Hellboy
Hellboy is a comic book adventurer and paranormal investigator. He is not human, but rather is a large red demon with a tail and a giant stone right hand. Created by Mike Mignola, Hellboy's adventures have been chronicled in a sequence of comic book mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics.The comics were adapted into a 2004 film.
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2 Character history 3 Other media 4 Bibliography 5 External links |
Hellboy debuted in 1994 as part of Dark Horse Comics' Legend imprint. Written and drawn by creator Mike Mignola, the stories have a flavor of supernatural adventure with a dark mood embodied by Mignola's distinctive designs and pencils.
Mignola's stories are heavily influenced by and have been dedicated to H. P. Lovecraft, Jack Kirby, Edgar Allan Poe, and others. Horror stories of the Weird Tales variety are another important influence. Writer Robert Bloch has praised Hellboy as one of the most innovative and entertaining comics in recent years.
Most of the Hellboy and related B.P.R.D. comics have been collected as graphic novels, and some later stories have been crafted by people other than Mignola, including Christopher Golden, Guy Davis and Ryan Sook. Golden has also written several novels about the character.
Warning: Plot details follow.
Hellboy is a creature summoned by a fictional version of Grigori Rasputin, who was working with the Nazis in the final months of World War II in an attempt to change the tide of war. Hellboy proved not to be a menacing devil, but rather a toddler-like creature with red skin, horns, a tail, and a large stone right hand. Named by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (pronounced "Broom"), whom Hellboy regarded as a father, he was raised by the United States Army and then the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, an American agency dedicated to combating occult threats.
As an adult, Hellboy became the primary agent for the B.P.R.D., alongside several other superhuman agents. Self-conscious of his appearance, he keeps his horns sanded to a pair of large stumps on his head, and wears bulky clothing in an effort to minimise or obscure his inhuman appearance. Hellboy's upbringing has left him cocky, sarcastic, and deeply suspicious of some of those in the B.P.R.D. who research occult entities such as himself.
Hellboy's adventures in the comics span the 1940s to the present and involve elements such as sorcerers, Nazis, the Thule Society, hollow earth explorers, werewolves, vampires, a homunculus, and other oddities.
Several of the storylines deal with Rasputin's attempt to summon supernatural entities to initiate the Ragnarok.
Hellboy was adapted in 2004 into a film by director Guillermo del Toro. It stars Ron Perlman as Hellboy, Selma Blair as Elizabeth Sherman, Rupert Evans as FBI Agent John Myers, and David Hyde Pierce as the (uncredited) voice of Abe Sapien. Del Toro also wrote the preface to Conqueror Worm, a Hellboy graphic novel.
A sequel to this movie is currently under development by director Guillermo del Toro.
Publication history
Character history
Other media
Bibliography
Graphic novels
Illustrated novels
There is also a comedic Hellboy Junior comic book occasionally published, but it exists outside normal continuity.