Many doubts about the reading order.

[Fedora]

Hi, i'm new to the comics world and i have several questions regarding Hellboy's reading order, and I didn't want to post that in the FAQ because it's probably going to be a fairly big text. I hope i'm not breaking any rules, anyway, let's get to the point.

It's important to say that i'm intending to read every or most of hellboy's comics. And I want to do it in chronological order. So, I did some research on the reading order and I found several inconsistencies.


So, i've looked on the "The Hellboy Universe Publishing Order" thread.
I've also looked the Wikipedia's Issues content and the Wikipedia Trade Paperback's content
And I've also found this site
https://comicbookreadingorders.com/o...reading-order/

And I've also found this reading order on the internet:


Hellboy weird tales(non cannon)
Hellboy seed of destruction
Hellboy wake the devil
Hellboy the chained coffin
Hellboy the right hand of doom
Hellboy conqueror worm
Hellboy Strange Places
Hellboy the crooked man
Hellboy darkness calls
Hellboy the wild hunt
Hellboy the storm and the fury
Hellboy bride of hell

B.P. R.D Plague of frogs 1,2,3
B.P. R.D 1946-1947-1948
B.P. R.D Vampire
B.P. R.D Hell on Earth
B.P. R.D Hell on Earth gods and monsters
B.P. R.D Hell on Earth Russia
B.P. R.D Hell on Earth the devil engine of death
B.P. R.D Hell on Earth the pikens county horror & others
B.P. R.D Hell on Earth the return of the master
B.P. R.D Hell on Earth a cold day on hell

Abe sapien the drowning
Abe sapien the devil does not jest and other stories
Abe sapien dark and terrible and the new race of man

Witchfinder in the service of Angels
Witchfinder lost and gone forever
Witchfinder the mystery of unlend

B.P. R.D Hell on Earth lake of fire
B.P. R.D Hell on Earth the reing of the black flame
B.P. R.D Hell on Earth the devil's wings
B.P. R.D Hell on Earth flesh and stone


Sledgehammer 44


B.P. R.D Hell on Earth metamorphysis
B.P. R.D Hell on Earth end of days

Abe sapien the shape of things to come
Abe sapien sacred places
Abe sapien the darkness so great
Abe sapien the secret fire


and then, the autor proceeds to label these as "read anytime":
Lobster johnson the iron prometheus
Lobster johnson the burning hand
Lobster johnson satan smells of rat
Lobster johnson get the lobster
Frankenstein Underground
Hellboy and the B.P.R.D 1952
Hellboy the midnight circus




Now, the questions:



1 - The site suggests that I read the volume 10 before the volume 8 and 9.

"Hellboy Vol. 7: The Troll Witch and Others
Hellboy Vol. 10: The Crooked Man and Others
B.P.R.D Vol. 1: Hollow Earth and Other Stories"

and also, we have middenway's publishing order, which show that the Hollow Earth was published before the troll witch, so one would think that the correct reading order would Hollow Earth >> Troll Witch >> Crooked men. What should I do?



2 - and then suggests BPRD 12's vol between the volume's 5 and 6. Why??

"B.P.R.D Vol. 5: The Black Flame
B.P.R.D Vol. 12: War on Frogs
B.P.R.D Vol. 6: The Universal Machine"



3 - WHY???

"B.P.R.D: Being Human
B.P.R.D Vol. 10: The Warning
B.P.R.D Vol. 11: The Black Goddess
B.P.R.D Vol. 14: King of Fear
Hellboy Vol. 12: The Storm and the Fury
Hellboy Vol. 11: The Bride of Hell and Others"



4 - While this recommendation suggests that go to BPRD Hell on earth's before going to abe sapien, the site suggests that we should actually go to abe sapien's first, and then pause it to go to BPRD Hell on earth. WHY?!?!?!



5 - According to wikipedia, The Wolves of Saint August, The Corpse and The Iron Shoes were published before the Wake the Devil, but on the trade paperback they chose to put the Wake the Devil before those stories... WHYYY??!!?!?!!??!?!?



After some time I've given up writing the inconsistencies, and some time after that I gave up tracking them. And then, I just curled up into a ball of sadness and tears.

So, what would be the "true" chronological reading order? It seems logical that the publishing order would have the answers, but then, one would think that they decided for example to put the Wake the Devil before the Corpse for a reason, but I can't find any.

[Waka Hem]

The omnibus editions that are currently being published might give you what you're looking for. As far as the Hellboy trades go, the major arcs (Seed of Destruction, Wake the Devil, etc) were collected chronologically, but the short story collections are just kind of plugged in based on when enough content was published to fill a TPB. Chronologically, with just a few exceptions, all the Hellboy short stories take place before Seed of Destruction begins. The omnibus editions separate the short stories out, so you'd be good reading the two Complete Short Stories collections first before moving onto Seed and the other collected arcs.

