Hellboy Library Edition, Volume 1: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil

The Hellboy films were a great source of inspiration to me (I'm a writer). I've thoroughly enjoyed both the films and the animated adventures, and I love the way the cast brought the characters to life. Yet despite this, I'd never read the Hellboy comics, even though I was well-aware of their existence. This was my first experience with the series, and I was very happy with it. The art isn't quite was I was expecting. If you've seen the movies, you'll know Hellboy seems rather human-like, whereas the comics make him out like something more of an ape. At the same time, Abe Sapien, who was slender and athletic in the movie, is a bit bulkier here; only Liz seems to have the most resemblance to her movie counterpart. Not that these changes bothered me, but they were kind of different to what I was already accustomed to. The BPRD's tech also seems to be a bit more sci-fi-ish, with the team sporting jetpacks and the like. As for the style, it's very unlike other comics I've read (note: I don't usually read comics unless they're limited series), such as Marvel's Civil War and The Ultimates; these use bright colors and flesh out what sometimes seems as excessive detail (see Ultimates 2's Giant Man newspaper clipping), Hellboy seems to focus on dark colors without an emphasis on detail. It feels somewhat minimalistic, but it's not a detraction; where the aforementioned comics seem to favor art over story, this one takes both into account, creating a better comic book experience than much of the others I've exposed myself to. Story-wise, the movies take cues from the series, which I enjoyed noticing (Ünmensch and Mr Wink); there's enough differences in both to classify them as separate entities, but enough similarities to label them as part of the same franchise (unlike other adaptations, which bastardize their source material). Enough with the movie comparisons though, let's get to the story. The first story, Wake the Devil, was much more enjoyable than I was expecting. After getting used to the characters' differences in appearance, I discovered that most of the personalities that made me enjoy the movies (save for Abe Sapien. I should stop now) were still there, especially Hellboy's humor (except him saying 'oh crap.' Okay, now I'll stop). The story was presented in a fast-paced way, but it still gave us enough of a breather to absorb the information at our own pace. I didn't feel at any point lost in the story. Wake the Devil was not as solid (personal taste, really) but it was also enjoyable; the humor in both stories was pretty dark, especially Hellboy's. The funny thing is, I read pretty much everything he said in Ron Perlman's voice; by the time I was done, I wasn't really sure if Hellboy had been made for Perlman, or the other way around. The second one wasn't as enjoyable though, but it was mostly personal taste reasons. First, I felt like it wasn't as tightly written as the other one. Things seemed to be happening at random, and there were some parts I felt were just filler. The ending itself pushed my suspension of disbelief in more ways than one, and I was skeptical if there was really any effort put into the execution. Even so, it was still beyond what I usually expect in comic books, and I closed the book thinking 'money well-spent.' What I really enjoyed most though were the concept art sketches after both stories were finished. There's an entire section devoted to black and white pre-hellboy sketches, including characters that made it into the comics, characters that were modified for the comics, etc; this was perhaps my favorite part, as it explains both the origin of the sketches, their intended purpose, and whether they eventually evolved into a character or were scrapped altogether. I usually love concept art more than the final art itself, so this part was delicious eye-candy for me. To conclude, this collected edition is a great buy, both for Hellboy movie and comic book fans. The storytelling and writing is top notch (even if it gets a bit farfetched at times) the art work is beautiful, and the special features at the end are like icing on a cake. I would definitely keep on reading the series.

It had been more than a couple years since I had sat down to enjoy this title. I stared buying Hellboy while it was still relatively new to shelves because Mignola's art was so different, in a very good way. Having been a collector for quite some time, my tastes have developed and changed over the years. I was between jobs in the late nineties and stopped collecting for two years, and lost a lot of continuity. I thought that collecting deluxe hardcover editions would be a great way to catch up on many titles. This edition was one of the best buys so far. I tore through it and immediately renewed my love for Red and the crew. Being able to read this series in order is almost as great as being able to drink in every detail in these huge format books. The overall quality oh these editions is so nice that I went online and bought volumes 2 thru 6! The bindings are super durable and the paper is excellent and these books will last a good long time. They look great on my shelves and I am so happy to have filled the gaps I missed when I took my uqqwanted hiatus from buying. If you are a fan of Hellboy or if you want to see why the comic is far far better than the films, then you must buy this book. For the price you just cannot find a better title anywhere. Thanks to Dark Horse for their attention to detail and unwavering adherence to producing such quality volumes in which to put forth one of the all time best titles in comic book history PERIOD.

