Hellboy Universe

The Hellboy Universe is the fictional universe of the Hellboy comic and its various spin-offs, created by Mike Mignola. Its first appearance was in a black-and-white, four-page promotional comic by Mike Mignola with a script by John Byrne published by Dark Horse Comics in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 (19 August 1993), distributed at the San Diego Comic-Con. There are currently 52 trades and 2 OGNs in the series.

Hellboy Universe Titles

Hellboy

This series, focused on the titular Hellboy, spawned the Hellboy Universe. There are generally two types of Hellboy stories; Pre-Cavendish (stories set chronologically before the first miniseries Hellboy: Seed of Destruction) and Post-Cavendish (stories set chronologically after the first miniseries). Post-Cavendish stories are usually very continuity heavy, and require the reader to be relatively familiar with Hellboy's history. Pre-Cavendish stories tend to be primarily short, stand-alone stories.

In addition to the comics, the Hellboy novels written by author Christopher Golden are also considered in-continuity, although his short stories are not.^[1]

Hellboy stories are collected in oversized hardcovers known as library editions.

Hellboy in Hell

Unlike previous Hellboy stories, Hellboy in Hell was an ongoing series. It was not a monthly series, but rather a new issue came out when it is finished. When there was an arc spanning multiple issues, each of those issues came out monthly.^[2]

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.

On July 8, 2014, just prior to SDCC 2014, Entertainment Weekly^[3] and Nerdist^[4] announced the new title, kicking off with a five-issue miniseries. It is set in 1952, beginning with Hellboy's first mission for the B.P.R.D., a series of grisly murders in the Brazilian jungle. The title debuted in December 2014. This series is simultaneously a spin-off of Hellboy and B.P.R.D.

B.P.R.D.

B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) began as an experiment to see if the Hellboy Universe could be expanded with stories without Hellboy in them.^[5] It started with a three-page untitled promotional piece before launching into the three-issue miniseries Hollow Earth. The first cycle was later collected in omnibus format and retitled "Plague of Frogs". The series is currently in the middle of its second, much larger, cycle, "Hell on Earth." Additionally, there are several flashback stories to early periods in the B.P.R.D.'s history.

B.P.R.D. 1946 – 1948

A sub-series dealing with the early years of the B.P.R.D. (though there is a short story set even earlier). The series was originally planned to go for longer, on into the 1950s,^[6] but it was cut short because Mike Mignola felt he had too many books going on.^[7] Joshua Dysart was the lead writer for this series, although the final miniseries was written by John Arcudi to connect with what he was doing in B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth. In addition to 1946, 1947 and 1948, the series also includes the short stories Bishop Olek’s Devil and And What Shall I Find There?

The trades B.P.R.D.: 1946 and B.P.R.D.: 1947 were originally volumes 9 and 13 of the original B.P.R.D. numbering before the B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs omnibuses were devised. Reprints of these volumes no longer have numbers on their spines.

B.P.R.D. Vampire

This was discreetly introduced as a new series of B.P.R.D. when the trade come out with a number 1 on its spine and "B.P.R.D. Vampire" written in the series box (instead of just the usual "B.P.R.D."). Picking up after B.P.R.D.: 1948, Vampire follows the story of B.P.R.D. Agent Simon Anders as he hunts vampires. The series is written and drawn by twins Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon with Mike Mingola. Mike Mignola has said the twins have the freedom to write and draw more stories with this character if they wish.^[8]

B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs

A sub-series largely dealing with a plague of frog monsters. John Arcudi became the lead writer with Mike Mignola with the miniseries The Dead in 2004. This was originally simply known as B.P.R.D., but was retroactively retitled when the B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs Omnibus Editions were devised to distinguish them from B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth and other B.P.R.D. sub-series. It includes the stories collected in volumes 1–8, 10–12, and 14 of the B.P.R.D. trade paperbacks. They are also collected in the four volumes of the B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs Omnibus Editions (3 trades in each).

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth

A direct continuation of the B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs cycle dealing with the apocalyptic events in the wake of the Frog War. For the 100th issue, it officially shifted from a series of miniseries to a monthly ongoing series. John Arcudi is the lead writer with Mike Mignola.

Untitled third B.P.R.D. story cycle

Following B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs and B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth will be a third and final story cycle. At this time no title or release date has been announced.

Lobster Johnson

The second Hellboy spin-off, concerning the adventures of The Lobster. The first Lobster Johnson story, The Killer in My Skull (11 August 1999), was collected in trade paperback under the B.P.R.D. banner. It properly became its own series when The Iron Prometheus miniseries began (5 September 2007). John Arcudi became the lead writer with Mike Mignola from 2012's The Burning Hand with the stories continuing mostly chronologically from there.

Abe Sapien

The first spin-off from Hellboy, centred around Abraham Sapien, beginning with Drums of the Dead (4 March 1998). This story was eventually collected in trade paperback under the B.P.R.D. banner along with the second Abe Sapien story Abe Sapien versus Science (8 September 1999). It wasn't until the third Abe Sapien story, The Drowning that this spin-off was collected in trade paperback under its own banner. The series became an ongoing series with Scott Allie as the lead writer with Mike Mignola in April 2013 beginning with the launch of Abe Sapien: Dark and Terrible.^[9]

Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder

This Hellboy spin-off primarily features stories about the witchfinder Sir Edward Grey, although on one occasion it included The Burial of Katharine Baker, which is about another witchfinder, Henry Hood. The Mysteries of Unland was one of the few stories in which Mike Mignola was not involved in the writing. In August 2016, Chris Roberson came on board the series in a more long-term capacity.

Sledgehammer 44

First published in March 2013, Sledgehammer 44 is about the Vril Energy Suit "Epimetheus," more commonly known as "Sledgehammer" in 1944.

Frankenstein Underground

In 2015 a new title was released, Frankenstein Underground, following the story of Frankenstein's Monster. This character has previously appeared in Hellboy: House of the Living Dead. This series is meant to be only be a single book.^[10]

Rise of the Black Flame

In June 2016, Rise of the Black Flame was announced, a five-issue miniseries exploring the history of the Black Flame and the cult around him.^[11]

The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed

In October 2016, The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed was announced, a five-issue miniseries about the alien Hellboy met in Conqueror Worm.^[12]

Other

While Hellboy: Weird Tales is out of continuity, a pair of canon stories, How Koshchei Became Deathless and Baba Yaga's Feast, were collected in the Hellboy: Weird Tales hardcover omnibus in November, 2014.

During an interview in 2015, Mike Mignola announced he was working on a Koshchei the Deathless miniseries.^[13]

Any Hellboy cross-overs, guest appearances, novels (excepting Christopher Golden's three novels) and role-playing games are not considered within continuity.^[14]

In other media

Hellboy Cinematic Universe

This includes the Hellboy film, its sequel and the comic The Golden Army.

Hellboy Animated Universe

This includes the Hellboy Animated films Sword of Storms and Blood and Iron and the Hellboy Animated comics line.

See also

• List of Hellboy comics
• Hellboy publishing history

Notes

References