I'm planning on reading Hellboy after having rewatched the

>>93744521

>I'm planning on reading Hellboy after having rewatched the movies.

Good!

>Anything I need to know before reading?

Nope, you're in for a fun ride, though! Just don't expect it to be exactly like the movie. The movie captured the spirit, but the story's quite a bit different.

>What are some /co/ opinions on the comics?

Mignola's Hellboy universe is easily the most consistently well-written comic franchise ever made. Even its low points are good. Read the spinoffs like BPRD, Abe Sapien, and Lobster Johnson too if you enjoy Hellboy.

>>93744521
The comics are horror themed, so a bit different from the movies. The characters are fairly accurate, though.
Honestly, the reason co doesnt talk about it that much is because there isnt much to bitch about. Its very solid.

Id recommend checking out a recommended reading order list if you really wanna dive into the Mignolaverse. The B.P.R.D. series is simply amazing, so check that out for sure.

>>93744556
>>93744568
Thanks anons.
Hearing it's a really solid series has left me even more enthusiastic to read it. It's been ages since I last read a comic series that didn't take a nose dive into shit.

>>93744608

It benefits from being firmly in its creator's hand. Mignola didn't let many others touch this universe, and none of them without his guiding hand. This made the overall franchise very good because it doesn't suffer from one of ongoing comics' biggest issues of different writers with different interpretations of the source material making inconsistencies. When you have one creative hand, everything's tighter and more consistent.

This is the same reason Todd McFarlane holds onto Spawn and doesn't let anyone else touch it. The only difference is that Mignola is a fantastic writer and artist and Todd fluctuates between being a mediocre and bad writer and artist.

If you like Hellboy, also give Baltimore a look. It's got the same pulp horror vibe as Hellboy and it's also drawn/written by Mignola.

Go for the library editions of Hellboy, it orders things optimally.

Also read the BPRD series, in the order it's collected in for the Plague of Frogs omnibi.

From there you can pretty much read anything whenever. Hellboy is the best shit in comics, you'll be very, very happy you decided to get into it

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>>93744521
Not really; the first movie is loosely based on the first volume, Seed of Destruction (remaking the loosely), and the Golden Army doesn't really adapt any material from the comics, apart from certain similarities between characters.

The comics are a sweet homage to pulp magazines, classic horror movies and pop culture overall. If you like that stuff, you're in for a Hell of a fun ride.
My advice is to start with the short stories; The Corpse and Other Tales is the perfect spot to start reading Hellboy, I think, as first contact with the character and the universe. Afterwards, you can either start the series in chronological order, or read the next volume of tales, The Chained Coffin and Other Tales. Then just go straight for the main series.

Once you're halfway through the series, I'd recommend you to start with BPRD too, because there some cross references you'll need to know if you wanna understand everything, but it's also an awesome series to take on. Other spin-offs like Lobster Johnson, Witchfinder or Abe Sapien are fine at best, in my opinion, but they're fun nonetheless.

treat them as they are - two seperate entities. the films are enjoyable, but in my opinion they don't truly capture the atmosphere of the comics. the comics are staggeringly beautiful and haunting in my opinion.

>>93744649
This.

But it's funny, I think the movies had a sort-of-effect on Mignola and the books. One of the things I found charming about Hellboy was that he never got angry, even with all the pummelling he took. But it seemed that after the first movie some of the anger and "DAMN NAZIS" stuff came over into the book.

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This is what I've been using.

>>93746336
there's a 2017 one now

Anyone else think that Hellboy is boring as fuck?

I did 3 seperate attempts gettin into Hellboy (I REALLY wanted to like it), but I could never finish the volume.

>>93746043
I think the first movie marked a shift into the even better more introspective part of the series with Strange Places(Third Wish/The Island), but he was punching people while shouting "Nazi!" in Conqueror Worm years before the movie

>>93746541
Which volume?

If you're starting at the beginning, that one is a bit different from where things up with like an inner monologue and stuff.

I'd recommended starting with some of the short story collections like The Chained Coffin and others.

I don't mind storytiming some of the short stories if you're still around either.

>>93744649
Sadly that control will keep us from another Spawn movie.

>>93747413
Not the anon you're responding too, but I'd be down to read some Hellboy. I've read some stories throughout the years and now I actually have time to read them all, so I plan to asap.

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>>93747871
I'm about to head out but I've got time for a quick one.

I was gonna do The Corpse which is kind of the go-to short story, but most people have probably read that one

So here's The Troll-witch, and I think it's my favorite lesser mentioned story.

Very short though.

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>>93748073

>>93748013
Thanks man!

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>>93748109

That's all I have time for for now, if the thread is still around later tonight I'll post some more

>>93748181
That was awesome. Thanks for the storytime. I love the Occult/Paranormal Investigation aspect of the series.

>>93748215
For some reason, my favorite Hellboy stuff is him standing around spouting one-liners while somebody else talks at him.

Like The Third Wish/The Island is like....just the best of Hellboy, to me.

>>93748269
I haven't read either one of those. I have pretty much only read what gets storytime here, and a few single issues and such a buddy had a long ass time ago.

I loved the movies, and played a homebrewed B.R.P.D. Tabletop campaign that was a lot of fun

I have really enjoyed everything I've read from the series, that list is just short.

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make sure to read lobster johnson too
probably the best of the spin offs

>>93748364
well >>93746336 is a great place to start

and you can find the updated list here

http://www.multiversitycomics.com/annotations/hellboy-reading-order-2017/

no better time than now to dive in

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>>93748269
>The Third Wish/The Island
You're a man of patrician taste. The Third Wish is one of my favourite Hellboy stories; actually, I think it was the first I read together with The Corpse.

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>>93748452

>>93748436
Yeah I saved the list and am about to start at the top. Literally have nothing better to do today.