I am a sucker for anything with superior packaging and presentation and with that said Hellboy Library Edition Volume One from Dark Horse can teach a thing or two to Marvel and DC. I truly wish more titles were presented in this quality hardcover format painstakingly made with attention to detail and true love for the subject matter. Yes, I know that there are some out there but most will run you over a hundred bucks. For thirty dollars not only did I purchase a quality hardcover tome I can display with pride but Mike Mignola’s art and the story hooked me right in and provided me with a couple of afternoons happily exploring the Hellboy Universe. The Gothic and Victorian themes paired with Mignola’s art made this truly an exceptional start to my Hellboy collection. If you are a perfectionist I would advise you to handle the clothbound cover carefully as unfortunately it is easily marked. I dusted off my grimy prints after I took the photos and it was just as good as new. Purchased volumes 2 & 5 but left them in plastic until I have the time to read them. I also made a bust of our hero out of celluclay and sculpey to guard my collection if that doesn't scare you I don't know what will.

This volume was my introduction into the world of Hellboy, and let me just say that I am impressed. Not only is the story both intriguing and engrossing, but it's also just plain fun. The writing is great, and the art is gorgeous, especially in this format. The inks and lines are sharp, the paper is very high quality, and the extras are well worth checking out. The cover, as another reviewer noted, does tend to get dirty quickly, but it's easy to clean just by wiping it off. This is definitely one of the best collections of a comic book I've seen, and it's well worth the price. If you're a fan of Hellboy, I'm guessing you own this already, and if you've ever been curious about Hellboy, or comics in general, you should definitely check this out. I've already pre-ordered volume 2, and I'll be getting any others Dark Horse wants to put out.

This first volume of HELLBOY LIBRARY EDITIONS is a welcome addition to any serious comic reader's collection. It matches the superb ART OF HELLBOY hardcover from a few years back in both size and binding and contains the complete story lines SEED OF DESTRUCTION and WAKE THE DEVIL as well as an extensive sketchbook section featuring many of creator Mike Mignola's early sketches (with very few, if any, repeated images from the ART OF HELLBOY tome). The only thing missing from the original trade paperback collections are the pin-ups by other artists but, really, once you see how beautiful Mignola's work looks printed in this oversize format you hardly miss them. The colors (by Mark Chiarello on SEED and James Sinclair on WAKE) are vividly reproduced on bright, glossy paper (be careful to avoid fingerprinting, though). Any fan of HELLBOY, Mike Mignola, or comics in general should look into adding this book to their library. I look foward to volume 2.

Hasn't been long since i really dove into reading comics, and searching for collections of series in hardbacks (like this one). The Hellboy Library really impressed me, it doesn't look like marvel omnibus or DC absolutes. I thought the cloth cover made it look very unique and stylish (although one reviewer said its a dust magnet, which isn't far from the truth, i liked the limited edition leather cover they made for hellboy seed of destruction which i sadly missed, this is a great collection) I love how big it is and how well the art looks, the quality is fantastic for the price its totally worth every penny, i really can't wait to read more of it and can't wait to put Vol.2 right next to it. (which is already being pre-orderd on amazon :-D) I sure hope they do something like this for B.P.R.D. As well as hope they come out with covers like this for other popular dark horse series!! Only thing i would have liked would have been a higher page count.

I'm not going to review the actual comic itself. I think anyone who knows anything about comics, writers and artists, knows that Mike Mignola is awesome and has created something very iconic and great. The volume itself is great, the binding is solid and nice and I like the material that the hardcover is made of. It has the feel of some sort of fabric as opposed to a smooth, glossy finish like most hardcover books. I had a bunch of the original comics and trade paperbacks (the latter of which had bad binding, at least on the first volume because it started to fall apart very soon after reading it through only once) and it's much nicer to have a collection of issues in a bigger format with a nicer binding and hardcover. None of the artwork looks like it has been up scaled from a smaller size so the art looks even more brilliant in this larger format. This is a must have for any fan of Hellboy, the comics or the movies. And really anyone who likes comics should get this as a foray into the really amazing world Mike Mignola created, if they haven't already. This library edition really should set a standard for how future comic franchises should release their respective volumes. This and the Buffy season 8 library editions are some of the best you can get. Highly recommended.

Hellboy fully deserves its reputation as an exceptionally rich, literary set of graphic novels. In my view, Hellboy ranks just below Neil Gaiman's The Sandman in its sweeping mythology and mysterious depths. And this large, plush library edition is an excellent (albeit expensive) way of getting into the series from the beginning. I also enjoyed some of the extra matter, particularly Alan Moore's preface to "Wake the Devil," which conveys his sense of Hellboy's place in the comic pantheon. The one flaw is that, inexplicably, "The Chained Coffin" (a short story) is left until Volume 2, despite taking place between the two chapters in Volume 1. But this omission can be forgiven, as the story doesn't bear on the main plot. For those who insist on reading the comics in their proper order but don't have the second volume handy, "The Chained Coffin" can also be viewed (in faithful animated form) on the Dark Horse website.

