Curious about Hellboy...

[cyberghostface]

So I really liked the Hellboy movies, the second one moreso than the first one. I think a lot if it has to do with Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth being one of my favorite movies of all time) but I am interested in the characters of Hellboy and friends. At the same time there seem to be numerous titles, miniseries, spin-offs, even novels, so it's a bit daunting. Where should I start and in what order? What stories are essential and which ones are not? I'll probably be reading them in trade from the library as opposed to scrounging for back issues.

For legality, a two-page story by Mignola that was apparently in the trade for Right Hand of Doom (found it on the internet).

Comments

[sigmund_droid]

Be warned, the comics are often almost nothing like the movies.

The movies tend to make it more of a superhero type flick. The comics are often more about fables and legends.

[q99]

In some respects, but Hellboy's the same in each, both punch Nazis, etc.. There's still a good deal of overlap.

[mrstatham]

That's a little unfair. The second film was almost more about the Prince and his sister, as well as the legend surrounding the Golden Army (told as a fable at the beginning), than HB himself. I also think Del Toro found his feet a little more in the second one, given some of the things in there were so very him.

Mignola also took longer for HB to get into the mysticism and fables sorts of things - The first sets of miniseries all involve Nazis and the like, right up to Conqueror Worm.

[sigmund_droid]

I don't mean to be unfair at all, I liked both movies.

The general flavour of the comics is just much different than the movies. It's more deep, more based on lore, less action packed and more gritty.

[icon_uk]

The first movie I likes a lot, the second... not so much. The look of it was amazing, and Perlman was as awesome as always, but the plot never worked for me. The fact that the princess knew the only way to stop the prince from the outset and did nothing about it, until the end, when she did, meant that she could have prevented the whole mess and involved loss of life at the same cost, but pretty much chose not to, which removed almost any sympathy I might have had for her.

[fifthie]

I don't think it's really fair to criticize the princess this way. I mean, given that anybody with access to any of the pieces of the crown could have destroyed them, rendering the villain's entire plan impossible, she's no more stupid than pretty much every other character in the movie!

[icon_uk]

Access to the pieces (or even awareness of what they were) was limited though. And she was in possession of the third piece but didn't destroy it.

[blackruzsa]

Oh my god XD
OH MY GOD.
OH MY GOOOOODDDDDD.....
8D

[piratewade37]

Thanks for the scans. Best thing I've seen all day.

[q99]

-Where should I start and in what order? What stories are essential and which ones are not?-

Ok, novels and such? Doesn't matter to the main plot. They're optional side-stories.

The only ones that are involved in the wider plot are Hellboy, BPRD, Lobster Johnson, and Abe Sapien (the latter of which are only one trade each).

And it's all pretty much publication order. Hellboy, beginning with Seeds of Destruction, until the fifth trade, then the first four BPRD trades, then they start to overlap. The overarcing plot is in BPRD more than Hellboy, at least at the moment.

Lobster Johnson and Abe Sapien come after BPRD 7 (Garden of Souls).

Weird Tails, Crossovers, Novels, etc.? All optional, read whenever you like, however you like.

[minervasolo.livejournal.com]

Start with Hellboy. After a few issues, he parts way from the BPRD. If you want to be nice to your wallet, you can basically pick which series to follow (so far, anyway, though they may hook back up eventually). BPRD is quite Lovecraftian, which Hellboy is more about the ancient myths of Europe.

[mrstatham]

It depends more on what you're interested in following. As it is, you can follow Hellboy without ever touching the BPRD stuff, since Hellboy is the central character and all the miniseries deal with what happens to him. More happens in BPRD, but it has a very different feel to Hellboy.

If you're looking for more stories in the Del Toro vein, dealing with more supernatural stories and myths and fables, go with Hellboy and collect those volumes. You'll get introduced to pretty much the entire BPRD cast along the way (save Hellboy 2's Johann, who is BPRD exclusive), and then if the BPRD intrigue you enough, you can read their stories later.

[greenmask]

So cute.

[baihu]

I personally think of Hellboy as sort of Neil Gaiman's Sandman meets Batman. It's sorta gothic, sorta serious take on the supernatural of mythology. Yet you still get a big red guy whose final solution is usually to punch and/or shoot the hell out of the big evil thingie.

It's a lot different from the tone of the Hellboy movies, cept maybe the second one was actually a lot closer now to how the books are, though it was more of del Toro's touch than anything from Mignola IMO. Ron Perlman also kinda channels himself through movie!Hellboy. Original Hellboy acts more his age and I don't know if it's a spoiler but to just dispel the notion, he does not get with Liz Sherman in the books since he acts more his age. Frankly, I always thought that development was downright creepy in the movie.

[ar_feiniel]

I love this story.

[mcity]

Oh wow.

Is this canon?

[point5b.livejournal.com]

It's by Mignola, but he's said it's just a fun gag bit. :)