How Long Have You been Here?

[Nick W]

I guess this is kind of a get to meet your neighbors thread. I know it's been done before, but I thought with the constant mix of new & old Hellboarders it might be a good idea to do it again. Since I'm posting it looks like it's up to me to start it off...

I can't remember when I first stumbled across Hellboy.com (or A Plague of Frogs as it was then), but I think I first started posting in '99 or 2000. I've been a Hellboy fan since 1993 with Seed of Destruction #1... I'm a Mignola fan first, Hellboy fan second, but it's a very close 2nd. I was made a S.A.C.K. in 2003. And I edit a couple of websites that pale in comparison to what Lady J has done with HB.com.

NW

[Mikolaj]

I've been a Mignola fan since I've startet reading comics. The first HB came out here cicra 1997 and that's when I've picked it up for the first time. I've liked the comic very much of course only mcuh later I've discovered that It's not the HB I like so much but the way mr. Mignola tells his tales.
And as to the forum? I've been scooping it since I don't know... 2004? After a year I've got brave enought to join. ;) And here I am.

[jackups]

Ugh not that long really ,Im still getting to know quite alot of you I suppose Hellboy hit me in the most difficult way I wasnt introduced through the proper comic or the film but through weird tales 1 ,I had always liked superheros and paranomal and world war two stuff,the the feel of Hellboy even in that book was great I became very intrested, then I went off it from lack of things to read,but came back to it when I saw the custom Lego Hellboy a few years back and immeadialty watched the movie(it was scratched so it wasnt working, so I gave it a quick clean and it worked)Loved it watched it again made my Lego Hellboy and then got Seed, and Ive been collecting anything since then it helped alot that the Animated show was coming along I mean so many diffrent media to find and read the spirit of the character.And then I found this site when lookin at that lego Hellboy made an account and have been here ever since.

[parrish]

I got into Hellboy pretty late. 1997 or 1998 when I started collecting comics again, after about 5 years of nothing.

Someone told me there was a lot of folklore mixed in, that's what sparked my interest.

[Neil Hill]

My first experience with Hellboy was seeing him at Mike's table at a Portland, OR convention back in 1993. Mike was positively glowing with excitement when describing his love for this strange looking character he'd created, who (honestly) looked like an ape with goggles with a really cool gadget belt. I hadn't seen the character yet in color so I could only assume (via the few snatches of memory I was able to draw upon when I got home) that those things on his head WERE goggles. Boy did I feel silly when the comic came out and I saw that they were supposed to be horns.

Anyway, I joined this wonderful community of fellow fans back when Jonell first started the board (around '97 I think). I've followed the board from it's old location (before www.hellboy.com was locked down) to this one and have been having a blast ever since!

[Karl O'Neill]

You should have fun with this,
i have never read a hellboy comic,

so the next logical thing is, where do i start guys?, because i would buy what u recommend me. i love trying out new stuff.

i know nothing of the hellboy characther

Thanks

[Neil Hill]

i know nothing of the hellboy characther

Uh, okay, this begs the question then, what brought you to this community?

The question of where to start, go next, keep the interest going, etc. is asked quite often, so I can only imagine we've created a thread on where to start and what books to read. I'd recommend Seed of Destruction and then just read the trades in order after that (they're all numbered at the bottom of the spine). Best of luck to you!

[jscott]

Since 2000 I believe. I remember making this rather cold statement regarding the art gallery at the original Hellboy site. When Jonell emailed me, I felt so damn horrible, felt like such a jerk! :D

As a Mignola fan, jeez...I remember really loving Rocket Raccoon, but I became a fan with Gotham by Gaslight.

[Mike Cross]

I don't remember the specific date for me joining the community, though it was around the time 1997 or thereabouts on the old board.

I first saw Mike's work on Gotham by Gaslight, followed by Wolverine's Jungle Adventure, though i recall that i didn't like the art too much of Web of Spidey Annual 2 and Mike's backup feature, but i loved the Batman and Wolverine books..go figure, i never equated that it was the same guy. Stuck in my not knowing creators phase i suppose. I think the only ones i followed back then was Norm Breyfogle and Todd MacFarlane.

I remember where i was when i started liking Mouse Guard though...

[Otto66]

9/23/99 is when I first fell into "A Plague of Frogs". I know, 'cause I
printed off some pages of Hellboy related Articles and Inteviews.
Evern have copies of the Hellboy.com Newsletter.
Been kick'n around Jnapper webmastered sites ever since.

