“Hellboy Essentials” Collections are On the Horizon

It looks like Hellboy fans will soon have a new way to enjoy Hellboy comics. Dark Horse has announced a line of “Hellboy Essentials” collections with the purpose of gathering stories that Hellboy creator Mike Mignola considers to be essential.

These new paperbacks will contain “Classic Hellboy Stories, Chosen by Mike Mignola Featuring All New Covers by Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart”. The first, Hellboy Universe Essentials: Hellboy, is set to collect The Chained Coffin, The Third Wish, Pancakes, The Nature of the Beast, The Corpse, The Baba Yaga, A Christmas Underground, The Ghoul, and The Troll Witch. This volume is set for release on July 20, 2021, followed by Hellboy Universe Essentials: B.P.R.D. in November 2021, then Hellboy Universe Essentials: Lobster Johnson in March of 2022, and finally Hellboy Universe Essentials: Witchfinder in July of 2022.

Additional information from Dark Horse’s press release:

“The stories of the Hellboy Universe are some of the most celebrated and beloved in comics fandom. Blending folklore, horror, mythology, action, and adventure, legendary Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and a host of celebrated writers and artists have chronicled the adventures of Hellboy, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Lobster Johnson, and Sir Edward Grey for more than two decades. Beginning in 2021, Dark Horse Books will publish four volumes of essential Hellboy Universe stories, all selected by Mike Mignola, each featuring all new covers by Mignola and award-winning colorist Dave Stewart.“

“In some cases—B.P.R.D. and Witchfinder—it was pretty easy to select the one “essential” book,” said Mignola. “Hellboy was more complicated, as there is so much ground to cover. In the end we chose to go with a collection of short stories rather than a single graphic novel, to give more of an overview of the character. We chose certain stories that say important things about his background, but also some that just show what he does and how he does it. A couple of stories are in there just because they are my favorites.”

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