Hellboy/BPRD...Man, I just gotta say it.

[Zevious Zoquis]

I freakin love these comics!

I've only been "into" comics for a couple years now - thanks mostly to The Walking Dead TV show which lead me to pick up TWD hardcovers which in turn got me looking around to see what else was out there. I'm 46 and did read some graphic novel stuff back in the 80s (Watchmen of course) as well as having been a fan of Conan The Barbarian and Savage Sword and I always enjoy a good superhero movie and so on. Anyway, since having the comic switch turned on by TWD I've become a fan of a bunch of stuff (The Goon, Sixth Gun, Fear Agent, Chew...as well as losing interest in TWD ironically ) but for some reason I'd avoided reading any Hellboy until recently when I picked up Vol 1 of the library edition. I fell in love instantly. Hellboy is a great character and Mignola's art is just fantastic. Then just this past week I got the first two HC Plague of Frogs BPRD books and holy moley these stories are scratching every itch I have! I just adore the crazy melange of classic gothic horror, victorian steampunk, sci-fi, fortean weirdness, lovecraftian monstrosities..all of it tied together with a great pulp adventure style. But I think the thing I like most is just the over-all tone of the writing. Its an almost perfectly balanced mix of darkness and humour, and through it all is a sort of melancholic sadness that never becomes too over-powering. The characters are all so lonely and so strongly bound together by their fundamental oddness. The books themselves are gorgeous and the artwork is almost without exception just outstanding. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun reading a book...

So yeah...I'm a fan!

[thwhtGuardian]

Ha! Glad you're enjoying the trip. If you're loving Hellboy and the BPRD I'd suggest getting the Lobster Johnson trade and the Witch Finder trades as well.

[Skinkie]

Don't forget Abe Sapien!

[Zevious Zoquis]

Yeah I've got the Witchfinder trades already and really like them alot too. I'll likely get the Lobster Johnson and Abe Sapien books too at some point...

Its that specific blend of different elements found in BPRD (and Hellboy to a slightly lesser extent) that really appeals to me though. Makes for very fun reading...

[DavidB.]

I'm glad you're liking it!

Although Lobster Johnson, Witchfinder and Abe are all excellent I can't recommend Baltimore enough, it's just over the top fun, you should buy it when you have the opportunity!

[Zevious Zoquis]

so I ordered volumes 2-5 of the HB Library editions and they arrived yesterday. Theres something pretty special about receiving a 21 pound box of comic books! Holy crap volume 5 is humungous!

[RockyIII]

I fell in love with Hellboy in the movies and I've been itching to order Vol. 1 of the Library Edition. There is so much to catch up to. Do the Library Editions cover all of Mignola's work on Hellboy? Is BPRD up to par with Mignola's work on Hellboy?

Excited to say I am a fan of Hellboy too (and also a fan of TWD, reading Vol. 2 of the HC's now).

[Zevious Zoquis]

I got to the end of the 3rd HC volume of TWD when I realized that the comic is the definition of "not fun" for me. Its just relentlessly grim with never a break. I also grew to find Kirkman's writing kind of annoying at times...so I sold all 7 of the HCs I had and got the HB library volumes instead - a decision I am enormously happy with.

I'm not completely up on the whole array of HB/BPRD series, but I think the library editions are pretty comprehensive. The BPRD hardcover anthologies collect a ton of stuff too but I think some series are left out (the "1940s" stuff I believe, which will likely be collected in a seperate book).

All of it is just great though - and is the very definition of "fun" for me...

[Prisoner 6655321]

I'm with ya', man. I hope there's still several years worth of stories to come!