As part of my revisiting the larger Hellboy universe, I am now going to revisit the basic Hellboy series itself with more details on the stories themselves. I am doing this as I recently decided to replace my original trade paperback volumes with the new paperback Hellboy Omnibus series of six from Dark Horse, as new readers would basically have these.
Hellboy is actually approaching his 30th anniversary, and I’ve been reading him since his first comic in 1994. From the start, I saw the elements from H.P. Lovecraft and other authors such as Clark Ashton Smith, ideas from Theosophy and the like, and later on even Manly Wade Wellman, and various folklore from around the world.
And as there are things that stretch back into the Victorian age (well, and into primordial prehistory), we get occult secret societies, weird steampunk science, hidden history, and more. And Hellboy is the “world’s greatest paranormal detective!”
These are what attracted me to the stories. Further, as Hellboy is a demon from Hell — actually a half-demon, with free will that made him not evil — he was thankfully free of the nonsense you see in too many similar stories where the bad guys would somehow cause or force the lead character to do evil. It never happens in these comics. (That’s one of my dinks on the first movie.)
Over the course of the series, which ends with his death (yes, really), we finally learn his whole story: how he is the result of a union between a witch, dragged to Hell in the 1500s on her deathbed conversion, and Azzael, an archduke of Hell who Hellboy never really meets. He does finally meet his uncle, two half-brothers, and a half-sister.
Hellboy’s real name is Anung Un Rama. He has all the characteristics of a demon: red skin, cloven hooves, tail, and two horns that grow from his forehead, which he broke off, leaving stubs. He has a right hand made of stone that has only three fingers, the so-called “Right Hand of Doom,” whose story we will learn. Oh, and he is a descendant of King Arthur, so is able to weld Excalibur.
He was summoned to Earth in December 1944 by a group of Nazis led by Rasputin. Rasputin did this for his own needs, being a follower of Ogdru Jahad, the Dragon of Revelations, the Seven Who Are One. They will be the main threat behind all the events not only in Hellboy, but the spin-off BPRD series. The BPRD is the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, a quasi-governmental group formed by Professor Bruttenholm after WWII. Hellboy joined them as an agent in 1952 and became an “honorary human.”
Hellboy’s right hand is tied to the origin of the Ogdru Jahad. For you see in the primordial past, God set a group of spirits (angels?) known as “Watchers” to watch over the Earth. One of them, Anum, took “fire from the air” (vril?) to form the dragons out of mud. When night came, they came to life, giving birth to the 369 Ogdru Hem, the first life on Earth.
The other Watchers went to war to destroy these creatures, and Anum sealed the dragons in golden cocoons and flung them into the void of space, but the other Watchers destroyed Anum, leaving only his right hand. It later became a relic for the first race of men, the Hyperboreans. God cast most of the Watchers into the pit (Hell), where he later sent the fallen angels who became demons. At some point, the right hand wound up in Hell. Oh, and we humans are the second race of men.
And I should say something about the creator of all this, writer-artist Mike Mignola. He’s been in the industry for a long while, and I had seen some of the work he did before Hellboy and, for me, it was a mixed bag. Mignola is one of those comic artists with a unique style that works for some kinds of stories, but not others. This is not a bad thing, as long as such an artist works on his strengths.
For pure superhero stories, I didn’t care for his style, like when he did Cosmic Odyssey for DC. But I loved his work on Gotham by Gaslight, which gave us an atmospheric “Elseworlds” Batman story set in the Victorian era. While he has not done all the artwork, or been the main writer, he is the driver behind all of Hellboy and related works. I enjoy his atmospheric work on Hellboy, though I appreciate some of the different artists. They’ve had on many of them, like Richard Corben, John Severin, and others.
Hellboy Omnibus, Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction
So let’s get into it. First up is the four-volume Omnibus series, which contains the main series of works. Volume 1 contains the first three mini-series plus some others. Seed of Destruction was the first time we meet Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, Prof. Bruttenholm, and others, like Rasputin and his associates in Project Ragna Rok.
We see Hellboy come to Earth, meet the Ogdru Jahad in their crystal prisons, and our first Ogdru Hem. Sadly, Prof. Bruttenholm dies, and Rasputin has his first defeat. We get the first appearance of “frog monsters,” which will plague us for the rest of the series. Here the Prof joins an expedition to the Arctic that finds both Rasputin and an Ogdru Hem, which Rasputin brings back. Rasputin also tries to get Hellboy to do his bidding, but Hellboy rejects him. Liz Sherman uses fire to burn the Ogdru Hem, and Abe, aided by a ghost, kills Rasputin with a spear. Abe Sapien is a “fishman” and Liz is a pyrokinetic. The inclusion of non-humans with the BPRD was another element I liked.
Next is a short story that is our first, and pretty much only, story with werewolves. It’s also our introduction to Dr. Kate Corrigan, who is a consultant to the BPRD at this point. Not really a field agent, she’ll become more important in the later BPRD series as a key administrator. Then another short story gives us more info on Hellboy’s origin, as we (and him) get to “meet” his father and mother.
