Hellboy by Mike Mignola and Friends

OK, for those of you out there who have never read Hellboy, now's the time. The first thing to realize is the movie is not the comic. They are different visions of the same concept.

This is not going to be so much a review, but an opinion piece on where to start and how to read the Hellboy series.

Hellboy:
Where to start? You have three options. You can go out and track down the single issues. You can either purchase the trades. Or you can buy the new Library Edition Hardcovers. If you are going to buy the trades Amazon even has a collection of the first seven trades for one price or you can buy the individual trades. I'll provide links below.

If you are going the trade paperback route, I'd recommend reading at least the first three trades before deciding whether you like the series or not. The next leap would be through the fifth trade. If you're still not hooked? You should probably try some of the BPRD trades below.

The Library Editions collect two trades each and are in a larger, although not quite Absolute sized, page size and have more extras than the trades.

The Library Editions:


The Trades:


Or you can buy the first seven trades at once for a bit of a savings at the time this is being written:


BPRD:
The BPRD is a series about the Bureau for Paranormal Research & Defense, mostly after Hellboy left the group in the Conqueror Worm (TPB 5). The first two trades were collections of mini series and one shots that were published with a variety of creators attached.

Starting with Volume 3, BPRD is an ongoing series of mini series with occasional breaks, co written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi with art by the fabulously talented Guy Davis.

Volume 9 is the beginning of a series of mini series focusing on the BPRD, and specifically Professor Bruttenholm, in the time following the discovery of Hellboy in 1945, up until the time Hellboy joined the BPRD as an agent. This series within a series gives us a peek at who Professor Bruttenholm really since he died early in the first Hellboy mini series.

Finally, we have the Abe Sapien trade that is about Abe Sapien's first solo mission as a member of the BPRD. I've included this here because it is a book about the BPRD that doesn't focus on Hellboy and it seems the most appropriate place at this time. Also, BPRD is on a kinda sorta monthly schedule with brief hiatus months in between.



Additional reading:
There are also a few additional one shot trades/books available. First up, the Art of Hellboy. Buy this. If you like Mike Mignola's art or Hellboy this is a must have. Also released in a hard cover edition. Very nice. Beautiful art. Unseen covers and concepts. Beautiful. Must have.

The Hellboy Companion is a fairly comprehensive guide to Hellboy and the HB Universe. It has encyclopedic articles on various characters in the HB Universe, some we have only seen a glimpse of and some we are very familiar with. Several pin ups by Mike Mignola and each entry reads like a short story. There are only a couple of factual errors (Kate's birthdate is given as two different years) and I want to say it was originally solicited as a color book (it's black & white), but otherwise, it's a great book to have/read.

Lobster Johnson is a vigilante from the HB Universe. He appears in several Hellboy and BPRD stories. However this is his first solo mini series. He's very much in the milleu of Doc Savage, The Shadow, and The Spider. He and his band of merry men fight a character who is familiar if you are reading BPRD, but you needn't read the BPRD story to appreciate this story.



If you've read all of these and are hungering for more, there is the series titled Hellboy: Weird Tales. This is a two trade series of non canon Hellboy/BPRD stories by other writers and artists. There is even a Lobster Johnson story with art by John Cassaday and a Liz Sherman story with art by Jason Pearson. Unfortunately I couldn't find a link to the first trade on Amazon, but here's a link to the second trade.



I'll do a piece later on the series of novels, the three short story collections, and the animated movies.

Finally, there are the Hellboy: Art of the Movie books. If you are a fan of the movies, these are great books. If you are in it just for the comics, these are not essential. There is a little Mike Mignola art in the first book and even less in the second.


When all else fails there is a friendly and active community over at the Hellboy boards on CBR.

Wrapup: Honestly? I still love Hellboy and the supporting titles. I can't say I enjoy it as much as I did before it became a franchise. If you read nothing but the first five trades, you've had a wonderful experience. If you read the rest, it's just gravy. I miss the almost improv feeling of the first couple of trades. The later stories feel over thought some times as Mike has realized he eventually has to explain the stuff he throws in each issue. Still overall, I think Hellboy & BPRD are series you should try and continue to be at the top of my list of books I make sure I get each time they are released.