5 out of 5

There’s magic left in these HB bones after all.

Short and BOOM filled: In a flashback tale, Mr. anti-Christmas Krampusnacht invites Hellboy out to his abode to have the Hellchild battle him to a hopeful demise, tired, he is, of being on Earth.

Hellboy is happy to oblige, the battle wended, in Mignola’s fashion, with dreamy folklore.  The “twist” of the coda is actually excellently executed (sometimes these bits seem unnecessary, but here it’s a great story addition), and the bonus X-Mas memories pinups from artist Adam Hughes are tons of fun.  Bonus sketches round out the page count.

It’s super cool seeing Hughes’ painterly take on things, and though I’m not always keen on his layouts, the art, overall, is gorgeous and energetic, and I get the gist via momentum even if I don’t always agree with Hughes’ choice of angles or framing.  So we err to a perfect rating in terms of overall enjoyment, here.