Like many, I was introduced to Hellboy by way of Guillermo del Toro's fabulous films. I've watched them many times and often considered dipping into the comics. When I finally decided to take the plunge, I went top-shelf and got the Library Edition. The most obvious first impression is its size, which is far larger than a standard comic trade. Granted, Hellboy contains the equivalent of two trades, but the most impressive dimensions here are the height and width of the book; which, of course, translates to the page size as well. And this is a good thing for the art. It's for this larger size and better presentation of the art that I selected the Library Edition. The panels are huge and the colours are brilliant ... the art pops off the page very nicely. And due to the larger page-size, I don't find myself needing to bend over the book to see everything or to be able to read each and every word. It's a very relaxing read. I'm no expert on paper selection, but the pages here are made of a high-gloss, thick stock; the stock is of the sort you'd expect to see in something like a high-quality Broadway programme or perhaps poster stock. It's almost like a thin card stock. This, of course, adds physical depth/thickness and weight to the book, which some may find off-putting. I wouldn't want to hold this in a one hand for several minutes, but it sits very comfortably on my lap. There's little point in covering the story content in great detail at this stage. Hellboy is no secret, and you generally know what you're getting into. You'll either like it or you won't. But it's worth noting that this particular volume contains "Seeds of Destruction". This is the first Hellboy story, on which the first Hellboy film was loosely based (along with bits and pieces from other stories). Reading the story now as Mignola originally wrote it, and seeing the film again makes me see very clearly the appreciation that del Toro had for the original work. He didn't do a Zack Snyder and try to translate the book panel-by-panel to the big screen. Instead, he took the original story seeds (pun intended) and gave them a substance all his own...while at the same time keeping true to the overall flavour of Mignola's original. This makes the final result of the film all the more impressive. It is also worth mentioning that there are around 33 pages of "bonus content" at the rear of the book in the way of Mike Mignola's sketchbook and some 2-page short stories which really got Hellboy started. these are a nice addition which you supposedly won't find in the standard trades. Highly recomended.

After checking out the lovely new 'Monster-sized' Omnibus Edition, collecting all the Hellboy material gathered in the smaller, comic-book-sized omnibus collections that worked well enough for the 10 volumes collecting the original BPRD series, and their fantastic & often surprisingly profound - both existentially, but more-so emotionally - adventures through the Mignolaverse, a realm helped by writers like John Arcudi, whose gift for the emotional gut-punch, surprising betrayals, and brutal violence, was demonstrated in a near-perfect 6-issue collected edition with gorgeously horrific art by Peter Snejbjerg; the book, 'A God Somewhere', as well as the writer & the artist, all caught the eye of Mignola, who personally curates the Mignolaverse with many of the best ascending talents in the medium: Guy Davis, Ryan Sook, Peter Snejbjerg, Ben Stenbeck, the painterly style of Tyler Crook, who would go on to great acclaim for his Historical Drama injected with an overdose of Horror, 'Harrow County'. And, of course, James Harren, one of the most dynamic artists in recent memory (Daniel Warren Johnson certainly comes close), whose gift for designing Lovecraftian void-spawn high on alien war-steroids, puts him at the top of the monster-maker heap, just behind the unexpected master, Guy Davis, & Mignola himself, naturally. His work has elevated stories that might have failed in the hands of another artist, but Arcudi had the measure of the artist's unique gifts. The BPRD storyline peaks, with references going back to 'Plague of Frogs' finally paying off in spectacular fashion years later, with a brutal showdown between the near-indestructible Wendigo of the Northern Native American & Canadian tribes legends, and BPRD Captain Daimio, infected with a supernatural virus almost identical to the Wendigo, but conforming to the animal most feared among the Indigenous S. American tribes: a twisted hybrid of Jaguar & man, equally impervious to BPRD weapons. Daimio tells his men to retreat, hide, run in the opposite direction, before revealing his terrifying secret to the speechless officers who had trusted him through the hardest of times. Daimio is mutating quickly, rushing to to do battle with his Northern cousin. It's bloody magnificent. As for the actual material, Hellboy (& the Mignolaverse) was special from the start, and even the clunky plotting & weird dialogue by John Byrne, helping the ever humble Mignola script his first comic series, Seed of Destruction, it never derails the chaotic mix of Pagan, Gnostic, Catholic & Lovecraftian mythology which forms its core, Hellboy rocks. I love it all, but it's Mignola's art, and that of a long under-appreciated artist named Duncan Fegredo, who make this saga shine. Simply cut diamonds of the purest kind. Getting back to the other options available, there's no real comparison. The dimensions are the same, except for thickness, and the cloth covers, gilt-embossed titles, and Smyth-sewn spines make for a durable, deluxe reading experience, with none of the awkwardness to be found in the beautiful 'Big Damn' & 'Colossal'-format books of which the 'Hellboy' super-omnibus is the latest. As well, they fail to include a several-hundred pages of designs & original pencils included in the Library Editions. If you're a Hellboy fan looking for a more deluxe options, The Library Editions are ALWAYS the way to go with Dark Horse, and Hellboy led the way. That said, the Monster-edition is a fine choice as well, and far less expensive, especially if bonus-material is of no real interest. P.S.: It's violence is horrific, as all 'realistic' takes on superheroes should be, and I highly recommend 'A God Somewhere', by John Arcudi & Peter Snejbjerg (not a typo), if fictional brutality doesn't bother you.

