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Unlike most Hellboy stories that offer up a hidden nugget from Hellboy's past while fighting some giant monster in a recent time period, The Crooked Man is set in 1958 and a centers around a creepy story free of Hellboy's demonic mythos. However, like most Hellboy books that have come out since Mignola has turned his eyes towards the live action and animated Hellboy films, Mignola is here to write the story while the art chores have been handed off to another - in this case, comic book legend Richard Corben.
Set in the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, Hellboy has apparently stumbled across the work of a local witch who has hexed a woman in her community. While investigating the attack, local man Tom Ferrell returns. Having grown up in the area long ago, he knows the people involved and having left and traveled the world, he knows of Hellboy and his work. Tom becomes Hellboy's guide in the area as the two of them set out to uncover why this is happening
As Tom relates to Hellboy the circumstances of his own run-ins with witches in the area and the reasons behind his leaving the area for close to 20 years to travel, Tom tells the story of his meeting with a devil he called The Crooked Man. The Crooked Man was a greedy traitor who played every side against the other in the revolutionary days in order to amass his wealth. After having been hanged for his deeds, he returned from Hell at the Devil's request to hoard souls for his master.
Oddly enough, that is the only appearance of the title character in the issue. It is probably fair to assume that he will appear in a later issue of this 3 issue series, most likely having a hand in the witchings Hellboy is investigating. Despite this, Hellboy: The Crooked Man is one of the creepiest comic book stories published in some time. Corben's art is perfect for the setting, allowing his style to bring life to the overgrown mountain region and dank moss that blankets the hills. Corben also has a unique take on human anatomy that fits the hermits and backwoods mountain folk perfectly. Short of Mignola himself, I can't think of a better artists for this series.
While Hellboy: The Crooked Man may not offer any long-hidden secrets of Hellboy's origin or shed light on the relationships he has with people around him, it is one of the best horror books to come along in several years. Issue 1 is available now for the cover price of $2.99.