In the next big story, “Wake the Devil,” Rasputin is back. We meet Roderick Zinco and his company, Zinco, which will play a large part in the later BPRD series, where we will also meet Mr. Pope (only mentioned here). The rest of Project Ragna Rok returns as well. This is our first meeting with vampires, who will be very rare.
We will meet Hecate, goddess of witches, who is pissed with Hellboy for going against “his kind.” She, too, has a destiny with Hellboy, and she’ll be coming back later on. It’s also the first time we met the Seelee Court (the fairy court), and a certain hooded figure we’ll learn more about later as well. Liz “wakes” up a homunculus, which “steals” her fire power. In an epilogue, a defeated Rasputin meets with Baba Yaga, whom Hellboy had an encounter in years past. Baba Yaga is a character from Russian folklore, and we’ll see more of her in the series.
The final story, “Almost Colussus,” directly follows this one. Hellboy and Kate go after the homunculus to see if they can get Liz’s fire back and save her life. But the homunculus is found by his “brother,” another created by the same alchemist centuries before. The brother has a monstrous plan: create a colossal body made of human flesh that they will inhabit. But when Kate is endangered, the homunculus, like Hellboy, decides not to join in. And in fact, it helps defeat his brother. Coming back to save Kate, he takes on the name “Roger.” Roger the Homunculus will be a future BPRD agent.
Rounding out this volume, like all the rest, is a great sketchbook section. We also get some earlier tryout stories, including one where Hellboy goes up against a “head in a bottle” Nazi scientist, Herman von Klempt, and his Kriegaffe.
Hellboy Omnibus, Vol. 2: Strange Places
We start off in this volume with some short stories that give us (and Hellboy) more knowledge about himself. First, he learns that due to his stone hand, he is the “right hand of doom” and what that means, which really bothers him.
This is followed by a strange case where he learns his real name is Anung Un Rama. We meet Igor Broomhead for the first time (he’ll be back). But during this story, his crown is taken from him, which means that is no longer his name. Does this mean he is no longer destined to bring about doom? At the end, his uncle takes his crown to Hell where it will await him.
Finally in a story with art by Richard Corben, we get a short case with Hellboy taking Roger the Homunculus along. Here he shows his humanity. And it’s this sort of thing that makes me enjoy this series. You have beings (Hellboy, Abe, Roger, et al) that we would expect be the evil monsters of the story, but who work to be “human” and be the good guys.
Next, we get the mini-series “Conqueror Worm.” This one has a case with Hellboy and Roger, but we have them meet The Lobster, here a ghost. We learn he had stopped the Nazi space program, but sadly the capsule is coming back. Herman von Klempt also returns. The Lobster is a big help. We get more knowledge about what Ragna Rok may bring. But this is the case that causes Hellboy to quit the BPRD and start his wandering. They soon kicked off the separate BPRD series. We also get a little epilogue with Rasputin and Baba Yaga.
Hellboy next finds himself in Africa, which he had only been once before where the Spirit of Africa warned him away. This time, he deals with the dangerous Bog Roosh, a monstrous sea creature, which hopes to trap Hellboy under the sea, and enlisted three mermaid sisters. But thanks to one, Hellboy defeats the Bog Roosh.
In “The Island,” we find Hellboy drinking rum with skeletons, where he (and us) learn the origin of the Ogdru Jahad, their spawn, the Ogdru Hem, where his hand came from, and the downfall of Hyperborea. In an epilogue, we meet Queen Mab for the first time, and see the return of Gruagach (from the first Short Story collection), who will be a big figure in the next volume.
Hellboy Omnibus, Vol. 3: The Wild Hunt
This volume collects three connected series that make more or less one big story.
Hellboy is done with wandering and finds himself in England as Ragna Rok approaches the world. We get several returns and some new folks. The witches and the fairy folk of Great Britain and Ireland are involved, as well as the Osiris Club (Hellboy meet them in a short story), Baba Yaga, the Seelee Court, and many others. Igor Broomhead is back, and he traps Hecate, trying to take her power.
Desiring a new queen, the witches of Great Britain try to get Hellboy to do this, but he refuses. Then he needs to deal with Koshchei the Deathless when Baba Yaga sends him after Hellboy. And Gruagach, desiring revenge, works to find a new queen for the witches: Nimue. Hellboy joins the Wild Hunt, only to be betrayed, goes to Hell, saves his friend Alice Monaghan (from another short story), meets Morgan Le Fay, and pulls out Excalibur, but refuses to lead the loyal dead. There’s a lot of death and destruction for many. Nimue is the witch who trapped Merlin.
Hellboy gives Baba Yaga one of his eyes to replace the one he blew away. Nimue makes the mistake of taking the place of Hecate, but things don’t go so well for her. In the end, she takes Hellboy’s heart, which kills him and sends him to Hell. At the end, the Ogdru Jahad are down one. But the Osiris Club is still around. What are they planning?
