Adopted by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm as an infant and raised in the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D), Hellboy is everyone’s favorite human/demon hybrid. Brought to Earth from Hell after a dark occult ritual performed by Rasputin (who was working for the Nazis on a project called Ragna Rok at the time), Hellboy then became a paranormal investigator with the B.P.R.D.

Created by Mike Mignola in 1993, Hellboy premiered as a short black and white feature in San Diego Comic Con Comics #2 (cover dated August 1993), and this is certainly the most valuable key in the existing comic run. After his premiere, the character quickly began appearing in his own standalone comics.

Eventually developing something of a cult following, Hellboy fans are a loyal and intelligent bunch. Their loyalty has insured that the character has been the center of no less than two major films already: ‘Hellboy’ from 2004 and a sequel, ‘The Golden Army’ from 2008 (both directed by Guillermo Del Toro). Both Del Toro films starred Ron Perlman as the title character, and both were very good films but tonally not the most faithful adaptations of the Mignola comic.

In 2019, Hellboy, who will now played by ‘Stranger Things’ actor David Harbour will star in a new adventure (see here) based on the Mignola comics and directed by Neil Marshall (Game of Thrones).

This new movie will, once again, simply be called ‘Hellboy’, and is being described as a complete reboot of the franchise. Unlike the Del Toro films it will carry an 'R' rating. Hopefully the new film will be true to the horror laced roots of the source material.

Will the reboot also increase interest and affect the sales of Hellboy comics? To an extent it’s doing this already, but here we can also take a look at some issues that may see a bump with a new Hellboy film but are currently flying under the radar.

Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #1 (March 1994) – Origin of Hellboy, first appearance of Rasputin

Mike Mignola was no newbie to the comic book world when he plotted this series. This was however the only Hellboy comic that had another writer contributing scripts, namely John Byrne. Mignola of course began his career not as a writer but as an inker at Marvel, way back in 1983. Eventually, by the late 1980s he was also working for DC, and by the 1990s he was crafting what has since come to be known as the ‘Mignola verse’. In that fictional comic universe there’s one character who has broken through to become a veritable pop culture phenomenon: Hellboy. The first part of this solo title published by Dark Horse comics is also the start of the ‘Hellboy in Hell’ story arc. In these comics Hellboy is a part of the B.P.R.D and the contours of the Hellboy universe are just starting to be fleshed out. Still, as these early comics feature the origin of Hellboy and the beginning of his legacy, first prints of these will always be collectors’ items. It doesn’t hurt that these are also excellent comics. In 9.8 grade this comic sells for around $200.00. Best returns are on 9.0’s (up + 109.7%) over the last two years alone.

Hellboy: Wake the Devil #3 (August 1996) - First appearance of Roger the Homunculus

'Wake the Devil' is the Second Hellboy story arc, in this arc, we meet Roger the Homunculus and Rasputin’s friend the witch Baba Yaga. Since the rumor is that the next Hellboy film will feature the Queen of Blood, we might also see old Baba Yaga since the Blood Queen is also a witch. The data on this is limited. Two sales have been listed on GoCollect.com both signature series and so not representative of the fair market value. An Ebay search shows this comic is quite affordable and can be easily purchased in high grade for under $20.00.

Hellboy: The Wild Hunt #2 - First Blood Queen

This is the first appearance (in cameo) of Nimue the Blood Queen, and the 'Wild Hunt' story arc may be the comic story that the new movie will most directly be based on. Too few of these have sold for any data to be available. An Ebay search shows recent sales going from $50.00-$130.00. Obviously the cat is out of the bag on this one. If you have extra copies in decent condition, now might be a good time to sell!