does he mash up all three...but he does here and to great effect!  
 In the Priest's retelling of Anne Caldwell's life you not only get some folklore around both the witch trials in Salem and the original hysteria in England but we also get a look into Hellboy's fate as we learn that Anne escaped persecution from the Witch Finder Henry Hood...who was looking for information on the witch king...who is Hellboy as we saw (or for you few reading along, will see) Darkness Calls. It's a great connection and builds upon what we already saw of Hill and gives a greater context of his roll in Hellboy's legacy. And then to end it all you get Liz using her powers for the first time for constructive purposes as she burns down the tree that was holding the ghost of Anne...who actually was a witch and not an innocent victim of the witch hunts! All in all, it was a great story with folklore, explorations of Hellboy's world, some great characterization for Liz and some fun action at the end to boot!
Art: Like a lot of great Hellboy stories the art here plays a big plays a BIG part in making this an amazing book...only here it's not because of Mignola but Karl Moline. If you ever read any of the original Buffy comics, you're no doubt familiar with Karl's work but even if you hadn't read any of those comics just hearing how he was connected to Buffy the Vampire Slayer should tell you why he's such a great choice for a book featuring Liz Sherman. His simple, fluid style is really expressive and energetic which really captures the feeling of the personality of a young female protagonist incredibly well.
Grade:10/10