With that said, this imo is the ideal reading order:
http://www.multiversitycomics.com/an...ng-order-2018/
It's not perfectly chronological, but you can make it chronological by making these swaps:

Start with the Witchfinder series, the move onto...
Rise of the Black Flame
Lobster Johnson
Sledgehammer 44
BPRD 1946-1948
Helllboy and the BPRD
Then return to the reading order, which will give you a solid ordering for Hellboy, BPRD/BPRD Hell on Earth, and Abe Sapien.

[LobsterJohnson]

BPRD Volume 12 is an collection of short stories taking place at different times, which is why it's between 5 and 6 in the reading order.

While following a reading order can be helpful, you'd be fine just reading Hellboy from start to finish, then BPRD (through the end of Hell on Earth), then Abe, etc.

I would not recommend starting with Weird Tales. I like Weird Tales, but the quality is inconsistent and it doesn't truly represent the voice of the Mignolaverse, since they're all guest-creator stories. There's very little Mignola Hellboy content in there.

[Waka Hem]

You know what, I just finished reading through the Mignolaverse in chronological order, I'll just share with you what I did. Things are pretty straightforward until you get into BPRD Hell on Earth, when you've got a few series taking place simultaneously, but the guide I linked to above is a solid roadmap for when to read what, when at that point.

Witchfinder series
Rise of the Black Flame
Lobster Johnson series
Sledgehammer 44 series
BPRD 1946-1948
BPRD Vampire
Hellboy and the BPRD series
Abe Sapien: The Drowning and Other Stories
Hellboy - all short stories. You can either get the two Short Stories omnibuses (only the first has been released thus far), OR get these trades: The Chained Coffin and Others, The Right Hand of Doom, The Troll Witch and Others, The Crooken Man and Others, The Bride of Hell and Others
Hellboy Seed of Destruction through Hellboy Strange Places (Omnibus 1 and 2)
BPRD Plague of Frogs Omnibus 1-3
Hellboy Darkness Calls through The Storm and the Fury
BPRD Plague of Frogs Omnibus 4
BPRD Hell on Earth Omnibus 1 and 2
Hellboy in Hell series
BPRD Hell on Earth Omnibus 3
Abe Sapien Dark and Terrible Omnibus 1
BPRD Hell on Earth Omnibus 4
Abe Sapien Dark and Terrible Omnibus 2
BPRD Hell on Earth Omnibus 5
Frankenstein Underground
BPRD The Devil You Know

[Fedora]

Witchfinder series
Rise of the Black Flame
Lobster Johnson series
Sledgehammer 44 series
BPRD 1946-1948
BPRD Vampire
Hellboy and the BPRD series
Abe Sapien: The Drowning and Other Stories
Hellboy - all short stories. You can either get the two Short Stories omnibuses (only the first has been released thus far), OR get these trades: The Chained Coffin and Others, The Right Hand of Doom, The Troll Witch and Others, The Crooken Man and Others, The Bride of Hell and Others
Hellboy Seed of Destruction through Hellboy Strange Places (Omnibus 1 and 2)
BPRD Plague of Frogs Omnibus 1-3
Hellboy Darkness Calls through The Storm and the Fury
BPRD Plague of Frogs Omnibus 4
BPRD Hell on Earth Omnibus 1 and 2
Hellboy in Hell series
BPRD Hell on Earth Omnibus 3
Abe Sapien Dark and Terrible Omnibus 1
BPRD Hell on Earth Omnibus 4
Abe Sapien Dark and Terrible Omnibus 2
BPRD Hell on Earth Omnibus 5
Frankenstein Underground
BPRD The Devil You Know

Thanks, this feel very solid. But it feels so weird that you read seed of destruction after witchifinder and lobster johnson, the guide actually recommends seed of destruction first, doesn't it?

Did it feel weird to read it after? Or that's just the way it is?

[Waka Hem]

Thanks, this feel very solid. But it feels so weird that you read seed of destruction after witchifinder and lobster johnson, the guide actually recommends seed of destruction first, doesn't it?

Did it feel weird to read it after? Or that's just the way it is?

Well, my order is just based on the chronological sequence the stories take place in. Witchfinder takes place in the late 1800s, Lobster Johnson takes place in the 1930s, and Seed of Destruction is modern day, more or less. The guide I linked to takes dramatic effect into account. I.e., a character or theme is introduced in the main Hellboy/BPRD timeline, and then you loop back in time to get some backstory.

I've read most of these stories before so I was mainly just curious about what it'd be like to read them front to back like a linear history (and I had a lot of free time on my hands). I can't really vouch for how enjoyable that approach is as an introduction though. IMO the OG Hellboy series starting with Seed really is the crown jewel of the "Mignolaverse" and reading chronologically you're not going to get to that for a while. If Witchfinder and/or Lobster Johnson really click with you you're golden, but you'll just want to keep in mind every series kinda has its own style and feel and no single one of them is totally representative of the others.