Comprehensive information and links about Hellboy

Hellboy Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, Roger the Homunculus, Johann Kraus, Savage Dragon, the Goon, Batman, Starman, Ghost, Painkiller Jane, Lobster Johnson, Torch of LibertyCatherine Tanner-Tremaine (mother, deceased), two unnamed maternal half-siblings (deceased), Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (foster father) is a comic book character, dubbed the "World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator". He is a large red-skinned demon with a tail, horns broken off to stumps (which some fans mistook for goggles in early issues) and a big stone right hand (the Right Hand of Doom). 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.

table #2 (Dark Horse Comics). Written and drawn by creator Mike Mignola, the stories have a flavor of supernatural adventure with a dark mood embodied by Mignola's unique sense of design (which may be characterized by Mignola's incisive linework, and his distinctive balance of heavy shadows and pure colors).

Mignola's stories are heavily influenced by, and have been dedicated to, H. P. Lovecraft, Jack Kirby, Edgar Allan Poe, and other authors. Horror stories of the stories also draw on folklore from Ireland, Norway, Malaysia, and Japan, among other countries.

Most of the and related B.P.R.D. comics have been collected as trade paperbacks, 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.

Hellboy remains one of the few older Dark Horse titles to remain in print, after the company's focus shifted from their own titles to licensed properties.

Hellboy is a creature summoned in the final months of World War II by a fictional version of Grigori Rasputin, on a small island just off the coast of Scotland ('Tarmagent Island'), having been commissioned by the Nazis to change the tide of war ("Project Ragna Rok"). Hellboy appeared in a fireball in a ruined church in East Bromwich, England, December 23, 1944. He proved not to be a devil, but a little boy-like creature (with red skin, horns, a tail, and a large stone right hand)—hence the name given by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (pronounced ).

Taken by the U.S. forces to an Air Force base somewhere in New Mexico, Hellboy was raised by the United States Army and by the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, a U.S. agency dedicated to combating occult threats. He was granted honorary human status by the United Nations in 1952.

As an adult, Hellboy became the primary agent for the B.P.R.D., alongside several other human and quasi-human agents. His fellow agents include Abe Sapien, an amphibian humanoid (); Liz Sherman, a pyrokinetic; Roger, an unusually large homunculus; and Johann Kraus, a disembodied spiritualist.

Hellboy's adventures in the comics span the 1940s to the present day and involve elements such as sorcerers, Nazis, the Thule Society, hollow earth explorers, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and other oddities such as the Ogdru Jahad.

Several of the storylines deal with Hellboy's Right Hand of Doom and its purpose in initiating the Apocalypse.

, Hellboy is confronted by a fictional version of Rasputin and begins to find out what he is doing on Earth and who summoned him there. Hellboy's purpose will be to command the powers that Rasputin is about to unleash upon the world. Hellboy denies this version of his destiny and refuses to be controlled. Attempting to release the Ogdru Jahad, Rasputin is killed, harpooned through the chest by Abe Sapien under the control of the ghost of Elihu Cavendish.

In , Hellboy meets the Goddess Hecate. Hellboy, addressed as "Anung Un Rama", is told that his arrival on Earth signals its end. At the climax of the story Hellboy is swallowed by Hecate in the form of an iron maiden and some kind of other-worldly conflict ensues, in which he is told that his right hand is a key to open the pit. Again Hellboy refuses, this time breaking off his newly regrown horns, revealing what those two circles on his forehead are.

In TPB.), Igor Bromhead gains power over a demon, Ualac, by using that demon's name. Hellboy is also bound by his name, "Anung Un Rama", and the Crown of the Apocalypse, which he wears but is invisible to him, is taken. In taking the crown, Ualac is changed into a much more powerful demon. Hellboy finds out what his name means: "Anung Un Rama, World Destroyer, The Great Beast…" "…and upon his brow is set a crown of fire…". This is not who he is, and so not his name any longer. Ualac is defeated. The crown is kept for Hellboy by Astaroth, in Pandemonium the capital city of Hell, in the House of the Fly, where a seat is reserved for him.