Hellboy Omnibus, Vol. 4: Hellboy in Hell
This volume reprints the “final” Hellboy story, also called “Hellboy in Hell.” Having been killed in the last story, he is now in Hell, but Hell is not what it was, good or bad. He is joined by Acheron, and also encounters the other personifications of the Rivers of Hell, meets his uncle for the final time, and for the first time, his half-siblings.
At the end, the story of both Hellboy and Acheron isn’t finished. With Hellboy that will be in BPRD: The Devil You Know, and Acheron’s has not yet been completed. Hopefully very soon.
The Complete Short Stories, Vol. 1
These two volumes collect, in chronological order, all the short stories, written by Mignola, that occurred before 1994. Not all the artwork is by Mignola, which is okay. Now I knew that Richard Corben had some Hellboy stories, having read them, but I didn’t realize how many. The first volume has over half the volume by Corben, and he is also in the second volume.
I won’t touch on every story.
Volume 1 covers 1947-61. Many are of Hellboy wandering around, dealing with various occult menaces. This reminds me of Wellman’s characters who would do the same. A couple of stories deal with Hellboy as a kid. One has him eating pancakes for the first time. (This is important.) Another has him run away to a circus that also has him meeting, though he doesn’t know it, his uncle and half-sister. His uncle actually shows up in several future stories, sometimes trying to influence or corrupt Hellboy. Another has his first meeting with the Osiris Club. They will prove very important much later on as Ragna Rok approaches.
Then we get a set of stories where Hellboy was in Mexico, with a lot of stuff by Corben. He’s fighting really nasty Mexican vampires, teams up with a trio of brothers in luchador outfits, and more. He also has an encounter with Frankenstein’s Monster. He will later get his own story, which has been collected, with another one coming.
Next is one of my favorite stories, “The Crooked Man,” again with Corbin. Set in 1958 in the Virginia Appalachians, Hellboy is helping deal with witches. This was clearly inspired by Manly Wade Wellman’s John the Balladeer stories. I loved that these backwoods folks had no problem with Hellboy. He works with a young man and a blind preacher to put an end to things.
Another important story, more about who we meet here, is “The Corpse,” where Hellboy works to rescue a baby stolen by the fairie folk. One of the fairie will play a very big role later on, and we’ll meet that baby grown up in the third Omnibus.
The Complete Short Stories, Vol. 2
Now this one covers 1961-93. The first couple of stories are interesting. “The Hydra and the Lion” involved Hercules (yes, the demi-god from Greek legend) and has Hellboy deal with the Hydra. “The Troll Witch” is an interesting tale that involves two sisters, trolls, and more. More important is the next story, which is Hellboy’s first dealing with Baba Yaga. And where he blows one of her eyes away. A noted, she will appear over the years in the series and meets Hellboy toward the end.
We get a few vampire stories, and in another, “The Bride of Hell,” with Corben’s work. There are a lot of fun little tales here.
But the last story is pretty good, another involving Corben. It has Hellboy visiting the New York City Explorers Club. There he gets a strange vision from a mummy there, brought back from a lost city in Africa by the guest of honor. This mummy tells the tale of Makoma, a hero who was born able to speak, and then emerged fully grown from a pool with an iron hammer. His name means “He Who Is Greatest and Without Fear.” In the tale, Hellboy takes the part of Makoma, where he fights a trio of giants and other evils, before facing a seven-headed monster. Is this a foreshadowing of Hellboy’s future?
There are some other Hellboy volumes I won’t be bothering with such as Hellboy Jr., the two-volume Weird Tales, and Masks and Monsters, as these are all out of continuity. The recent Young Hellboy stories, I believe, are, and I’ll probably cover those soon.
Now, since the end of the Hellboy series, they have concluded the BPRD series and I’ll probably be doing at least a couple of posting on that series.
They later started a series called Hellboy and the BPRD, which starts in 1952 when he became an agent, and initially starting doing stories set in consecutive years, then started jumping around. They have six trades so far, but there are enough uncollected comics to fill another three or so. Two are planned for late this year or early 2023. Thus I will probably be covering that in a posting or two.
There have been several other related series as well. I’ve already covered Lobster Johnson and the Witchfinder, both of which I think are finished, though the story of Sir Edward Gray isn’t and there are rumors of more Lobster stories. This is also an upcoming on with Frankenstein’s Monster set after the events of the final BPRD series. I did a posting on several of the short standalone series, but more have come out and more are coming, so at least another of those will be done. And I need to do a posting on the Abe Sapien series, which is about Hellboy’s fellow BPRD agent, who is a fishman with his own destiny.
I actually thought at one point that things were winding down with the Hellboy Universe, as Hellboy was dead and the BPRD series was finished, and the number of released had dropped to nothing and some big stories got canceled, but they seem to be coming back, though all are basically filling in stuff that happened in the past, which isn’t a bad thing. They literally have years they can fill.
If you haven’t checked out these works, do so. If the now larger Omnibus volumes scare you off, Dark Horse is putting out some of the original trades under the “Essentials” branding that may help if you’re just wanting to check out the series.
