Easiest Hellboy or B.P.R.D. read?

[MarisaSmith]

I was wondering what Hellboy or B.P.R.D. series/one-shot/whatever would be the easiest read in terms of reading difficulty.

And why am I asking this?

My current job is teaching study abroad students English, and doing a lesson plan on reading, and my mentor teacher said it would be suitable to use comics, so of course I want to use something Mignola.

Is there a specific series you can remember that would be suitable for a 4th-5th grade level reader?

They're all 18+, so no need to worry about the subject matter.

Thanks in advance.

[Tad]

I'd go with mostly stand alone stories so I'm suggesting The Chained Coffin and Other Stories.

[Jake Capps]

The Lobster TPB.

[MarisaSmith]

Thanks for the suggestions, I have so much to do for the lesson, I didn't want to have to go through my whole collection to find stuff tonight. This helps greatly!!

[Kees_L]

I'm hoping you will choose/use the Chained Coffin stories, like the Corpse. That will work for narrative, won't it?

But I just bet you had figured this yourself already upon thread creation - this just to say that I do. Sometimes I place bets. Nothin' crazy 'though:wink:.

You'll have your class talkin' "Crap!" in no time.
Huh, another bet.

[chiaroscuros]

The Dr. Carp story is a pretty easy reading with only 13 pages. Especially since the middle third has no words at all.... You can find it in the Dark Horse Book of Monsters (I am pretty sure)...

If cost is an issue, I would try to track down the $0.25 copy of "The Corpse" for them. Again, a stand alone story and a fairly limited number of pages.

Lastly, you could have them read some of the Dark Horse Presents web comics if you have internet access....

[Rachel Edidin]

I second (third? fourth?) the recommendation of the short stories. They'll be easier to break down than the longer, more involved narratives. I used to teach ESL college students, and I remember that for them, keeping track of long, winding stories while grappling with basic vocabulary was often tremendously frustrating.

Hellboy's a good choice, though, and not just because it's a good comic--the dialogue is often descriptive of the settings, which'll make it a really good teaching tool.

You may also want to take a look at the Hellboy Animated books, which are written to be accessible to slightly younger readers...

[Sparky]

I agree -- The Corpse would be perfect for this.

[Matt Strackbein]

I too agree that the corpse is the way to go!

[Myron L]

Earlier stories scripted by Mike tend to be less intense in terms of dialogue, and more about the mood of the art...I agree with the choices above !

Avoid the stuff John Byrne scripted...he tends to be more verbose and thus more difficult for assimilating...especially for those taking English as a second language.

[MarisaSmith]

Thanks for all the great and speedy suggestions! I will probably use "Corpse" for this week. Possibly "Hellboy Animated" for next week! Ok, back to the lesson planning!