Hellboy: The Companion

Hellboy

by Stephen Weiner, Jason Hall, Victoria Blake

Written by Steve Weiner (The Will Eisner Companion) and Jason Hall (Beware the Creeper, Trigger, Detective Comics) and densely illustrated with classic images from the comics as well as a handful of new drawings from Mignola, this volume offers thorough documentation of the Hellboy universe, compiling the many complex pieces that make up the life of the World’s Greatest Paranormal Investigator into an easily understandable format. From Abe Sapien to the secret origin of the world, this complete compendium is every hardcore Hellboy fan’s key to the mind of Mike Mignola, and the ultimate introduction for anyone looking to begin their journey in the weird and wondrous world he has created.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Reference, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

200 pages, Paperback

First published December 14, 2006

Reviews

[Apple84 Wylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A kind of "field companion" to Mike Mignola's Hellboy & BPRD series, this book makes a good addition in deconvoluting the Mignola mythos. The text includes character bios, a timeline of Hellboy/BPRD events, and recommended reading from Mike himself. Though written by others, this book would appear to have a lot of help from Mike... including insertion of Mignola art throughout. I've read the Hellboy series since it's inception; the mythos has expanded in depth and complexity through the years. I was surprised how well all of the sub-plots tie together, in ways not readily apparent in the TPB's and comics. The Companion does a great job of connecting-the-dots for you. It made me want to go back and re-read all of the stories to see what I've missed. Hellboy now has 3 separate continuities: the comic series, the movie universe, and the animated series. All three have their own slant on the Hellboy story. The Companion does a great job of distilling the comic book universe for the uninitiated and also hardcore fans.

[Edward Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great companion piece to the Hellboy and B.P.R.D universe that includes clearly defined ties between the characters and plot lines with enough data and clarity to help even the newest fans without spoiling too much.

[Carmen Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a lover of Hellboy and his universe, this was a great find at a used bookstore. Although, as many people have mentioned, this book contains information most of us who have read the comics would know, I like how concise this book is. I was a bit disappointed with a lack of more in-depth details, but I understand Weiner's reasoning for keeping the "mystery" of Hellboy alive, especially for new readers. There is nothing like cracking open one of these comics and letting it come at you with a newness that reading it all in a companion book would ruin.

This is, after all, just your companion guide to Hellboy--it isn't Hellboy himself. But what I did gain was a stream-lined time-line and a succinct summary of the characters of Hellboy that I think would prove useful to anyone, beginner or hard-core fan alike.

What I love the most about this book, however, is the 'inspiration' section. I love reading myths, folktales, and pulp fiction, and while some of the books on the list I have read or know, there are others I look forward to digging into. I appreciate getting a "further reading" section in a companion book about a comic series--it shows how vast the source material for Hellboy is. And it is in those bits and pieces of collected bits and bobs, of information that stuck so well in Mignola's brain, that I truly find fascinating. Plus, now I can read a plethora of books I haven't heard of while simultaneously thinking, "Somewhere in here is a bit of Hellboy," and that is a wonderful thing.

[Brenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a reference book, this serves its purpose well, though it did not contain as exhaustive an amount of information as I had expected and hoped for. I do greatly appreciate the previously unknown tidbits and secrets that Mignola revealed to the authors of the book, but even a cursory overview of the Hellboy books themselves will tell you that there is probably still a LOT of detail that has been left out of this guide. But that aside, it was an informative read and contains some nifty little exclusive Mignola illustrations, too.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The character profiles are very nice and useful. The timeline is a little "meh" for casual reading (or any kind of reading), but what could anyone expect from that? Overall, the book is a good read to expand understanding of the vagaries within the whole series, and jog memories before going on to next titles published thus far. I like it a lot, and recommend it as good reminiscent reading for those who've read as far as Hellboy's "Darkness Calls" and B.P.R.D.'s "1946" (pretty sure "The Warning" came after the Companion)

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am amazing book for fans of the Hellboy and BPRD comic series. Hellboy comics have been published for about 14 years so it's pretty easy to forget details and see how things fit together, but this book presents everything and weaves it together creating a cool secret history of Hellboy's world. And it makes me even more eager to see where Mike Mignola takes his characters next.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoying this - very informative and thorough and well written. not as fun as reading the comics, of course, but more fun than i anticipated.

what i'd really like to see, though, is an electronic version of this, that's searchable and updatable. things keep changing in the HB universe, and this book is already slightly behind.

still, highly recommended for the true Hellboy fan.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

All you need to become familiar with all the characters from Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. This also includes a time-line that is nice because the stories themselves are not published in chronological order.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yaa! More Hellboy stuff! This one is actually a text guidebook kinda deal, rather than a graphic novel/comic.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't you hear? Hellboy is back! He's not just dead. He was in Hell--and got some rest, but not he's back on earth with the BPRD and they're in their final story arc.

As such, I thought I'd brush up. The problem is this book is largely outdated. Over 100 issues of BPRD have occurred since this came out for the second movie. It'd be nice to have an update with the reboot imminent. Funny enough, this book stops right before the Wild Hunt, and the movie is inspired by the Wild Hunt.

Truth be told, the series has only gotten more esoteric and convuluted as time has gone on. The series' were relatively in their infancy when this book came out over a decade ago--so this seems unnecessary. It'd be a bit more receptive if they kept updating it--but alas a lot more abstract things have happened since then, meaning this guide is no the refresher i need it to be.

[Avery Follett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super cool behind-the-scenes look at the Hellboy universe. A great read for any fans of Hellboy or Mignola, this book has biographies of all the characters and an enormous timeline of all of the events taking place in the Mignolaverse, from as far back as the creation of Hyperborea. Any longstanding questions that you might have about the Hellboy universe, this book is likely to make understanding them a bit easier.

[Elaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book detailing the background of the characters of Hellboy and the missions he has undertaken during his tenure at the BPRD. I really enjoyed reading this. It is extremely thorough.

[Cassiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good guide. I quite liked it but the timeline doesn't give the relevant story for the events and the guide was released before the series was completed.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

bit dense but very informative and really useful

[Dave Timney · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant book and recommended to any hellboy fans

[Edlogu · Rating 5 out of 5]

That comic is very great.

[Damon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I expected to be a bit more entertained by this book, but I'm not sure why - it's obviously intended primarily as a "reference" text, which it is pretty good at. There were definitely a some things that I hadn't caught when reading the original stories, and a lot where after reading this I thought "Oh, so THAT'S what was happening there..." Aside from that, though, I would say this is only for really dedicated fans of Hellboy/BPRD stuff - there's not a lot of joy here for a casual reader, and not a lot of new material (art or story). Also, I was put off by the lack of an index - you would think that a books that's giving extensive background/reference information and timelines and such would have an index so I can say "Hey, what's the thing with that evil monkey robot? What was his deal again?" and then go and see he was on pages 45, 46, 48, 92, 97, 102, 1nd 116...

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Handy but not sure it's essential. The character biographies and time line are good to reference but presented such straightforwardly lose much of the magic of the comics. The scholarly essay at the end is interesting however.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I was looking for more of a "Hellboy Encyclopedia," but this will do in a pinch.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful centralization of the mountain of myths and references that is the Hellboy universe. Great for a casual read for fans, and a handy reference guide.

[Lauran · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who need a little extra help knowing who is who and who does what in Hellboy, this companion book will help fill in the blanks and keep you on track throughout the comics.

[Babs]

FALSE

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]