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Hellboy Animated
Hellboy Animated Volume 1: The Black Wedding
In the lead feature, "The Black Wedding," written by Jim Pascoe (Kim Possible, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and drawn by Rick Lacy (Venture Brothers), Liz Sherman is kidnapped by an ancient cult, dragging the entire Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense into a horrifying tale of witchcraft and possession. Hellboy Animated co-creator Tad Stones and Fabio Laguna (X-Men Unlimited) team up in "Pyramid of Death," in which radio hero Lobster Johnson inspires a young Hellboy to inflict some imaginary justice of his own.
80 pages, Paperback
First published December 6, 2006
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332 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 21, 2024
This particular little graphic novel I came across and the animated version of Hellboy is undoubtely a little more PC than the regular Mike Mignola fare. But still it tickled my fancy.
The Black wedding is about a demonic wedding somewhere in Paris and guess who is the unwanted guest.
The pyramid of Death is a little cute tale of a young Hellboy copying his hero Lobster Johnson.
But are fun and something to read by Hellboy fans.
The Black wedding is about a demonic wedding somewhere in Paris and guess who is the unwanted guest.
The pyramid of Death is a little cute tale of a young Hellboy copying his hero Lobster Johnson.
But are fun and something to read by Hellboy fans.
July 15, 2016
Goodreads kept recommending this because I really enjoyed the Hellboy books. I never saw the animated series. But this was missing something that I just can't pin down that the other books have that make them so damn good.
June 2, 2017
This was really fun! Not as serious as the canon stories, and not exactly my favorite art style, but really enjoyable! I loved the Kid Hellboy backup feature as well.
November 27, 2023
First published in 2007 by Dark Horse, unfortunately the publisher received a lot of criticism due to the poor binding of the series, after your first read it will separate - with the pages simply falling out of the book. It includes the Black Wedding, a pinup, and the Pyramid of Death. The art style does not stick to the show, each panel varies.
Black Wedding: A witch named Alexisa is trying to Akhera Jaun with a wedding or something. The animated gang is split up in three different groups to solve the mystery. The get betrayed by a book store owner, Liz is kidnapped, worms eat their psychic to spill blood for a silver bell. Theres a lot of little background items that do nothing. The witches needed Liz for a sacrifice for like a goat demon but it doesn’t go as planned. The story could’ve been executed better especially since the very first in the series.
Pyramid of Death: Little Hellboy enjoys Lobster Johnson on the tv, but gets carried away and tries to “foil” an experiment nearby where people are trying to get a mummy to talk. He breaks in and knocks the head off before the mummy finishes disclosing about spaceships and how the pyramids were powered.
—
“Coinciding with the release of the first Hellboy Animated film, this volume brings the animated version of Mike Mignola's Hellboy back to the comics page with two all-new stories from Jim Pascoe (Kim Possible, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Hellboy Animated co-creator Tad Stones. With art by Rick Lacy (Venture Brothers) and Fabio Laguna (X-Men Unlimited) and an original pin-up by Mignola, Hellboy Animated: The Black Wedding is the perfect bridge between the comics and cartoon worlds of the World's Greatest Paranormal Detective, perfect for readers of all ages.”
—
Introduction by Tad Stones:
Approximately eleven years ago, I stood in the office of a Walt Disney Television execu- tive and pitched Hellboy: the Animated Series. This scenario wasn't as crazy as it sounds, because this guy had stressed that Disney was looking for something different, some- thing edgy for prime time. Besides, the time seemed right. Bruce Timm had rocked the animation world with a version of Batman that showed American animation capable of more than preteen morality lessons. Elsewhere, Mulder and Scully were at the peak of their paranormal investigating popularity. So there I was, pitching Hellboy as an animated X Files, knowing it could be a lot more.
As I recall, the executive responded with something like, "I love it, but..." which is the response pitches get in Hollywood ninety-nine out of ninety-nine-and-a-half times. He gave lots of reasons for passing on it-good ones too-but I always felt that it boiled down to "It doesn't feel like The Simpsons."
Let us now pause and give thanks to Matt Groening and company for being so unique and successful that they blinded all television executives to other possibilities of anima- tion. They may have saved us from "Heckboy" and the sight of Mike Mignola's cre- ations riding down Disneyland's Main Street with Donald Duck and Cinderella. "Look Momma, I wanna picture with Rasputin!"
Years later, I started production on a TV spinoff of Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire. It starred a team of adventurers who explored arcane secrets and forgotten cities and fought bizarre or mystical creatures. I thought it might be the closest I would ever get to Hellboy and wasted no time in hiring Mike Mignola to help, as he had with the feature film. He was surprised at how dark some of our early scripts were: "Will they let you do this?"
Turned out, no. They wouldn't.