First off, this book is pretty huge. It looks, feels and is solid: the Amazon carton it came in itself is the size of a small table! My first introduction to Hellboy was through a few PDFs scans of the comics. Riveting stuff: folklore, myths, history and pure fiction knit together quite coherently and embellished with amazing artwork, heaps of action and an intriguing central character. Once I went through the first few issues, I knew I had to have these in print. Mike Mignola's distinctive drawing style seems minimal, but it is a wonderfully controlled simplicity; like a true master, each seemingly casual line drawn by him is a very carefully thought out stroke which brings out the desired effect to each panel. The use of large swathes of black/white evokes the tone of the stories perfectly, while never seeming bare. The Dark Horse Library Volumes are the definitive collection of the Hellboy comics for the serious collector: they cost almost the same as buying the individual issues, they're printed using high-quality glossy paper+ink AND they come with a lot of extra notes and artwork. Gorgeous is the only word that comes to mind. This edition contains the first two Hellboy stories, and they already pack a punch. It's a perfect introduction to the series and the only edition you should buy in case you want to collect these. The only con? It's quite heavy to hold for casual reading :)

Tout d'abord parlons de l'objet: ce livre est digne d'être classé dans la catégorie des beaux livres, au même titre que certains livres d'art et autres catalogues d'exposition. Il est relié industriellement, avec une couverture rigide, toilée et frappée de lettres d'or. La première de couverture est aussi ornée d'un dessin de Hellboy, par Mignola bien sûr. Le livre est donc constitué de cahiers cousus collés fabriqués à partir d'un papier de qualité, épais et glacé. En dernier lieu, il faut citer les dimensions du livre environ 23,6 x 3,3 x 31,2 cm. Soit un format beaucoup plus grand que celui des comics dans lesquels ont été originellement publié les histoires qui constituent cet ouvrage, d’où un confort et un plaisir de lecture beaucoup plus important. Pour ce qui est du contenu, il est aussi appréciable puisqu'il nous propose deux arcs narratifs (Seed Of Destruction & Wake the Devil) qui nous permettent à nous lecteurs de découvrir les bases de l'univers "Hellboy", ses alliés (Liz et Abe ainsi que d'autres) mais aussi ses adversaires (Raspoutine, Ilsa, Kroenen et d'autres) ainsi que les enjeux qui opposent tout ce beau monde (la destruction et la domination du monde rien de moins). A noter que le premier arc narratif "Seed Of Destruction" a été écrit par John Byrne à partir d'idées de Mignola. Ce qui nous prouve, encore une fois que Byrne est non seulement un artiste majeur mais aussi un talentueux conteur d'histoires. Cet ouvrage nous propose aussi deux courtes historiettes amusantes qui illustre bien l'univers dans lequel notre héros évolue ainsi que ses méthodes pour solutionner les problèmes auxquels il est confronté. Et, en dernier lieu, un cahier de croquis, la plupart exclusifs, nous éclaire un peu plus sur les processus créatifs de Mignola. Il vaut mieux posséder un bon niveau d'anglais pour profiter pleinement de ce Hellboy de luxe publié par Dark Horse, mais si vous n'êtes pas anglophone rien n'est perdu car Delcourt, l'éditeur français de Hellboy, nous propose, une traduction de cet ouvrage dans, sensiblement, les mêmes conditions sous le titre Hellboy Deluxe. Vous n'avez donc aucune excuse si vous êtes fans ou si vous voulez découvrir le personnage dans les meilleurs conditions.

Neatly packaged, superbly decorated, beautiful book