ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWX
1
2
 What is the Hellboy Universe?
3
The Hellboy Universe is a shared universe, primarily comprised of comics (similar to Marvel's or DC's, but less extensive and more consistent in it's continuity) It was created by Mike Mignola when he released the first Hellboy Story, it focuses on occult, mythological and paranormal themes which are explored in several titles like Hellboy, BPRD, Witchfinder and Lobster Johnson (and more!). The goal of this sheet is to provide a reading order for those stories that is suitable for new readers and also some other useful information, like an in-universe chronological order of all stories, the release order, etc. For any questions message me on Reddit u/JulixgMC (always glad to help!).
4
5
6
You can use the comment feature of Google Sheets to ask questions, provide suggestions, or point out errors (Note, this comments will be marked as "Resolved" regularly so they don't clutter the list, but can be accessed by the comment history tab (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+A). Please use the comment feature for topics relating to the sheet itself. if you want to discuss the comics, I recommend the r/Mignolaverse subreddit, Its Discord server of the same name and/or the Facebook groups "Mike Mignola's Art" (Which is official! Lots of comic creators there, including Mignola himself) and "Hellboy Universe". I'm part of all of these great communities, so I'll be reading you there.
7
8
9
Mignolaverse SubredditMignolaverse Discord InviteMike Mignola's Art FacebookHellboy Universe Facebook
10
Warning: It's strongly recommended that you access this guide on a PC (preferably) or, on mobile devices, from the Google Sheets app, since the mobile browser version doesn't support notes. I recommend trying to zoom out and/or (only on PC) hide the menu bar (Ctrl+Shift+F) to fit more of the sheet on your screen. Also (on PC) take note of the arrows beside the Sheets to not miss any of them.
11
For more orders from all types of media click here, I have orders for Avatar, The MCU, Young Justice, The Witcher, The Cosmere, and more!
12
 Frequently Asked Questions
13
Never read a comic in my life... Where do I start?The Hellboy Universe is a great gateway to the world of comics, I suggest reading this entire "Home" page and then go to the Omnibus page and try to get those books, either physical editions (Real paper) or digital editions (To read on computers, tablets, etc.).
14
15
What does "X" mean?Comic terminology can be confusing for new readers, I put a lot of common comics lingo in the glossary at the bottom of this sheet, if the term is not there just sending me a message at u/JulixgMC, always happy to help.
16
17
Why do I have to switch between books or series?There is a lot of stuff that is referenced between the different series (Events, characters, lore, etc.) that's why switching between series is recommended for the optimal read, and, due to the nature of collected editions, the places where switching series feels most natural are in the middle of them (Especially in Omnibus Editions). Also, some of the books are made up of seemingly random collections of stories (For example, B.P.R.D. "Being Human" and "Hollow Earth") so I've broken up these into the individual stories and placed them in the most relevant places. If this really bothers you, I can recommend the Mignolaversity reading order (Linked below).
18
19
20
Why not reading them in Chronological Order?Chronological order is not the best way to experience Hellboy universe for first-time readers, the reason is comics that happen earlier in the timeline sometimes assume you already know information about topics that are covered in stories that were released earlier but happen later in the timeline, some "prequel" stories even contain major spoilers for those stories in the form of "flash-forwards".
21
22
Why not reading them in Release Order?Release order is not a bad way to read the stories for first-time readers, but it can feel very disorganized when you are switching between different series and time periods every few issues. Also some of the newer stories are meant to fill gaps between older stories, and this list aims to put them where they "belong" and in a way that flow better narratively and thematically.
23
24
Can I skip one or more Books or Series?It depends, I would advise you to ask in the r/mignolaverse subreddit, or to me directly at u/JulixgMC on Reddit. The main Hellboy comics up to (and including) "Hellboy in Hell" can be read in its entirety as its own series, but reading the other books that are part of the universe really enhances the experience. The other series can be more reliant on previous information provided in other titles. If the reason you need to skip a story is because you can't find the specific comic (It's out of print or not in a collected edition) I recommend getting it digitally at Comixology or the Dark Horse website. Anything that isn't a comic book, like Prose stories, can be skipped without losing any context for the comics.
25
26
27
Are the "Parts" of each sheet interchangeable?No, different types of collected editions collects stories entirely different ways, hence why, for example, stories that might be in Part 3 in the TPB order can be in Part 1 in the Omnibus one.
28
29
Wait, did the order change since my last visit?Yeah, sorry about that, I'm always updating the order to add the newly released stories or to correct the placement of stories of which wasn't convinced. If you want a static version of the list you can make a copy (File -> Make a Copy). Check the Changelog Tab, where I list almost every change I make.
30
31
What's going on with the B.P.R.D. Omnibuses?In 2022 and 2023, Dark Horse decided to re-print all BPRD Omnibuses with different names, dropping the "sub-titles" so BPRD Plague of Frogs 1 to 4, BPRD Hell on Earth 1 to 5 and BPRD The Devil You Know simply became BPRD 1 to 10. These have the exact same content as the previous versions and are interchangeable (aside from a single short story that is already collected elsewhere, and it's marked in the order itself).
32
33
Where are the other series? Baltimore, Joe Golem, etc.Not every Mignola comic is part of the Hellboy Universe, some like Jenny Finn, Radio Spaceman, and Leonide the Vampyr are completely standalone, while Baltimore, Joe Golem and some other series are part of a different, unrelated shared universe known as The Outerverse. These can be found on a section of the Non-Canon tab, including a link to my Outerverse reading order.