So there went my collaboration with Mike. A few years later, the Mouse and I parted ways. Meanwhile, Guillermo del Toro was in preproduction on his Hellboy movie and spent a lot of time talking about how an animated series should follow it. Guillermo is a hard man to ignore and, as busy as he was, kept pushing until his studio felt obliged to take note. Slowly, a couple of corporations, a network, two film studios, and a squad of agents and lawyers began their Byzantine dance that featured false starts, a deal im- molation, and the phoenix-like resurrection of the animated Hellboy project as a series of DVD movies. This brings us to the strange creation you hold in your hand, a comic based on a cartoon based on a comic, an alternate universe of Hellboy.
It was part of the deal that the animated Hellboy not be drawn like Mike Mignola's Hellboy. I'm sure there are all sorts of licensing and merchandising reasons for that, but the only thing that mattered to me was that it was Mike's wish, too. When you see the Mignola version on the cover of a comic, you're getting canon, you're getting Hellboy walking in the shadowy world of Mike's creation. The stories in those comics will con- tinue to paint the epic mural of Hellboy's life, and possibly the end of the world. I mean, you know what that right hand is for, don't you?
So what are these comics? These are tales from the world of Hellboy Animated, a uni- verse whose general structure was laid out when Mike and I co-wrote the stories for the first two DVDs. The characters' relationships and the major beats of Hellboy's life are the same here as those of the original, but the details have mutated. Hellboy has not been labeled Beast of the Apocalypse yet, Professor Broom is still alive, the B.P.R.D. headquarters has already moved into its mountain stronghold, and Lobster Johnson is... maybe I'll leave some secrets to be discovered in animation.
These are new missions for Hellboy, stand-alone adventures of the world's greatest para- normal investigator and his colleagues. Above all else, they're meant to be fun and perhaps come closest to that original "animated X Files" pitch. Mike and I give notes to keep things from conflicting from what we want to do in future movies, while Scott Allie and Matt Dryer make sure the stuff ends up in a form that works on the page. You'll also find a lighthearted back-up story of Hellboy's early years on the Air Force base when he was a maniac fanboy, decades before they took over the media.
I am thankful for Mike's continued involvement in Hellboy Animated and am continu- ously impressed with the quality of ideas that stream out of his head, seemingly at light speed. It is all so exciting that, in many ways, I feel my career is just starting. So here I sit at my desk, surrounded by the model sheets, storyboards, and scripts of a dream I had eleven years ago. Life is pretty good, and the fact that down the hall there's a huge staff of artists animating The Simpsons makes it all the sweeter.
—-
Black Wedding: A witch named Alexisa is trying to Akhera Jaun with a wedding or something. The animated gang is split up in three different groups to solve the mystery. The get betrayed by a book store owner, Liz is kidnapped, worms eat their psychic to spill blood for a silver bell. Theres a lot of little background items that do nothing. The witches needed Liz for a sacrifice for like a goat demon but it doesn’t go as planned. The story could’ve been executed better especially since the very first in the series.
Pyramid of Death: Little Hellboy enjoys Lobster Johnson on the tv, but gets carried away and tries to “foil” an experiment nearby where people are trying to get a mummy to talk. He breaks in and knocks the head off before the mummy finishes disclosing about spaceships and how the pyramids were powered.
—
“Coinciding with the release of the first Hellboy Animated film, this volume brings the animated version of Mike Mignola's Hellboy back to the comics page with two all-new stories from Jim Pascoe (Kim Possible, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Hellboy Animated co-creator Tad Stones. With art by Rick Lacy (Venture Brothers) and Fabio Laguna (X-Men Unlimited) and an original pin-up by Mignola, Hellboy Animated: The Black Wedding is the perfect bridge between the comics and cartoon worlds of the World's Greatest Paranormal Detective, perfect for readers of all ages.”
—
Introduction by Tad Stones:
Approximately eleven years ago, I stood in the office of a Walt Disney Television execu- tive and pitched Hellboy: the Animated Series. This scenario wasn't as crazy as it sounds, because this guy had stressed that Disney was looking for something different, some- thing edgy for prime time. Besides, the time seemed right. Bruce Timm had rocked the animation world with a version of Batman that showed American animation capable of more than preteen morality lessons. Elsewhere, Mulder and Scully were at the peak of their paranormal investigating popularity. So there I was, pitching Hellboy as an animated X Files, knowing it could be a lot more.
As I recall, the executive responded with something like, "I love it, but..." which is the response pitches get in Hollywood ninety-nine out of ninety-nine-and-a-half times. He gave lots of reasons for passing on it-good ones too-but I always felt that it boiled down to "It doesn't feel like The Simpsons."
Let us now pause and give thanks to Matt Groening and company for being so unique and successful that they blinded all television executives to other possibilities of anima- tion. They may have saved us from "Heckboy" and the sight of Mike Mignola's cre- ations riding down Disneyland's Main Street with Donald Duck and Cinderella. "Look Momma, I wanna picture with Rasputin!"
