Hellboy Universe

The Hellboy Universe is the fictional universe of the Hellboy comic and its various spinoffs, 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 (August 19, 1993), distributed at San Diego Comic-Con. The Hellboy Universe currently spans over eighty trade paperbacks. It is also sometimes informally called the "Mignolaverse".

The 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.^[1]

In addition to the standard trade paperbacks, Hellboy stories are collected in oversized hardcovers known as library editions, and paperback omnibuses.

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 was finished. When there was an arc spanning multiple issues, each of those issues came out monthly.^[2]

On July 8, 2014, just prior to SDCC 2014, Entertainment Weekly^[3] and Nerdist^[4] announced Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., a series that was simultaneously a spinoff of both Hellboy and B.P.R.D. Each volume focuses on a single year, beginning the year Hellboy first became a Bureau agent, 1952.

A new series focused on young Hellboy in the 1940s was announced November 2020.^[5]

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.^[6] It started with an untitled three-page promotional piece before launching into the three-issue miniseries Hollow Earth. As the series grew, it was split into "story cycles." There are three major cycles: Plague of Frogs, Hell on Earth, and The Devil You Know, as well as two minor cycles 1946–1948 and Vampire. The trade B.P.R.D.: Being Human is the only remaining book from the original series that is not a part of any existing story cycle.

The short story Casualties was collected in the Abe Sapien omnibuses.

The Plague of Frogs cycle was published from 2002 to 2010, though it was not known as such at the time. When it came time to collect the stories into omnibus editions, the material collected in trades 1–8, 10–12, and 14 was retroactively retitled B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs. Guy Davis was the primary artist on the series and John Arcudi joined Mike Mignola as co-writer with the miniseries The Dead in 2004. Plague of Frogs is collected in the four volumes of the B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs Omnibus Editions (three trades in each volume).

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth is 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 one hundredth issue, it officially shifted from a series of miniseries to a monthly ongoing series. John Arcudi is the lead writer with Mike Mignola. Unlike the previous cycle, which was visually defined by mostly a single artist, Hell on Earth had many artists on the title.

Following B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs and B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth is the third and final story cycle of B.P.R.D.. Scott Allie is the lead writer with Mike Mignola. The primary artist on the title is Laurence Campbell.

The 1946–1948 cycle deals with the early years of the B.P.R.D. The cycle was originally planned to go for longer, on into the 1950s,^[7] but it was cut short because Mike Mignola felt he had too many books going on.^[8] 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 did not have numbers on their spines after the release of the Plague of Frogs omnibuses.

This was discreetly introduced as a new cycle 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 cycle is written and drawn by twins Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon with Mike Mignola. Mike Mignola has said the twins have the freedom to write and draw more stories with this character if they wish.^[9]

Lobster Johnson is the second Hellboy spinoff, concerning the adventures of a vigilante known as "The Lobster" from 1932 to 1939. The first Lobster Johnson story, The Killer in My Skull (August 11, 1999), was collected in trade paperback under the B.P.R.D. banner. Lobster Johnson properly became its own series when The Iron Prometheus miniseries began (September 5, 2007). John Arcudi became the lead writer with Mike Mignola from 2012's The Burning Hand onward with the stories continuing mostly chronologically from there.

The first spinoff from Hellboy centred around Abraham Sapien, beginning with Drums of the Dead (March 4, 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 (September 8, 1999). It was not until the third Abe Sapien story, The Drowning that this spinoff was collected in trade paperbacks 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.^[10] Most of the issues in the ongoing run of the series were collected in omnibuses as the story cycle Dark and Terrible.

This Hellboy spinoff primarily features stories about Sir Edward Grey, an agent of Queen Victoria and paranormal investigator, 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 Hellboy Universe stories in which Mike Mignola was not involved in the writing. In August 2016, Chris Roberson began his run on the series in a more long-term capacity.

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

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.^[11] In 2020 a second miniseries, Frankenstein Undone, was announced^[12] and later canceled after issue #2 due to Mignola's refusal to continue working with writer Scott Allie.^[13]

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.^[14]

In October 2016, The Visitor: How & Why He Stayed was announced, a five-issue miniseries about the alien Hellboy met in Conqueror Worm.^[15]

In July 2017, a five-issue miniseries, Rasputin: The Voice of the Dragon, was announced for November that year.^[16]

During an interview in 2015, Mike Mignola announced he was working on a Koshchei the Deathless miniseries.^[17] This was confirmed in July 2017 with the announcement of a six-issue miniseries drawn by Ben Stenbeck.^[18] On the final page of 2021's Sir Edward Grey: Acheron, a new miniseries, Koshchei the Deathless in Hell was announced.^[19] With the formal announcement in August 2022, the miniseries was retitled Koshchei in Hell.^[20]

Crimson Lotus was announced in July 2018 during a series of announcements commemorating the 25th anniversary of Hellboy's first appearance.^[21] Crimson Lotus marks the first time a Hellboy Universe series has borne the name of a female character.

In February 2021, Dark Horse announced The House of Lost Horizons: A Sarah Jewell Mystery.^[22] Though it is written as a standalone title, it is planned to be a series.^[23]

In October 2021, Dark Horse announced The Sword of Hyperborea.^[24] The story continues on after the end of B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know, following the history of Agent Howards' mysterious sword, beginning with his prehistoric counterpart, Gall Dennar. This title is the Hellboy Universe debut of writer Rob Williams.

Bloody Disgusting announced The British Paranormal Society: Time Out of Mind in January 2022, a miniseries that would focus on the characters Simon Bruttenholm (uncle of Trevor Bruttenholm) and Honora Grant from Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder.^[25]

Originally a stand-alone one-shot published May 15, 2002,^[26] The Amazing Screw-On Head was later revealed to be fiction within the Hellboy Universe, created Walter Edmund Heap in 1899, as revealed in Hellboy in Hell. Mike Mignola has also mentioned that the short story The Magician and the Snake is not canon, but rather a fairy tale in the Hellboy Universe.^[27]

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.

Any Hellboy crossovers, guest appearances, novels (excepting Christopher Golden's three novels) and role-playing games are not considered within continuity.^[28]

Guillermo del Toro originally directed two live action films, 2004's Hellboy and its 2008 sequel. Del Toro had planned to do a third film to complete a trilogy of films, but he was unable to secure funding. The film franchise was rebooted in 2019 with a new Hellboy film directed by Neil Marshall and again in 2024 by Brian Taylor, titled Hellboy: The Crooked Man.

There were a pair of Hellboy Animated films, Sword of Storms and Blood and Iron. The Phantom Claw, a planned third film, was abandoned. The Hellboy Animated continuity was further expanded in a series of digest-sized comics.

• List of Hellboy comics
• Hellboy publishing history