Had been read DarkHorse books so was aware that Legend was starting
up with Miller, Byrne, Mignola and the others. Hellboy showed up on the
cover and in JBNM #21 (DEC '93) and blew me away. I went back into my
collection at that time, and found, that I'd been buy'n stuff done by
Mignola for a number of years 'cause I'd liked his "quirky" style. Which
is to say, his art looked like no one elses. Been a Mignola/Hellboy fan ever since.

[ZombieHound]

I'm not ashamed to admit I was brought into the Hellboy world through the movie. Since they were produced by Darkhorse, the comics were not well-known among my comicbook friends. The film pursuaded me to pick up Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil. Many issues, tradepaperbacks, and a spinoff later, I now call myself more of a comic-verse fan of Hellboy/BPRD. Although Mignola's (as well as Davis') work cannot be matched, I still say I read the comics for the characters and stories rather than the person behind them.

I've lurked around this Hellboard for a long time, mostly using it as reliable source for upcoming news. It was not until November that I decided to join it.

[hellboyone]

I discovered Mignola's art (without really knowing the artist) when I saw a preview of Cosmic Odyssey in Comics Scene magazine back when I was a young lad. Then I had a copy of some Superman comic he did through a trade (World of Krypton, I think...back when I still traded comics....ah, the good old days...) and I was struck by how different the character looked: all barrel-chested with relatively tiny legs. I loved the style. Then I saw Gotham By Gaslight in a bookstore and permanently cemented the art with the man. And promptly shoplifted it. (I was broke! And a serial shoplifter. :( )

I kept following the man's work. Hellboy came out, the internet proliferated, and I discovered J. Napper's A Plague of Frogs. And she's been editing my posts ever since. :)

[THE REAL kirk]

First discovered HB at the San Diego Comic Con when the Dark Horse Legend line started up and they were hyping the new characters. I was immediately intrigued by Hellboy and Monkeyman and O'Brian. How odd then they joined together in their first books - Hellboy, a back up story, who'd a figured? Unlike many I was unaware of Mike's work until that time so had no idea what he had done before. His style is not one that lends itself to my typical likes so I am glad that, through Hellboy, I was able to learn to appreciate a very talented artist.

Anyhow, I was hooked from issue one and have been along for the ride ever since. As for the site, well, like everyone else I was hungry for all things Hellboy and found "A Plague of Frogs." I still vividly remember the many forms it took and designing some graphics for Jonell. Later came the board in its different forms.

And now, almost 14 years later, I'm still here and Hellboy is bigger than ever!

[Myron L]

Been a Hellboy fan right from the get-go. The irony of it was that I was never a Mignola fan until then...had myself too caught up with the intricate line-work of people like Art Adams to enjoy Mike's stuff for its simple-but-moody altering art. The premise of Hellboy reeled me in and I was hooked thereafter.

Funny...since I am on vacation this week, I have been sorting through the remainder of my collection ( I sold over fifteen long boxes this summer for almost nothing) and found that I had more Mignola stuff left than I thought...Gotham By Gaslight, Dr Strange/Dr Doom Hardcover, Wolverine's The Jungle Adventure...only series I regret selling years ago was Fahfrd and The Grey Mouser...I did truly love the story, but finances were hurting and I got a good price for them.

Still have some Monkey Man and O'Brien, a whole run of Next Men and lotsa other goodies !

Ah... reminiscing about the good old times...
;)

Now I'm just getting old !
lmao

[Kelly Tindall]

I've known about Hellboy for ten years... I started reading the online comics, like The Corpse, about six years ago and seriously started collecting in 2005 when The Beguiling, in Toronto, sold out a bunch of damaged trades for cheap.

I really got crazy at Christmas, 2005, when I read The Dead and was blown away. Didn't care for Hollow Earth and hadn't read Plague of Frogs, but The Dead just knocked my socks off... Mike had caught lightning in a bottom twice, and I was buying a ticket and taking the ride and that's all there was to it.

You could say I'm a Hellboy nut thanks to Guy Davis first.

-K.

[Bertowud]

I've been following Hellboy since the very beginning.

I've been mostly lurking here since 2003 or so.

[Ken O]

Hellboy? Wow. It was probably seven years ago. It was a smoky bar, are eyes met over a plate of Nuclear Death chicken wings. He told me stories about sea monsters and ancient gods all the while making sure there were fresh shots on the bar. The cigar smoke filled my senses, the night blurred, and I woke up in the remains of a destroyed hotel room wearing nothing but a robe. The bastard never called back and he stole my wallet!!!

[shonokin]

Since the late 90s. Well, not HERE here, but following the board and website around as it moved. I used to post a lot on the old board, but not so much anymore, though I do check in and read through the threads every day.