Years later, I started production on a TV spinoff of Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire. It starred a team of adventurers who explored arcane secrets and forgotten cities and fought bizarre or mystical creatures. I thought it might be the closest I would ever get to Hellboy and wasted no time in hiring Mike Mignola to help, as he had with the feature film. He was surprised at how dark some of our early scripts were: "Will they let you do this?"
Turned out, no. They wouldn't.
So there went my collaboration with Mike. A few years later, the Mouse and I parted ways. Meanwhile, Guillermo del Toro was in preproduction on his Hellboy movie and spent a lot of time talking about how an animated series should follow it. Guillermo is a hard man to ignore and, as busy as he was, kept pushing until his studio felt obliged to take note. Slowly, a couple of corporations, a network, two film studios, and a squad of agents and lawyers began their Byzantine dance that featured false starts, a deal im- molation, and the phoenix-like resurrection of the animated Hellboy project as a series of DVD movies. This brings us to the strange creation you hold in your hand, a comic based on a cartoon based on a comic, an alternate universe of Hellboy.
It was part of the deal that the animated Hellboy not be drawn like Mike Mignola's Hellboy. I'm sure there are all sorts of licensing and merchandising reasons for that, but the only thing that mattered to me was that it was Mike's wish, too. When you see the Mignola version on the cover of a comic, you're getting canon, you're getting Hellboy walking in the shadowy world of Mike's creation. The stories in those comics will con- tinue to paint the epic mural of Hellboy's life, and possibly the end of the world. I mean, you know what that right hand is for, don't you?
So what are these comics? These are tales from the world of Hellboy Animated, a uni- verse whose general structure was laid out when Mike and I co-wrote the stories for the first two DVDs. The characters' relationships and the major beats of Hellboy's life are the same here as those of the original, but the details have mutated. Hellboy has not been labeled Beast of the Apocalypse yet, Professor Broom is still alive, the B.P.R.D. headquarters has already moved into its mountain stronghold, and Lobster Johnson is... maybe I'll leave some secrets to be discovered in animation.
These are new missions for Hellboy, stand-alone adventures of the world's greatest para- normal investigator and his colleagues. Above all else, they're meant to be fun and perhaps come closest to that original "animated X Files" pitch. Mike and I give notes to keep things from conflicting from what we want to do in future movies, while Scott Allie and Matt Dryer make sure the stuff ends up in a form that works on the page. You'll also find a lighthearted back-up story of Hellboy's early years on the Air Force base when he was a maniac fanboy, decades before they took over the media.
I am thankful for Mike's continued involvement in Hellboy Animated and am continu- ously impressed with the quality of ideas that stream out of his head, seemingly at light speed. It is all so exciting that, in many ways, I feel my career is just starting. So here I sit at my desk, surrounded by the model sheets, storyboards, and scripts of a dream I had eleven years ago. Life is pretty good, and the fact that down the hall there's a huge staff of artists animating The Simpsons makes it all the sweeter.
—-
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2013
Short, cryptic, simple. Just like my review.
January 19, 2021
Short, sweet and fun. Like a Saturday morning kids cartoon-in comic form. Feels more so than the actual animated series. But since it stands outside of usual Hellboy stuff it is suitable for everyone to just pick up and read.
Hellboy and team are searching for a cat, a witch and the place where they all meet up for The Black Wedding where both Liz and Hellboy are needed.
A sacrifice of blood is wanted.
Hellboy and team are searching for a cat, a witch and the place where they all meet up for The Black Wedding where both Liz and Hellboy are needed.
A sacrifice of blood is wanted.
August 14, 2020
This review is for Judgment Bell and Black Wedding: It's not the same as Mignola's Hellboy stories (which apparently was a part of the agreement) but they weren't terrible. I haven't seen any of the animated movies, but I'm not sure if I'm interested in them or not after reading these.
December 21, 2020
Hellboy is awesome
:)
:)
July 29, 2023
We really really need a Liz mini-series.
July 1, 2007
Though the art is confusing at times, and the story seems disjointed towards the end, this HellBoy Animated series is a lighter rendition of the HellBoy books.
Taking a slightly different direction than any other HellBoy media (which is Mike Mignola's entire intent, as he wants to see for himself what it would be like for HellBoy or anyone else to take a different path), the Animated Volumes seem to follow the cartoons a little more closely.
There's low blood content, and amusingly enough, I believe that Mike Mignola's approved stories (though not written by him) are worth at least a once through.
My favorite series for these Animated Volumes is the mini HellBoy----BOY comics at the back of each volume. Inspired by Lobster Johnson (the claw of justice) HellBoy (at an early age) wanted to be just like him! In his aviator glasses and mini trench coat, he inflicted the justice upon evil doers!
