HELLBOY'S HISTORY IN THE MEDIA

Hellboy was created by Mike Mignola in 1993, and since then, he has appeared in 3 feature-length films, 438 comic books, and 14 graphic novels and anthologies. He’s also starred in several novels written by the American author, Christopher Golden, with the first two, 'The Lost Army' and 'The Bones of Giants', being part of his official story. Want to know more? Then please check out the following facts…

Hellboy made his first appearance on the cover of an obscure Italian Fanzine called ‘Dime Press’. It was published in March, 1993, and it depicted a fairly primitive version of the character that sported grey skin, worn down horns, and an outfit slightly similar to the one he’s wearing today.

Funnily enough, Hellboy's second appearance was at the San Diego Comic-Con. Or to be more specific about it, within a short, four-page black and white sampler, handed out to those in attendance. Then when that did well, afterwards, he was seen in John Byrne’s 'Next Men' #21 (released later that same year, December 1993), but this time sporting his iconic red exterior, now integral to his unique identity.

But before he appeared in ‘Next Men’, Mike was hoping that Hellboy could join the DC Universe. After all, he was working for the company at the time, and so he pitched the idea to DC’s board of directors who were then thinking of expanding their plethora of heroes. But, as you might have guessed, they didn’t like the look of him, mainly because he was largely based in hell and somewhat similar to one of their devilish characters, Etrigan the Demon. 

In 2004, Hellboy set the world on fire when the filmmaker, Guillermo Del Toro, made a full-length, action-packed, movie, based on a genre he loved and a character he grew to respect. Well, as a kid, Guillermo was a big fan of horror movies and comic books, especially those penned by such legends as Will Eisner, Bernie Wrightson, and Richard Corben. So when he grew up and started to make a name for himself in the industry, he decided to meet Mike Mignola, and the rest, as they say, is cinematic history.

Due to the success of Guillermo's movie, Tad Stones was hired to create a series of original straight-to-DVD animated films based on the Hellboy comic book. One of them was called ‘Hellboy: Sword of Storms’, and the other was its subsequent sequel, ‘Hellboy: Blood And Iron’, which included the bonus short, 'Hellboy: Iron Shoes', exclusively for the DVD release. Both of these films are set before the events of the 2004 movie and showcase the vocal talents of most of the original cast, including Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, and John Hurt.

In 2008, Guillermo Del Toro released a new Hellboy video game based on the movie he made four years earlier. It was called ‘Hellboy: The Science of Evil’, and it featured new monsters, new villains, and a brand new storyline. Basically, it was an interactive 3D adventure developed for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation Portable, only to be swiftly followed by an iPhone game, 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Tooth Fairy Terror', and two beat-em-ups, 'Injustice 2' and 'Brawlhalla', in which he featured as a 'special character'.

Originally, the 2019 Hellboy film was going to be the third part of Guillermo Del Toro’s previous two-part opus. But unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan, and this resulted in the aforementioned reboot being directed by Neil Marshall, and starring David Harbour, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Daniel Dae Kim, and Thomas Haden Church.

Hellboy is now available on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD. So get fully immersed into the world of Hellboy with never before seen special features and deleted scenes. Now that’s something to brighten up your day!