Best Hellboy Stories: 7 Arcs Ranked, from 1994 to 2016

Hellboy has never had a "run" in the sense of a long succession of issues entrusted to the same writer: the series lives on miniseries of three to ten issues, each titled, each sold and then collected. Ranking the best runs therefore amounts to ranking arcs. What changes from one arc to the next is not the writer, almost always Mike Mignola, but the hand that draws, the register (adventure, folklore, tragedy) and the place in the great line that leads from the red demon of 1944 to his final fate.

As always in this guide, only verified information (creators, issue numbers, dates) is stated as fact; the analysis is our own, with no reproduction of artwork or protected dialogue.

How we ranked these arcs

Three criteria separate the seven candidates. The first is self-containment: an arc must be readable without having gone through the previous ones, or at least without spoiling the pleasure. The second is how well the story holds over its length: a five-issue miniseries that keeps its pace to the end ranks ahead of an eight-issue one that drags. The third is weight in the mythology: some arcs shift what we know of the character, others leave him where he was.

The rank does not measure the scarcity of single issues: the last section covers collecting once the reading is settled.

Top 1: Mike Mignola, Wake the Devil (1996)

Wake the Devil, five issues in 1996, is the arc where the series finds its cruising speed. Mignola writes and draws alone. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense sends Hellboy to Eastern Europe on the trail of a vampire, Vladimir Giurescu, whose role goes back to the Nazi German plans evoked in the first arc. The field mission, with a small team and Liz Sherman at his side, gives the story an investigative backbone that the following arcs will take up without ever surpassing.

It matters for the character because it settles a problem Seed of Destruction left hanging: knowing what Hellboy does when he is not at the center of a prophecy. Here he is a weary, ironic field agent, moving through castles and crypts with dry retorts and simple gestures. Mignola's art, in black flats and broken lines, reaches here a sharpness that the series will find again mainly in its short stories.

First and last issues: #1 to #5. It is for the reader who wants the best balance between action and atmosphere, and who accepts knowing the broad lines of the first arc. To collect it, the five single issues are gathered in a dedicated softcover volume, then in the first of the large-format hardcover editions, which pairs it with the first arc.

Top 2: Mike Mignola and Richard Corben, The Crooked Man (2008)

Three issues in 2008. Mignola signs the story, Richard Corben draws it, and the result is one of the rare moments when another artist's drawing does not dilute the series but shifts it. Hellboy finds himself in the Appalachians of the 1950s facing a witchcraft tale built on American folk tradition: Hellboy investigates an ancient pact and what it left behind in an isolated valley.

What makes the arc good is its economy. Few characters, a single valley, a threat revealed in touches. Corben, an artist of American horror since the 1970s, gives faces and bodies a weight that Mignola's line does not have: the villagers look worn, the trees look inhabited.

Issues #1 to #3. It is for the reader who prefers the dark tale to the mythology, and who does not need to know the rest of the series. To collect it, a three-issue softcover volume is enough, and it is easy to find; the original single issues will appeal to those who want to see Corben's work in the format it was designed for.

Top 3: Mike Mignola, Conqueror Worm (2001)

Conqueror Worm, four issues released in 2001 and 2002, takes Hellboy back toward Central Europe and the remains of the Nazi program whose backdrop the series had set. Mignola writes and draws alone. The arc strings together an isolated castle, a capsule from the sky, secondary characters (Roger the homunculus, Lobster Johnson, already present in the universe) and a confrontation that closes the first part of the series more cleanly than any other arc.

It matters because it is the last arc of the "apprenticeship" period: the one where Mignola still writes for a reader who does not need to know everything, and where every piece laid down in the three previous arcs comes back. The story is tight, with few pauses, and the art is at its peak of austerity: wide panels, backlit figures, an emphatic use of solid black.

Issues #1 to #4. It is for the reader who has read Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil and wants to see the first phase close. To collect it, it appears in the softcover volume that bears its name, then in the third volume of the large-format hardcover editions depending on the splits. It reads after the previous ones.

Top 4: John Byrne and Mike Mignola, Seed of Destruction (1994)

Seed of Destruction, four issues from March to June 1994, is the founding text. Mignola conceives the story and draws; John Byrne accompanies him on script, for a first miniseries that introduces Hellboy, the B.P.R.D., Liz Sherman, Abe Sapien and Rasputin's project. The demon who appeared in 1944, adopted by Professor Bruttenholm, serves as the way in to a story on the border between the fantastic and espionage.

It is only fourth because it is the heaviest of the seven in exposition: the world, the characters and the occult theory have to be set up, and it shows. But it remains indispensable. Without it, most of the gestures in the following arcs are not illuminated, and it lays down the B.P.R.D. and its team, which all the following arcs assume you know. See our dedicated article on Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #1 for the detail of the first issue.

