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Okay. I'm going to get into Hellboy.

Where should I start? What should I avoid? What should I look forward to?

BananaHands said:

Okay. I'm going to get into Hellboy.

Where should I start? What should I avoid? What should I look forward to?

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I don't think I've ever read a bad Hellboy comic. Maybe a few average ones... but not a bad one. I do think your going to have a problem eventually though, as eventually the series splits into 2 series you have to follow to get the whole story. It's not as bad as a DC event, but it's still a lot of reading.

The Dark Horse trades are all numbered volume 1 and on. After about Volume 5 or 6, you can start reading BPRD - the spin off series. But the nice thing is, both series are self-contained.

AshburnerX said:

I don't think I've ever read a bad Hellboy comic. Maybe a few average ones... but not a bad one. I do think your going to have a problem eventually though, as eventually the series splits into 2 series you have to follow to get the whole story. It's not as bad as a DC event, but it's still a lot of reading.

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ThatNickGuy said:

The Dark Horse trades are all numbered volume 1 and on. After about Volume 5 or 6, you can start reading BPRD - the spin off series. But the nice thing is, both series are self-contained.

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Is BPRD as good as the Hellboy comics?

BananaHands said:

Is BPRD as good as the Hellboy comics?

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Yes, but for different reasons. Most of the Hellboy stories are self-contained with the over-arching plot mostly secondary. BPRD is a very character driven book with a very large over-arching plot that becomes front and centre pretty quick into the trades. The first couples of volumes are similar, self-contained adventures but soon span out to something larger.

Both are really great books, honestly.

BPRD often feels a bit like Gotham Central at times. If you've read that, then you know how good of a thing that is.

Hm. So this is definitely 'buy the volumes off amazon' and not a 'be a pirate and steal from the internet' kind of thing.

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BananaHands said:

Hm. So this is definitely 'buy the volumes off amazon' and not a 'be a pirate and steal from the internet' kind of thing.

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Yes. Support the artist.

Perfect.

Bought it. I'll keep you all posted with reactions/questions. How close is it to the films?

The first film is pretty close. The second is totally it's own story. Don't expect any Liz/Hellboy romance. That was Del Toro's weirdest deviation.

I don't think Del Toro is responsible for that. I think the studio execs just wanted something to bring in the female audience.

AshburnerX said:

I don't think Del Toro is responsible for that. I think the studio execs just wanted something to bring in the female audience.

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Well whether he is or isn't he made sure it got plenty weird and creepy.

Didn't they have a baby in the last one too?

Espy said:

Well whether he is or isn't he made sure it got plenty weird and creepy.

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I am almost sure this was intentional.

Probably.

BananaHands said:

Didn't they have a baby in the last one too?

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It was mentioned at the end of HB2. Nothing past that.

Like it was stated, just read it all. It's a solid series and Mignola's artwork is just fucking magical.

AshburnerX said:

I don't think Del Toro is responsible for that. I think the studio execs just wanted something to bring in the female audience.

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The DVD behind the scenes has Mignola saying it was Del Toro's idea. He seemed supportive of it.

I didn't think it was weird since I saw the movie before anything, but after having read the comics and going back to the movie, it is a bit jarring. Comics Liz is a much different character.

I used to think, "How the hell do people not find it weird that a giant demon man-child is banging a human girl? Because it's very weird and very creepy.


Then someone told me I just don't watch enough Anime. And I was like, "Oh, right."

Uh excuse me, check your taxanormative privilege, maaaaan.

I... I... don't know what that is.

Dangit Espy

Guess what came in today!

Damn! That was fast!!

Dunno how I missed this thread... I have that same edition!

As awesome as those editions look, I keep hoping Dark Horse will collect Hellboy and BPRD in the smaller omnibuses they use for many other collected editions, like Star Wars, Predator, and Aliens. I just like those almost novel-sized editions. They take up less space on the shelf, which is always nice for me.

But then again, you wouldn't get awesome, oversized Mignola art.

The only problem I have with the Hellboy books is that every time I read a new one, I feel like I must have missed an issue or a collection, but nope, read em all. Seems like there's a lot of character development that happens off screen.