New to Hellboy: can I read (and understand) Abe Sapien, BPRD and Sledgehammer 44 without Hellboy?

[WheresMyElefant]

I've only read the first two volumes of Hellboy (Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil). If I read BPRD: Plague Of Frogs, Sledgehammer 44 or Abe Sapien, would I understand? Or would I be missing out on a lot of info?

[middenway]

You can read B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs without having read Hellboy. It's made to be accessible to new readers. You'll just get a bit more out of it if you've read up to Hellboy: Conqueror Worm (volume 5) first.

The first two volumes of Abe Sapien stand alone really well. Jump in any time. From volume 3 onwards, it spins off from B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: A Cold Day in Hell (Volume 7). I suggest you get up to date before reading those stories.

Sledgehammer 44 stands alone really well, but you'll get more out of it if you've read Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus and The Burning Hand (volumes 1 and 2).

[WheresMyElefant]

You can read B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs without having read Hellboy. It's made to be accessible to new readers. You'll just get a bit more out of it if you've read up to Hellboy: Conqueror Worm (volume 5) first.

The first two volumes of Abe Sapien stand alone really well. Jump in any time. From volume 3 onwards, it spins off from B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: A Cold Day in Hell (Volume 7). I suggest you get up to date before reading those stories.

Sledgehammer 44 stands alone really well, but you'll get more out of it if you've read Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus and The Burning Hand (volumes 1 and 2).

Thank you. I'm actually new to this whole comic thing (only just got into it about two or three months ago) and sometimes its a little hard to integrate yourself. One more question: is B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth a continuation of Plague of Frogs? And there's also simply a "B.P.R.D." What's the difference between all of these?

[Joker]

BPRD was the title of the monthly comic. Once collected it was put under the "Plague of Frogs" banner. Hell On Earth follows Plague of Frogs.

You certain can, as stated, read BPRD without reading Hellboy, but I can't imagine why you'd skip Hellboy.

[WheresMyElefant]

BPRD was the title of the monthly comic. Once collected it was put under the "Plague of Frogs" banner. Hell On Earth follows Plague of Frogs.

You certain can, as stated, read BPRD without reading Hellboy, but I can't imagine why you'd skip Hellboy.

Oh, I'm not skipping Hellboy. The thing is I bought the first three volumes of BPRD Plague Of Frogs without knowing exactly up to where I would need to read in Hellboy. So once I found out, I realized I would have to wait a good while in order to buy four more volumes of Hellboy. I'll read them, but I just need to buy them first haha

[middenway]

Oh, I'm not skipping Hellboy. The thing is I bought the first three volumes of BPRD Plague Of Frogs without knowing exactly up to where I would need to read in Hellboy. So once I found out, I realized I would have to wait a good while in order to buy four more volumes of Hellboy. I'll read them, but I just need to buy them first haha

If you've bought the first three volumes, you only have to get two more Hellboy volumes. B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs picks up after Hellboy: Conqueror Worm (Volume 5... or the third Hellboy Library Edition).

[middenway]

Thank you. I'm actually new to this whole comic thing (only just got into it about two or three months ago) and sometimes its a little hard to integrate yourself. One more question: is B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth a continuation of Plague of Frogs? And there's also simply a "B.P.R.D." What's the difference between all of these?

When B.P.R.D. started, I don't think anyone imagined it would become the sprawling story it has. It was retroactively split into "cycles" when the omnibuses were released. Plague of Frogs is the first cycle, Hell on Earth is the second. Then there's the flashback stories. B.P.R.D. 1946–1947–1948 is a smaller cycle (the monibus will be coming out in June), followed by the B.P.R.D. Vampire cycle (which has only one story so far). B.P.R.D.: Being Human is a collection of short stories that doesn't belong to any larger cycle.

[WheresMyElefant]

You can read B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs without having read Hellboy. It's made to be accessible to new readers. You'll just get a bit more out of it if you've read up to Hellboy: Conqueror Worm (volume 5) first.

The first two volumes of Abe Sapien stand alone really well. Jump in any time. From volume 3 onwards, it spins off from B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: A Cold Day in Hell (Volume 7). I suggest you get up to date before reading those stories.

Sledgehammer 44 stands alone really well, but you'll get more out of it if you've read Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus and The Burning Hand (volumes 1 and 2).

Hey and I forgot to ask: what about witchfinder?

[middenway]

Witchfinder stands alone perfectly. And I love it.

[zerodemon]

Also a great bunch of standalone stuff to read is BPRD 46-48 and Vampire. I feel like you can read and get the best out of this any time after Wake the Devil, but that's not at all necessary. I really think it's almost required reading for Hellboy and the BPRD 1952 though.