(or so he thinks) lol
They're really amusing Dennis the Menace type stories that just make me laugh. I love 'em. Mike Mignola must love them too, considering he's got Lobster Johnson under lock and key. No LJ story gets printed without his express say so.
Taking a slightly different direction than any other HellBoy media (which is Mike Mignola's entire intent, as he wants to see for himself what it would be like for HellBoy or anyone else to take a different path), the Animated Volumes seem to follow the cartoons a little more closely.
There's low blood content, and amusingly enough, I believe that Mike Mignola's approved stories (though not written by him) are worth at least a once through.
My favorite series for these Animated Volumes is the mini HellBoy----BOY comics at the back of each volume. Inspired by Lobster Johnson (the claw of justice) HellBoy (at an early age) wanted to be just like him! In his aviator glasses and mini trench coat, he inflicted the justice upon evil doers!
(or so he thinks) lol
They're really amusing Dennis the Menace type stories that just make me laugh. I love 'em. Mike Mignola must love them too, considering he's got Lobster Johnson under lock and key. No LJ story gets printed without his express say so.
October 27, 2009
This graphic novel,"Hellboy, The Black Wedding" was mainly about hellboy trying to rescue his freinds likw he always does and he tries to end the evil, dark, bad wedding that an evil spirit wants to make it happen. These two girls try to investibate more about this suspicous wedding but Liz's freind his caught whili Liz is kipnapped and she learns more about her own past and she tries to overcome her fears. While Hellboy tries to defeat his enemies to stop this bizzare wedding that is getting out of control. So as Hellboy fights the evil spirit who is getting married, the groom, he takes away the the special bright light from the groom which destroyed the dark, black wedding and left Liz from being old to being young and back to normal again, she gets a picture or a flashback in her mind that she is dreming that Hellboy is talking together alone reviewing her past which destroyed he own fears.
November 13, 2014
What do you do to celebrate the release of the new animated Hellboy features? Release a comic set in the same animated universe, of course! It's a comic based on a cartoon based on a comic. Simple.
Here, HB and the BPRD are on the trail of a witch who has not only done something to a Frenchman's cat, but also seems to be bringing a cadre of monsters into the town for some reason. As they investigate, the team learns it's all connected to some dark ritual of power involving the summoning of a demon and the use of one of their own!
Along with the title story, there is a short back-up piece with lil' Hellboy on one of his first adventures, this one taking place in his own mind as he pretends to be Lobster Johnson after getting way too into his favorite radio adventure. Of course, growing up on a military base means no end of potential shenanigans for our young wannabe hero, as we find out...
Good book. Enjoyable and fun.
Here, HB and the BPRD are on the trail of a witch who has not only done something to a Frenchman's cat, but also seems to be bringing a cadre of monsters into the town for some reason. As they investigate, the team learns it's all connected to some dark ritual of power involving the summoning of a demon and the use of one of their own!
Along with the title story, there is a short back-up piece with lil' Hellboy on one of his first adventures, this one taking place in his own mind as he pretends to be Lobster Johnson after getting way too into his favorite radio adventure. Of course, growing up on a military base means no end of potential shenanigans for our young wannabe hero, as we find out...
Good book. Enjoyable and fun.
October 6, 2009
hellsoy the black wedding was aboutwhen the bad dudes take away a girl named liz,and hellboy goes to help her.when hellboy gets to speak to her is when he takes a candle from the head of a gaot tepy of animal and then turns it off.Then he goes into a place where the backgroung is white and he see her as a little kid afried because she think she can hurt people .Then hellboy gives her the candle to turn it on and she does without hurting hellboy.this book was good.
May 4, 2011
It was okay, but as the comic based upon the animated series based upon the popularity of the movie based upon the original comic/graphic novel its just too far removed from the creative spark for my taste.
So no more of the Hellboy Animated books for me. I will go for some of the originals later however.
So no more of the Hellboy Animated books for me. I will go for some of the originals later however.
August 14, 2010
"It was Ok" as the two-star rating calls it. Yeah, that's accurate. There are many moments where the seams aren't sewn together nearly as well as you'd hope, but it wasn't bad, and definitely not terrible.
July 1, 2013
Exactly as advertised on the back cover, Hellboy Animated vol 1- The Black Wedding is fun for all ages. I enjoyed these stories as much as those in Mike Mignola's comics or even Guillermo del Toro's movies. Good stuff.
December 15, 2012
Hellboy roughin' shit up, but this time in a pint-sized piece for young adults that Mike Mignolia didn't write. Still good, still Hellboy, just not the usual horror.
May 8, 2016
This doesn't really have the same feel as the canon HB stuff, but it's fun. I especially enjoyed the back up which features a young HB play acting as the Lobster.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews