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Hellboy Universe Reading Order (Hellboy, BPRD, Abe Sapien), from the mind of Mike Mignola

The Hellboy Universe is vast and full of monsters. It’s also composed of multiple series and miniseries, stories published in a non-chronological order. The following article is not the ultimate reading order, it’s a reading guide, an attempt to offer a good view of one of the best comic book universes.

Created by writer-artist Mike Mignola (you can read about the origin of the creation of the character here), Hellboy is a half-demon who was summoned from Hell to Earth as a baby by the “Mad Monk” Grigori Rasputin for the Nazis. Adopted by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, the man behind the United States Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (also called the B.P.R.D.), Hellboy grew up with humans and learned to hunt monsters. As an adult, he is easily identifiable. After all, he is red-skinned, huge with a tail, horns, and cloven hooves for feet, and his right hand is made of stone.

Working with the B.P.R.D., he hunts Nazis, witches, and other types of Lovecraftian monsters, teaming up with the amphibian humanoid Abe Sapien, and pyrokinetic Liz Sherman. As the years pass, Hellboy must confront who he really is and fulfill his destiny as the B.P.R.D. becomes the first line of defense against cosmic menaces.

Hellboy Universe Reading Order:

Chronological or non-chronological? In the beginning, the Hellboy series was a collection of short stories. They were not published in a chronological fashion. You can read them in chronological order if you want (in that case, the best way is to pick up the omnibus editions), but if it’s your first reading, you’d better start without the added complication of jumping around. Follow the original publication order. Once familiar with the Hellboy Universe, you can try to read everything in order to see if it’s a different experience. Your choice.

In the following reading order, we’ll start with Hellboy short stories. For all of the prequel books published later, we’ll come back to them in the second part of the guide.

Because the main story is finished at that point, I decided to move some Hellboy books out of the way, and I put them in the section about the prequel books (like the Hellboy & the BPRD series). The fact is that you can read them when you want, and re-reading the stories, I thought they were a distraction, taking me out of the most important developments at that moment. I realized I’ll have more pleasure revisiting them in the context of the prequels.

What are the main series? Even if Hellboy is the most famous series of this big universe created by Mike Mignola, there’s a lot more. The most notable ones are Hellboy, Hellboy in Hell, B.P.R.D., and Abe Sapien; Add to that the spin-offs Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder, Lobster Johnson, and a lot of miniseries.

What are the best editions? The Trade Paperbacks don’t collect the stories in chronological order, unlike the omnibuses. The best? You decide. In my collection, I have a lot of Hellboy TPBs and mostly omnibuses for the B.P.R.D. stuff. I kind of jump around. It’s not easy, I’ll admit. For the reading order, I prioritize TPBs, but I added notes about the omnibuses too. I hope this will help you.

P.S.: The original version of this reading order was published on Howtoread.me.

I. Welcome to the Hellboy Universe

The earliest books in the Hellboy series established the central characters, mythological framework, and recurring themes that would come to define the larger Hellboy Universe.

Seed of Destruction introduced Hellboy as a paranormal investigator for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.). Alongside him appeared key figures such as Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, Abe Sapien, and Liz Sherman, who would remain integral to the story in subsequent volumes. For new readers, this first volume is generally regarded as the most accessible and recommended starting point for entering the Hellboy Universe.

  • Hellboy: Seed of Destruction
    Collects Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #1-4. The Introduction of Hellboy, Abe Sapiens, Liz Sherman, and the B.P.R.D.
  • Hellboy: Wake the Devil
    Collects Hellboy: Wake the Devil #1-5.
  • Hellboy: The Chained Coffin and Others
    Collects short stories like “The Baba Yaga,” “Wolves of Saint August,” “The Corpse and the Iron Shoes,” “A Christmas Underground,” “The Chained Coffin,” and “Almost Colossus.”
  • Hellboy: The Right Hand of Doom
    Collects short stories like “The Right Hand of Doom,” “Pancakes,” “The Vårcolac,”  “King Vold,” and “Box Full of Evil.”

 

Abe Sapien is not as well-known as Hellboy, but he’s an incredible character and a major player in the Hellboy/B.P.R.D. Universe. His solo adventures were, at first, about his early solo missions. You can read them at any moment, but I decided to put them here because it’s a good way to understand Abe before his backstory becomes really important in the B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs storyline.

Also, B.P.R.D.: Being Human collects past stories, but also more recent ones that give a better understanding of the connection between Roger the Homunculus and Hellboy.

II. The Plague of Frogs

During this period, Hellboy stops working for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, embarking on solo adventures that, while significant to his personal arc, remain largely separate from the overarching storyline developed in the companion series B.P.R.D.. The primary focus of the expanded universe shifts to the so-called “Plague of Frogs” saga, which chronicles the rise of the frog monsters first encountered in Seed of Destruction and the B.P.R.D.’s escalating battles against them.

Although Hellboy and B.P.R.D. share the same continuity, the two series were designed to be read independently. Connections exist—occasional references, overlapping characters, and thematic parallels—but readers who choose to follow only Hellboy will find his storyline coherent on its own. Unlike Hellboy, B.P.R.D. quickly became heavily serialized. It’s better not to skip one book in the series.

The original Hellboy series comes to a close with the events of The Storm and the Fury, in which Hellboy fulfils a key part of his destiny and seemingly meets his end. However, this does not mark the end of the character’s story. The story continues directly in Hellboy in Hell, where Hellboy awakens in the afterlife and embarks on a different style of adventures. Also, a lot more Hellboy stories set in the past have come out since. Go to the “prequel“ section below for more information.

III. B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth

At that point, the story of the B.P.R.D. series entered a new era. The stories are not isolated investigations as the series morphed into a full-scale epic, depicting the decline of human civilization under overwhelming otherworldly threats, and the humans fight for survival. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense is at the forefront, with Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, Johann Kraus, and Kate Corrigan leading the fight.

Before reading Russia, you’ll maybe want to read B.P.R.D. 1946-48 to familiarize yourself with the character of Varvara. It’s not a necessity, though.

This is when Abe Sapiens left the B.P.R.D. to lead his own solo series. What happened in his series doesn’t affect B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth and vice versa. All you need to know is that the Abe Sapien series must be read before B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth: End of Days. I chose to alternate between the titles because it’s more fluid like that.

This is a good point to reconnect with Hellboy with the Hellboy in Hell series that picks up where the story left us after The Storm and the Fury. There’s no apparent link with B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth, but some events taking place in Hell have consequences in the world of the living.

Before reading Metamorphosis, you’ll maybe want to read Sledgehammer 44 to familiarize yourself with the Vril suit. It’s not a necessity.

IV. B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know

This is the end of the main story, concluding character arcs for Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, and other central figures. The surviving members of the B.P.R.D. stands alongside humanity for the ultimate confrontation with cosmic and infernal forces.

The Devil You Know cycle serves as the definitive endpoint of the primary Hellboy/B.P.R.D. saga, providing a natural conclusion to more than two decades of interconnected storytelling.

V. The New World

Although the central saga of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. concludes with The Devil You Know, the Hellboy Universe continues through a new cycle of stories collectively referred to as The New World. Rather than focusing on Hellboy or the core B.P.R.D. team, the new titles introduce fresh characters, revisit surviving figures, and expand upon the mythology of the universe.

Hellboy Reading Order Icon

The Hellboy Universe Omnibus Editions:

What follows is a listing of the Omnibus Hardcover collection. Dark Horse is now republishing those books as paperbacks.

  • Hellboy And The B.P.R.D.: 1952-1954
    Collects B.P.R.D.: 1952, 1953, and 1954.
  • Hellboy And The B.P.R.D.: 1955-1957
    Collects B.P.R.D.: 1955, 1956, and 1957.
  • Hellboy: The Complete Short Stories Volume 1
    Collects The Chained Coffin, The Right Hand of Doom, The Bride of Hell, The Crooked Man, The Troll Witch, and The Midnight Circus.
  • Hellboy: The Complete Short Stories Volume 2
    Collects The Troll Witch, The Chained Coffin, The Bride of Hell, The Right Hand of Doom, and The Crooked Man, including “Heads,” “Buster Oakley Gets His Wish,” and “A Christmas Underground.
  • Monster-Sized Hellboy
    Collects all the stories and graphic novels contained in Hellboy Omnibus Volumes 1-4: Seed of Destruction, Wake the Devil, and “Wolves of St August,” “The Chained Coffin,” and “Almost Colossus,” from The Chained Coffin and The Right Hand of Doom. Conqueror Worm, Strange Places, Into the Silent Sea, and “The Right Hand of Doom, “Box Full of Evil,” and “Being Human” from The Right Hand of Doom and B.P.R.D. Being Human. Darkness Calls, The Wild Hunt, and The Storm and the Fury, and the short story “The Mole.” Hellboy in Hell Volumes 1-2, “The Magician and the Snake”, and “The Exorcist of Vorsk.”

    • “Monster-Sized Hellboy” is a new massive 1500-page book that collects the four volumes of the “Hellboy Omnibus” collection in one tome.

Previously in the Hellboy universe: Prequels and Side Stories

You can’t limit the Hellboy Universe to the main storylines. From the start, Mike Mignola wrote stories taking place before. As the franchise expanded, additional characters emerged—among them Lobster Johnson, Sir Edward Grey (Witchfinder), and the Victorian occult adventurers of Rise of the Black Flame—each contributing to the breadth of the mythology and offering perspectives beyond Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. So, there are still a lot of books to read.

What follows is a chronological presentation of these stories, with details on the most effective points at which to read them in relation to the main storylines.

Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder

Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder is a spin-off series set within the Hellboy Universe, focusing primarily on Sir Edward Grey, an agent of Queen Victoria and a dedicated paranormal investigator. The series blends Victorian-era detective work with supernatural horror, exploring occult threats across 19th-century Britain.

Occasionally, the series has expanded to include tangentially related stories, such as The Burial of Katharine Baker, which follows another witchfinder, Henry Hood. Notably, The Mysteries of Unland represents one of the few stories in the Hellboy Universe in which creator Mike Mignola was not involved in writing. In August 2016, writer Chris Roberson took over the series.

  • Panya: The Mummy’s Curse
    Collects Panya: The Mummy’s Curse #1-4. The story, set in 1339 B.C,. is about the origin of Panya, how she became the mommy later found by the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra.
  • Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea
    Collects Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea #1-4. The framing story is set in 1883, but a good part of the book is about the Hyperborea era.
  • Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club
    Collects Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club #1-5. The framing story is set in 1953, but the tales take place at the end of the 19th century with the Silver Lantern Club members, including Sir Edward Grey, Sarah Jewell, Lady Bai, and Major Singh.
  • British Paranormal Society: Time Out of Mind
    Collects The British Paranormal Society: Time Out of Mind #1-4. A spin-off following Simon Bruttenholm and Honora Grant of the British Paranormal Society in the 1910s.
  • Rise of the Black Flame
    Collects Rise of the Black Flame #1-5. This backstory is about the Black Flame with characters from the Witchfinder series.
  • The House of Lost Horizons: A Sarah Jewell Mystery
    Collects House of Lost Horizons #1-5. A murder mystery starring Sarah Jewell from the Silver Lantern Club and her associate Marie Therése.
  • Crimson Lotus
    Collects Crimson Lotus #1-5. The Crimson Lotus is Lobster Johnson’s biggest foe.

Lobster Johnson

Lobster Johnson is a Hellboy Universe spin-off series centered on the eponymous vigilante, active primarily between 1932 and 1939. Known for his pulp-inspired crime-fighting style, Johnson combats both ordinary criminals and occult threats, employing a combination of ingenuity, martial skill, and supernatural knowledge.

The Burning Hand, Satan Smells a Rat, and Get the Lobster, and the short story “Lobster Johnson: The Empty Chair” are collected in the first Lobster Johnson Omnibus.

The Iron Prometheus, The Pirate’s Ghost, and Metal Monsters of Midtown, A Chain Forged in Life, and the short story “The Killer in My Skull” are collected in the second Lobster Johnson Omnibus.

With World War II raging, Trevor Bruttenholm is thrown into a treacherous journey that leads him face-to-face with Rasputin. It’s a prequel that tells the story of how Bruttenholm ended up on the trail of Rasputin and how he found Hellboy. Must read. 

  • Sledgehammer 44
    Collects Sledgehammer 44 #1-2 and Lightning War #1-3. Takes place 10 years after Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus. It’s recommended to read it before B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth: Metamorphosis. Also collected in Hellboy Universe: The Secret Histories.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.

As you may have guessed, Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. is about Hellboy and his adventures with the B.P.R.D., focusing on the early adventures of Hellboy as an agent of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense during the 1950s. These comics depict Hellboy in his formative years, learning the skills and strategies necessary to confront supernatural threats, while building relationships with his colleagues at the Bureau. Those stories are largely episodic and can be read at any time. 

  • Hellboy in Mexico
    Collects “Hellboy in Mexico (also called A Drunken Blur),” “Hellboy versus the Aztec Mummy,” “Hellboy Gets Married,” “The Coffin Man,” “The Coffin Man 2: The Rematch,” and “House of the Living Dead.” The Mexico stories are taking place during Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1956, so you can read them now or in parallel to the 1956 TPB or before (or whenever you want).
  • Frankenstein Underground
    Collects Frankenstein Underground #1-5. Following the story of Frankenstein’s Monster, who has previously appeared in Hellboy: House of the Living Dead (collected in Hellboy in Mexico)
  • Shadow of the Golden Crane [2025]
    Collects Shadow of the Golden Crane #1-4. Set in the 1960s, it follows Agent Susan Xiang investigating the secretive Golden Crane Society.
  • Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Beast of Vargu and Others
    Collects the stories “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Beast of Vargu,” “Hellboy: Krampusnacht,” “Hellboy: The Return of the Lambton Worm,” and “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Saturn Returns” #1-#3.
  • Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Return of Effie Kolb and Others
    Collects the stories “The Return of Effie Kolb,” “Long Night at Goloski Station,” “The Seven Wives Club,” “Her Fatal Hour and The Sending.”

  • Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Secret of Chesbro House & Others
    Collects The Secret of Chesbro House, Night of the Cyclops, Old Man Whittier, Time is a River, and the short story “The Miser’s Gift.”
  • Hellboy in Love
    Collects Hellboy in Love #1-5.

Other Hellboy Solo Adventures

Those stories are part of the original Hellboy series. I took them out of the main reading order because they slowed things down. They are great and enriched the world of Hellboy, but they also don’t add much to the main serialized storylines. If you only read the Hellboy series and not the B.P.R.D. one, you can read them after Seed of Destruction and before Conqueror Worm.

  • Hellboy: The Troll Witch and Others
    Collects short stories like “The Penanggalan,” “The Hydra and The Lion,” “The Troll-Witch,” “The Vampire of Prague,” and the 2-issue miniseries “Makoma”.
  • Hellboy: The Crooked Man and Others
    Collects “The Crooked Man” miniseries, one-shots like “They That Go Down to the Sea in Ships”, “In the Chapel of Moloch,” and “The Mole.”

  • Hellboy: The Bride of Hell and Others
    Collects Hellboy in Mexico, Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil, Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead #1-2, Hellboy: The Bride of Hell, “Hellboy: The Whittier Legacy,” and Hellboy: Buster Oakley Gets His Wish || The “Hellboy in Mexico” story is also collected in… Hellboy in Mexico.
  • Hellboy: Weird Tales
    Presented as ‘old-fashioned pulp fun’, it’s a collection of short stories by multiple authors, all over the place chronologically speaking.
  • Hellboy: The Bones of Giants
    Collects Hellboy: The Bones of Giants issues #1-4. Based on the illustrated novel by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden. Set in 1988, between “The Transformation of J.H. O’Donnell” and “A Christmas Underground“.
  • Koshchei the Deathless
    Collects Koshchei the Deathless #1-6. In the main continuity, it would take place before Hellboy in Hell: The Death Card.

