This is probably my favorite Hellboy story. It was one of the first I read and I’ve read it a few times in just a few years. It’s a little over forty pages and it’s got all the things I love in a Hellboy book.
#spoilers
The tale revolves around a small village called Griart, a place where its entire small population is murdered in one night, starting with a newly arrived priest who just so happens to be an old friend of Hellboy.
The why is no mystery. Hellboy and a young agent named Kate arrive in town and swiftly discover that Griart is the heart of a centuries-old ghost story about a royal family, the Greniers, who were cursed into becoming werewolves.
That’s part one.
Part two is a head to head fist fight of the century between Hellboy and the last of the Greniers. It’s a lengthy spar but the result is what one would expect. Hellboy takes him down and in no time the BPRD covers up the tracks.
It’s atmospheric, and is such a grim tale to read. Hellboy and Kate dish out a couple quips, but apart from that the whole thing is a ghoulish horror bash. I love it.
As one of the first Hellboy books I read it really broadened the scope of what I had seen in the two movies during my teenage years. Hellboy fighting a werewolf? That’s still one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard, and that’s just one story. There are so many out there and I’m so glad I’ve yet to touch most of them.
TL;DR Score: It’s a very self-contained, almost personal story, and I’d say a safe haven for anyone wanting a taste of Hellboy on a one-shot basis.
TL;DR Comics 