Generally, when picking up a Hellboy story a person can be pretty confident of what to expect. But with the release of Hellboy: Weird Tales, series creator Mike Mignola and Dark Horse Comics have turned those expectations on their respective head.

Weird Tales isn't like any other Hellboy book in that it is written and drawn by creators other than Mike Mignola, who has been the singular voice for the character for some years now. In this first issue, the likes of John Cassaday, Andi Watson, Fabian Nicieza and Stefano Raffaele all put their own particular stamp on the paranormal adventurer, giving fans an opportunity to experience Hellboy from various different perspectives.

Cassaday bears the brunt of the issue, doing the cover, the lead story and a Lobster Johnson back-up that he does in a classic 1940s strip style. All of his contributions this issue are competent works with the previous two done in the fine, realistic style he has utilised on books like Planetary and Captain America.

The lead story, "Big-Top-Hellboy", is an interesting tale about a ghost circus that is responsible for the disappearance of some children. Of course, Hellboy and crew have been dispatched to find out what happened to the little tikes and the news isn't good. There are some nice moments here, and Cassaday is a strong storyteller, but I found the realistic style that he uses a little inappropriate for Hellboy, if only because it makes his legs look all funny.

The second story, "Party Pooper", is by Andi Watson and is my favourite story in the book. I'm a bit of a Watson fan, so seeing his version of Hellboy was a real treat for me. Watson's minimalistic style and colour palette really work here, and I applaud editor Scott Allie for getting him involved in the project. I'm hoping this isn't the last time Watson will contribute to the book.

The 'last' story is "The Children of the Black Mound" and does not feature Hellboy at all over the course of its eight pages. It's a straight-on horror tale about the Baba Yaga by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Stefano Raffaele, also the creative team on the upcoming Blackburne Covenant. A well done story, but overshadowed by the other two, if for no other reason than the lack of a Hellboy appearance. I enjoyed it, but if it wasn't there I don't believe I would have missed it.

Lobster Johnson is fun, brief and will require more episodes before I can give a real opinion on the strip.

Overall, I really liked Weird Tales. Mignola is off in Prague doing the Hellboy movie with Guillermo del Toro, so it's unlikely that we'll be seeing much of Hellboy in 2003. Weird Tales competently fills the gap left by Mike, and with Jason Pearson, Mark Ricketts and various others set to contribute to the next issue, I patiently await its arrival on the stands.