Out of Continuity

Some Hellboy Universe stories exist outside the main continuity and do not directly impact the canonical events of Hellboy or the B.P.R.D. These works often explore “what-if” scenarios, playful reinterpretations, or alternative settings and tones. 

If you want to read more Hellboy adventures, you can! There are some novels by various authors. It’s solo stories only.

  • Hellboy: The Lost Army – A novel by Christopher Golden, illustrated by Mike Mignola. The story takes place in 1986 and is about Hellboy searching for a British archeological team and the Lost Army they were after at the edge of the Great Sand Sea.
  • Hellboy: The Fire Wolves – A novel by Tim Lebbon. Hellboy is called to Amalfi, Italy, by Franca, a young member of the Esposito family as she fears that a dark curse on her family is about to claim her cousin as its next victim. Hellboy encounters a flaming demon–a fire wolf.
  • Hellboy: The Ice Wolves – A novel by Mark Chadbourn. Hellboy races against time to prevent a devastating wave of primal savagery. And so he is drawn to Boston’s Beacon Hill and the Grant Mansion, believed to be the most haunted house in New England, where the truth may lie buried.
  • Hellboy: All-Seeing Eye – A novel by Mark Morris. Called in to investigate killings in London, B.P.R.D. agents Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman discover a wellspring of black magic under the streets and a sack of heads. Hellboy descends into the dark underworld of London, encountering demons who prophesy the opening of an Eye to the otherworld.
  • Hellboy: Odd Jobs – An anthology that collects short stories from famous authors like Brian Hodge, Poppy Z. Brite, Nancy A. Collins, Greg Rucka, Chet Williamson.
  • Hellboy: Odder Jobs – An anthology that collects short stories from famous authors like Frank Darabont, Guillermo del Toro, Charles de Lint, Graham Joyce, and Sharyn McCrumb.
  • Hellboy: Oddest Jobs – An anthology that collects short stories from famous authors like Joe R. Lansdale, China Miéville, Barbara Hambly, Ken Bruen and Tad Williams.
  • Hellboy II: The Golden Army – a novelization of the second movie written by Robert Greenberger.
  • Hellboy: Emerald Hell – A novel by Tom Piccirilli. Hellboy comes to the crossroads in Enigma, Georgia, a small town plagued by strange occurrences. Sent to keep an eye on Sarah Nail, a young girl hiding from the curse of her family, he becomes entangled in the blood debt of evil mystical preacher, Brother Jester.
  • Lobster Johnson: The Satan Factory – A Novel by Thomas E. Sniegoski, taking place during the years before World War II. The Lobster has to stop a physician who stumbles across the power to transform men into monsters.

It’s a big one! Maybe I made a mistake. Let me know in the comments section what you would recommend. There are a lot of possible variations with this reading order, all inputs can be valuable!

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4 thoughts on “Hellboy Universe Reading Order (Hellboy, BPRD, Abe Sapien), from the mind of Mike Mignola”

  1. Sarah
    Reply

    Do you have any idea why Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus isn’t included in the first Lobster Johnson Omnibus when it’s first in the reading (and publishing) order? I haven’t read any LJ yet and am wondering if I should track down an old TPB or bank on this arc being included in a future omnibus.

    1. Fabien
      Reply

      I think it’s because the omnibus follows the chronological order of the stories. The Iron Prometheus takes place in 1937, it will probably be at the end of the second omnibus. I should probably change the reading order accordingly now that the Lobster Johnson series seems to have ended.

  3. Tol
    Reply

    I would probably add that Koschei TPB seems to be more important for the future direction of the franchise and maybe needs to be put in before or after devil you know in the main chronology?

    1. Fabien
      Reply

      As I wrote in the reading order, “Koshchei the Deathless” takes place before “Hellboy in Hell: The Death Card”. But if you are talking about the new Koschei series, “Koschei in Hell,” I’ll put it in the chronology when the book will be available, like the new Frankenstein story which also takes place in the main chronology.

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