I was glad once Lady J finally had a forum put up. One of my first posts on usenet was in alt.horror.cthulhu in 1997 and it was about Hellboy (http://tinyurl.com/3xq3mq).

[lerochelle]

My whole life was sheltered, secure, and safe. As a kid, I wasn't allowed to read comics, and frankly, the topic never came up until I was about 15.

I started buying Wizard mags and drooling over the art in there. Thats when my drawings took a dramatic turn, instead of drawing butterflies and horses, I was drawing half naked women and bulging muscled men. LOL.

I remember drawing on a car trip down to Ky to visit my Nana, when my mother turned around and looked at what I was drawing. She told me I wasn't allowed to show it to Nana! I stopped drawing after she died later that year.

In highschool, I took every art class they offered along with some at the college, but never tried comic style agian until a few months ago.

In September of 06, I was rummaging through the old VHS bin at the movie mart and spotted Hellboy. I had a sudden sense of deja' vue and immediatly bought it for $2.99. Got home,watched it, and became enthralled at the storyline and makeup.

It was quite a shock to find out Ron Perlman was the one under the "red stuff"... I had watched Beauty and the Beast with my mother on the Sci-Fi channel every day. Now they are comming out with the first season on DVD on Feb. 13th.

But to find out the same actor was playing this big red guy with hornays... WOW! I started looking for other Hellboy things, not knowing it was and is a comic until I stumbled onto this forum. Lurked a bit then joined a week later.

Tested the comic online at Dark Horse's E-comics and fell in love with the style and characters.

Wore out the VHS, bought the two-disc, Daughter fell in love with her "fish guy friend" and "Hellboy with the horns". Bought the director's cut to see more deleted scenes and extras.

Started drawing again. I guess I should thank Mignola for that, I probably wouldn't have started drawing again with out seeing the movie or the comics.

I am now slowly collecting the comics as I find them and drawing up a storm.

Thank you Mike Mignola, Del Toro, Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, Selma Blair, and all the others who work endlessly to keep Hellboy going!

[Brisco]

I think I had the honor of being the very first visitor to JNapper's old Plague of Frogs site... or at least the first one to email her. Unfortunately there was no forum back in those days, and by the time there was, I had graduated college and didn't have regular internet access for a few years.

I wasn't as quick on the uptake with Hellboy himself, I'm afraid. I bought Seed of Destruction for the Gary Gianni Monstermen back-up story (being a huge Gianni fan), then decided to read the main attraction as well (even though I wasn't a big fan of Mignola at the time--what the hell was I thinking???) and I was hooked. Before the second issue came out, I'd snarfed up all the other Hellboy stuff that had been published at that point.

Brisco

[redoogie]

Well I have been a fan since Junior high school, and stumbled across this board a couple years ago. I lurked for awhile just reading the posts before finally joining up last year. Glad to be here ..

[Ninth Hispana]

The truth,....the whole truth...It was in the year of our Lord,...A.D. Nineteen hundred and ninety three when I first laid eyes on what would be....HELLBOY or, that strange lookin guy with the goggles on his head...Since then,I have eagerly awaited each issue, though distance has been a tyrant to me concerning original art and stuff,I have to say,.. at the time when it first came out SOD was a great help and escape[for at least a while] during a family tragedy....Later I became aware of the Geocities site, but didn't have a computer.[Many are the years I've lurked, seeing..but not been seen] [ laughter] It is only in the last year I have put my Luddite ways behind me, gotten a computer [ instead of using a friends]and stopped Rasputining [laugh].. and it's all HELLBOY, [Mike] and JNappers fault [lots of laughter] thanks for this site.....All the Best....

[6are54]

I'm a Mignola fan first.
Of course, I love HB & BPRD as well.
I discovered the graphic novel in 2004, after the movie came out.
I liked the movie quite a bit, but as soon as I read the comic, I immediately fell in love with it.
I have to say I love it much more than the movie.
Although you can't really compare...oranges & apples, you know.
So yeah, almost 4 years now.

[Rachel Edidin]

I've known OF Hellboy for a fairly long time, but I didn't start getting *into* Hellboy until I started working on it (about eight months ago)! Got handed a stack of Hellboy and B.P.R.D. trades and told "get REAL familiar with these." I was familiar with Mike Mignola and Guy Davis from other stuff, but nothing had prepared me for how much I'd enjoy these.