Issues #1 to #4. It is for the reader who wants to read everything in order. To collect it, the single-issue question is the most sensitive in the whole ranking: the first issue has had reprints that carry the same title and the same number, and searching by title mixes the editions. When in doubt, read in collected form and reserve single-issue purchases for a copy whose edition is specified.

Top 5: Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo, Darkness Calls (2007)

Darkness Calls, six issues, is the arc of renewal. Mignola writes, but he is no longer the one drawing: Duncan Fegredo takes the pencil, with a more detailed, more textured line, closer to painting than to the print. The story takes Hellboy back to England, then into a world of Slavic folklore: the witch Baba Yaga, the character of Koschei the immortal, alliances of circumstance, enemies who cannot be beaten with one punch.

It matters because it opens the long sequence of the end of the series: the three arcs written by Mignola and drawn by Fegredo form a whole, with the continuity that implies. It is fifth because the story is a little less dense than the first ones in the ranking.

Issues #1 to #6. It is for the reader who has finished the first three arcs in the ranking and is ready to change artists. To collect it, a softcover volume and a hardcover volume exist; buying single issues is mostly justified for Fegredo fans.

Top 6: Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo, The Wild Hunt (2008-2009)

The Wild Hunt, eight issues, is the broadest arc of the regular series. Hellboy is summoned to England by an assembly of giants who offer him a place in a hunting rite, and over eight issues the story deploys a scheme of Arthurian legends and hidden genealogies. Mignola writes, Fegredo draws, and the series reaches here its greatest mythological ambition.

It matters for the character because it ties Hellboy to a lineage he had never fully acknowledged, and puts him before a choice the sequel exploits. It is sixth because it is the arc where you most feel the tension between a short story and a mythology that demands space: some scenes stretch, others are rushed. It is an excellent arc for anyone who knows the rest, and harder for anyone who approaches it without preparation.

Issues #1 to #8. It is for the reader who has read Darkness Calls. To collect it, a softcover volume exists, and the large-format hardcover edition pairs it with the next arc depending on the splits. The eight single issues represent a longer commitment than the other arcs, which argues for the collected edition.

Top 7: Mike Mignola, Hellboy in Hell (2012-2016)

Hellboy in Hell, ten issues between 2012 and 2016, is the concluding arc: Mignola takes over writing and drawing alone again, after years of handing the pencil to others. The action has left Earth, the story slows, the scenes grow quieter, and the art finds its original dryness again with almost empty panels. For what this arc tells and what it leaves unanswered, our article on the end of the series develops the context.

It is seventh not because it is weak, but because it presupposes everything else: read without knowing the character, it seems an exercise in atmosphere; read after thirty years of series, it overwhelms. It is a work for the seasoned reader.

Issues #1 to #10. It is for the reader who has read the previous arcs. To collect it, the single issues are recent and few obstacles stand between the reader and a copy; the hardcover edition and the softcover volume exist too. It is the arc where the choice of format depends least on budget and most on reading preference.

Which one to start with, by reader profile

You are discovering Hellboy. Start with Wake the Devil, then go back to Seed of Destruction. The second arc of the series has the advantage of being the more self-contained of the two. If you prefer an experience with truly no prerequisites, read The Crooked Man: the story is a complete tale in three issues.

You like folklore and horror. Start with The Crooked Man, then move on to the short stories gathered in the collected editions (see our article on the short stories). Darkness Calls will then interest you for its Slavic side.

You like big mythologies. Start from Seed of Destruction, advance to Conqueror Worm, then chain the three arcs written with Duncan Fegredo before concluding with Hellboy in Hell. This is the publication order, and it works.

You are a single-issue collector. Aim for the 1990s miniseries for the object, the recent arcs for the pleasure of the complete series. The question of splits, covered in the collected editions guide, applies before any volume purchase.

What these runs are worth in a collection

The market does not rank the arcs the way we do. It pays for the point of origin: the first arc, and above all its first issue, concentrates most of the demand, and the arcs that follow line up in the reverse order of their age. The consequence for a collector is simple: the arcs in our top 1 to 3 are, in single issues, less costly than the first issue of the series, while the arcs at the end are the easiest to reach.

The method that follows comes down to three moves. First, establish a ratio between the price of a softcover volume and that of an isolated single issue from the same period: on this series, a volume gathers four to ten issues for a price that generally does not exceed that of a single old issue. Next, check the edition before buying a first issue, because reprints carry the same title and the same number as the original. Finally, do not confuse a certified copy with an original-edition copy: the grade mention says nothing about the edition.

For anyone seeking balance, the most rational plan is to read in collected form and buy single issues only for the arcs you love enough to own in full.

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