by Mark Tweedle
For newcomers, Mike Mignola’s Hellboy Universe can be an intimidating prospect. It’s a shared universe that’s been running since 1994, and has never been rebooted. There are over a hundred collections, about a dozen different series and just as many stand-alone miniseries. So… where do you begin?
Don’t overthink it. If you want to read Hellboy, pick up a Hellboy trade, or omnibus, or library edition with a #1 on the spine. If there isn’t a number, that’s also good, because it’ll standalone well without prior reading. If you want to read Lobster Johnson, pick up one of his titles with a #1. Even then, most stories are made to be accessible to new readers. As my friend David Harper has said, the best place to start reading is what looks interesting to you.
The Mignolaverse Beat’s Hellboy Universe reading1 is made for those of you that want to explore the entire Hellboy Universe, jumping between different titles as it evolves. (If that’s not how you want to experience the series, there are other reading orders linked below.) This is not an official reading order—there is no one way to read the Hellboy Universe. This order also prioritizes the library editions2 and omnibuses3 to minimize going back and forth between the same books. You’ll pick up a book, read it cover to cover, then pick up the next.
However, the library editions and omnibuses are collected in radically different orders. To accommodate both, the reading order is split in two columns. If you’re reading Hellboy in trade paperbacks or the library editions, stick to the left; if you’re reading Hellboy in omnibuses, stick to the right. Anything in the middle of both columns is for both orders. For those of you that would prefer a text-based version, there’s one available here.
For those of you reading digitally, please note that the Hellboy library editions are a print exclusive format.
Other Reading Orders and Resources
If you’re interested in other reading orders, here are some that others have come up with.
This is my favorite reading order, because it’s an order built around community. It’s fun to read each title then listed to the Hellboy Book Club episode discuss it; hosts John Salinas, Danielle Reneé, and Aubrey Lovelace, all have such different points of view on the material. And then there’s the listener feedback, with listeners chiming in with their own thoughts. My appreciation of the series as a whole has grown so much thanks to this podcast. New episodes drop monthly.
Julix has put together several reading orders based on format, timeline, and publication, and even has a section for the out-of-continuity material. This way, you can choose what’s right for your tastes. That and Julix is very careful to preserve story reveals. This one gets a big thumbs up from me.
Fabien’s Comic Book Treasury reading order
Fabien has been diligently updating this order periodically for eight years now. It’s focused on the trade collections, and has some conversation about each section, often labelling titles as optional, and splitting off entire series like Witchfinder into their own sections at the end. It also includes discussion about the prose novels too.
This is a story by story reading order based on the debut of the first issue of an arc or miniseries. There’s not really much more to it than that. It’s been kept updated since February 2009, back when it was on the Dark Horse forums.
This isn’t a reading order, but it’s a very useful resource. If you’re looking for a specific story, Child’s list will show you where you can find it.
I hope this helps you. If you find any other reading orders you like, please link them in the comments section below.
Notes
- This reading order is the latest update of the old Mignolaversity Hellboy Universe reading order that was hosted on Multiversity Comics, originally appearing in 2014 and updated annually ever since. I missed 2024, so I’m glad to have the reading order back for 2025. Thanks Julix, Brooks Child, and Deanna Destito for their help putting this together.
- Library editions are a larger format hardcover, collecting two standard trades of material.
- Omnibus editions usually collect three trades of material. They initially come out in hardcover, with reprints in paperback. Once a collection has been recollected in an omnibus edition, the original will no longer be printed.