I spent the next few days reading nonstop, occasionally pausing to slap myself for not discovering this stuff sooner. Now, I can identify stories by a single panel, sans dialog :p

[Catlin]

I've been a fan since the beginning of Hellboy, ever since that short comic that appeared at the SDCC. I didn't join this board until a few years ago (then I got to disappear twice, won't go into either reason again, but neither reason was fun). I kind of went in and out of HB phases, since I was trying to not be an even bigger geek in high school, I had to hide my obsession. Plus I discovered boys.

Then I discovered much better looking boys who also share my love of Hellboy ;) *points to all the male Hellboarders*

[Aaron King]

I started lurking at the old board shortly after Conqueror Worm came out. That was the first Hellboy comic I bought. I read all of the Hellboy stories online about a year before that (I was getting into Madman and the Mask and inspecting Dark Horse's line).

My very first Mignola comic was an issue of Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser that I got for free because the guy that ran the old comic shop in town couldn't sell it.

[grogtheslayer]

Mike had caught lightning in a bottom twice
-K.

Is that anything like the man from Crass?
;)

I was working as a technical writer for a software firm back in 1996, and I got a new cubicle mate who was a pretty interesting fellow, and we got to talking about comics and he brought up Hellboy, which I knew nothing about at the time. The next day he showed up with The Chained Coffin for me to read and history was made. I've been reading it all ever since then and enjoying the ride.

[Catlin]

I was working as a technical writer for a software firm back in 1996, and I got a new cubicle mate who was a pretty interesting fellow, and we got to talking about comics and he brought up Hellboy, which I knew nothing about at the time. The next day he showed up with The Chained Coffin for me to read and history was made. I've been reading it all ever since then and enjoying the ride.

That sounds like what I did at my old job - my Wednesday work-related errand just happened to take me within a block of my comic shop so I'd eat lunch at my desk and read my comics. A lot of my co-workers laughed but I had a few of the young guys interested, so I let them flip through my BPRD issues. Then I let then trade around Seed of Destruction and hooked all three :)

[Elegance Liberty]

Long story short: Saw some stuff for the movie, liked it and somehow found some forums, read the comics and liked it a smidge more than the movie, went away for a while -too busy with RL crap- and now I'm lurking here on and off from time to time.

And that's all I gotta say about that!

[Lilitu]

I've discovered Hellboy in 2004,watching the movie, because I am a tireless fan of Ron Perlman (and I hope ,a day,that someone tell him that there's a young,little, cute, shy italian girl that love him)(yes, I have said "LOVE"), but I already knew Mignola's work. After writing this I have to make a call to my doctor...I have ended the psychotropic drugs:eek:

[Catlin]

I've discovered Hellboy in 2004,watching the movie, because I am a tireless fan of Ron Perlman (and I hope ,a day,that someone tell him that there's a young,little, cute, shy italian girl that love him)(yes, I have said "LOVE"), but I already knew Mignola's work. After writing this I have to make a call to my doctor...I have ended the psychotropic drugs:eek:

Honey, there is nothing wrong with obsession, unless it turns to violence and/or stalking. Trust me, I'm an expert at obsessing over a certain famous person but still managing to not resort to trying to find out where he lives or trying to meet him but still managing to think about him at least once a day ;)

I've adored Ron for a long time myself, since Beauty and the Beast. He seems to darn nice!

[gdeo]

I was here before the switch...I've always loved mignola art and talent.I caught the first glimpse of Hellboy in San Diego and like Stygian I thought the horns were goggles and didn't even notice the hoofs until i saw a hellboy cameo that j scott campbell drew for gen13 #13.The movie just increase my interest and then the movie premiere weekend with fellow hellboaders and today I continue to be a fan of all things Mignola and Hellboy!!!:)

[Hellsaint]

Hi guys. Hope some of you people still remember me :)
I could only say that the movie started me as a fan of Hellboy stuff.

Then i realised the comics were amazing!! Great art and modern-day folklore is just too difficult to resist.

[Lilitu]

Honey, there is nothing wrong with obsession, unless it turns to violence and/or stalking. Trust me, I'm an expert at obsessing over a certain famous person but still managing to not resort to trying to find out where he lives or trying to meet him but still managing to think about him at least once a day ;)

I've adored Ron for a long time myself, since Beauty and the Beast. He seems to darn nice!

You have the possibilities to meet some famous person, and say "hi" to them hoping that they answer to you. From the OOOOoooooooooold country I can't. I'm in a right obsession, I admire his work and his personality. I only want to hugh Ron and say "You're my hero!", but it is just a dream that you or someone else can do for me. The same thing is for Mignola and Guillermo del Toro. Their dreams comes true and I estimate them for this ....