1954, England: Hellboy is asked by the Osiris Club to slay the Saint Leonard Worm. Hellboy is successful, but the mission was really a cover for the Club to discern Hellboy’s true allegiances. In the end, they remain undecided, although the lilies that grew from his blood spatters indicate that Hellboy would not confine himself to his destiny. Bruttenholm’s complicity in this test is unknown. (The Nature of the Beast)1956, Norway: Bruttenholm sends Hellboy to help Professor Edmond Aickman (who worked with Bruttenholm in Burma and Chengdu) with the King Vold myth. Aickman is only interested in the potential reward, and manoeuvres Hellboy into completing Vold’s tasks for him. (King Vold)1959 Ireland: To retrieve a baby, Hellboy must bear a corpse to his final resting place. The King of the Daoine Sidh oversees the matter personally. This is the first (but not the last time) he will take a personal interest in Hellboy. (The Corpse)1964 Bereznik, Russia: Hellboy tracks down the Baba Yaga, and in the ensuing encounter shoots out her left eye.1969 Lockmaben, Scotland: Bruttenholm and Hellboy visit the castle which would later be purchased by Count Guarino. The Guarinos would turn out to be Satanists.1979 Portland, Oregon: Mister Tod, a physical medium (much like Johann Kraus) whom Hellboy had met several years earlier, unwittingly opens an ectoplasmic door to an Ogdru-Jahad-like being. Hellboy manages to repulse the entity, but Mister Tod is destroyed in the process. There are implications that this being was much like the entities in space that The Nazis and Herman von Klempt were trying to contact in Conqueror Worm. (Goodbye Mister Tod) of the vampire Countess Ilona Kakosky. She attempts to trick him with an illusion, but he kills her. (The Varcolac)1989 England: Hellboy investigates the disappearance of Ann Heath, who was lured underground by a demon. (A Christmas Underground)1994 Griart, the Balkans: Hellboy and Kate visit a town decimated by werewolves. Father Kelly had been there before them to investigate, but he was murdered along with the rest of the town. (The Wolves of St. August)1995: Hellboy returns to the ruined church where he appeared in the world, and has a dream-vision of his origin: His mother, as a young woman, had cavorted with a demon, and on Walpurgisnacht (a night of great significance to witches) conceived Hellboy as a result. Hellboy lay dormant within her, until the demon returned at the end of the woman’s life to claim her and his unborn son. During this dream, Hellboy believes that the demon turned to acknowledge him.1998 Lizarza, Spain: Hellboy meets up with the son of Malcolm Frost, Adrian Frost. Hellboy relates his life story to Frost, and the two realize that Hellboy’s right hand is the key to triggering the Apocalypse. Hellboy must keep the hand lest someone else retrieve it and use it. (The Right Hand of Doom)Lockmaben, Scotland: Igor Bromhead releases Ualac, a minor demon trapped in a box by St. Dunstan. Ualac tricks Bromhead into summoning the Crown of Apocalypse, which sits invisibly on Hellboy’s head. Ualac wanted Hellboy’s right hand, but Hellboy is spurred into action by a vision of the King of the Daoine Sidh and his two attendants, who reveal that his name no longer binds him now that the Crown has been taken from him. Bromhead prays to Astaroth for deliverance, but winds up being turned into a lizard. Ualac, too, is ensnared by Astaroth, who takes Hellboy’s crown to Hell where it waits for Hellboy to retrieve it. (Box Full of Evil) in 2004, a screenplay was originally written by Peter Briggs in 1997. Del Toro, a fan of Mignola's work, had previously written the preface to . The film starred Ron Perlman as Hellboy (the favourite of both del Toro and Mike Mignola for the role), Selma Blair as Liz Sherman, Rupert Evans as FBI Special Agent John Myers (a character invented for the film), John Hurt as Prof. Trevor Bruttenholm, Doug Jones as Abe Sapien (voiced by an uncredited David Hyde Pierce), Karel Roden as Rasputin, and Jeffrey Tambor as FBI Senior Special Agent Thomas Manning. The film received mixed but generally positive reviews and a fair performance at the box office. However, the film debuted in theaters at the same time debuted, citing conservative criticism. According to Guillermo del Toro's DVD commentary, some theaters would re-title the film on their signs, or outright refuse to play it to avoid running a "devil" movie against .