34
35
 What is each tab for? Which one should I use? (Note: the tabs are on the bottom of the screen)
36
📚 TPB/LE OrderThis order contains ALL comic and prose stories that are considered canon and is designed for people who own the Trade Paperbacks and/or the Hellboy Library Editions (Comics that aren't collected in them are still shown as single issues, graphic novels, etc.)
37
38
📕 Omnibus/MSH OrderThis order contains ALL comic and prose stories that are considered canon and is designed for people who own the Omnibus Editions and/or the Monster Sized Hellboy collection (Comics that aren't collected in them are still shown as TPBs, single issues, etc.). Monster Sized Hellboy pages are shown in the notes column.
39
40
📙 Omnibus/LE OrderThis order contains ALL comic and pose stories that are considered canon and is designed for people who own both the Hellboy Library Editions and the Omnibus Editions of other series (Comics that aren't collected in them are still shown as TPBs, single issues, etc.)
41
42
📃 Story OrderThe least beginner friendly. This order contains ALL comic and prose stories that are considered canon and is designed for people who already own most of the books (Be it re-readers or commited first timers). It's the "Ideal" story order, but doesn't take into account how the stories are collected at all (in any of the formats), however, it does show where each one is collected in every type of collected edition.
43
44
🕰️ Timeline OrderIf you are a new reader don't look at this list, it contains big SPOILERS. This order is designed for people who are looking to either look up when the events of each story take place or to re-read all the stories in a chronological order, it's not recommended for first time readers, because some "prequels" have SPOILERS for things that were released previously, but take place later in the timeline.
45
46
📰 Publication OrderThis order is designed for keeping track of when each story was released, it's not recommended as a reading order because some newer stories sometimes serve as "interquels" that take place between two previously released stories, and are best read there, also reading them this way will make you switch between time period, story arc and tone very frequently which can be quite jarring.
47
48
✖️ Non-Canon ListThis is a list of all Hellboy related stories that aren't part of the "canon" universe, this includes various humorous comics, comic crossovers with other characters, non-canon prose books, movies and videogames related to Hellboy, and even a list of other comic books which Mike Mignola has worked on that I would recommend you reading if you like the ones from the Hellboy Universe.
49
50
📝 ChangelogHere I catalogue (almost) every change that I make to the list. The changes marked in yellow are the ones the order of the main reading order tabs, if you are using them, I recommend checking this tab every once in a while to make sure you didn't skip anything when something is changed.
51
52
 Glossary
53
➕ CanonThe term Canon is used to refer to the stories or events that occured in the main universe. For example, the events of the Batman/Hellboy/Starman crossover are NOT canon because neither Batman or Starman exist in the universe the main Hellboy comics (and it's spin-offs) are set in. A Retcon (short from retroactive continuity) is when something that was previously considered canon isn't anymore, this is rare in the Hellboy Universe, but there are small instances of it happening. When an entire story is retconned I will no longer feature it in the main orders, and move it to the non-canon section.
54
55
56
 ⬤ StoryThe term Story can mean two things, either as a term to refer to each titled release or as a shorthand for the stories that don't even reach the page length of a single issue by themselves and are often released as part of compilations or as back-ups for other comics.
57
58
 ⬤ IssueAn Issue is a single comic book (like a magazine) that is usually released monthly for each series, issues that contain one single story and aren't released in a monthly schedule are often called One-Shots
59
60
 ⬤ TPB & HCCTPBs or Trade Paperback Collections are (at least for the purposes of this sheet) collections of around 4 to 6 standard issues or stories that make up an equivalent page length. HCCs or Hardcover Collections are collections of the same size as TPBs that were released originally with a "hard" cover instead of a "paper" one.
61
62
 ⬤ Graphic NovelGraphic Novels are (at least for the purposes of this sheet) books that contain stories longer than a one shot, which, opposed to TPBs, don't collect previous material.
63
64
 ⬤ Library Edition (LE)Library Editions collect 2 TPBs each. They are released in an oversized hardcover format and only the first 12 Hellboy TPBs and "Hellboy in Hell" are collected in them.
65
66
 ⬤ OmnibusOmnibuses are (at least for the purposes of this sheet) collections of around 3 TPBs or stories that make up an equivalent page length (the length of some Omnibuses varies a lot, but 100% of the time they are longer than TPBs) These often also collect Graphic Novels.
67
68
 ⬤ Monster Sized HellboyMonster Sized Hellboy collects (almost) everything in the 4 "main" Hellboy Omnibuses in a hardcover oversized format. This edition doesn't feature any of the supplemental material of other editions, including the two 4 page "World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator" promotional stories
69
70
 ■ Prose Short StoriesProse Stories are made up almost entirely of written word (Not comic book panels), these are found in Anthology Prose Books and one of them in an Anthology Magazine. Very few of these stories are considered canon.
71
72
◼ Prose NovelsProse Novels are full length books that are made up almost entirely of written word (Not comic book panels). Very few of these novels are considered canon.
73
74
◼ Audio DramasAudio Dramas are productions by the company Graphic Audio, that consist of stories narrated and performed by different actors, with added sound effects and music.
75
76
for the sources of the Banner images click here
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100