The film begins with a simplified version of Hellboy's origin (see above) and then jumps to the present day, when FBI Agent John Myers joins the B.P.R.D. as Hellboy's new "minder". The plot draws mostly from the comic storyline .

The movie makes a passing reference to the Spear of Longinus, supposedly acquired by Hitler in 1938, and now safeguarded by the B.P.R.D.. Kroenen is also a more prominent character in the movie than in the comics.

A sequel to this movie, is currently under development by director del Toro, and will feature the returning talents of Perlman, Blair, Jones, and Hurt. The only plot details given so far have alluded to a shift to more folklore rather than action, with heavy European overtones. It is also noted that the character of Johann Kraus has been added to the team, but Roger has not (he was, however, written into the plot as a very prominent character in early drafts of the ). Interestingly, Roger can be seen as a lifeless statue in the background of certain shots in Professor Brutenholm's study in the first movie.

was also previously released for the PC and the PlayStation, by Cryo Interactive. It has no relation with the recent movie.

On April 6, 2005, em movie director Guillermo Del Toro announced on his official site that he had made a deal with developer Konami to create a new Hellboy videogame based on the movie version of the character and his world, featuring new monsters, new villains, and a new storyline.

Role playing game

A Hellboy sourcebook and role playing game was also published by Steve Jackson Games, using the GURPS system.

Animated Series

On November 9, 2005, IDT Entertainment issued a press release announcing that the company had licensed the rights to develop "animated content for television and home entertainment" based on the Hellboy comic. Ron Perlman, who played Hellboy in the feature film, will provide the voice for the animated Hellboy, and Selma Blair, who played Liz Sherman in the film, will provide the voice for her character. Doug Jones will be voicing his animated alter-ego from the film, Abe Sapien.

While no official announcement has been made regarding when and where the show will run, rumored plans include two 70-minute animated movies that will air on the Cartoon Network and then be released on DVD, with the first one to air October 2006.

(ed. Barbara Kesel with Scott Allie, Plot by Mike Mignola, Script by John Byrne) Third Edition: November 2003 Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books ISBN 1-59307-094-2 (ed. Scott Allie, colors by James Sinclair, separations by Dave Stewart, letters by Pat Brosseau) Second Edition: November 2003 Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books ISBN 1-59307-095-0 (ed. Scott Allie, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Pat Brosseau) Second Edition: November 2003 Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books ISBN 1-59307-091-8 (ed. Scott Allie, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Pat Brosseau) Second Edition: November 2003 Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books ISBN 1-59307-093-4 (ed. Scott Allie, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Pat Brosseau) Second Edition: November 2003 Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books ISBN 1-59307-092-6 (December 1999) an anthology of short stories by various writers including Stephen R. Bissette, Greg Rucka, Nancy A. Collins and Poppy Z. Brite; with an introduction by Mike Mignola. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Comics, Inc., ISBN 1-56971-440-1 (October 2004), a second short story anthology; contributors include Frank Darabont, Guillermo del Toro, Charles de Lint, Graham Joyce and Sharyn McCrumb. comic book by Bill Wray (with contributions by Mike Mignola), but it exists outside the normal continuity.

Awards

The character and titles have received a good deal of recognition. The miniseries won an Eisner in 2004 for Best Comics-Related Book. Mignola won a 2000 Harvey Award for Best Artist based on was a top vote getter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Limited Series for 1998. The miniseries was a top vote getter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Limited Series for 1997, and the trade paperback collection was a top vote getter for their Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Album for 1998.