10 Amazing Hellboy Spin-Offs Mignola Fans Must Read

Another villain origin comic gives the back story to The Black Flame, a character who never appeared in Hellboy's own title but who is a recurring figure throughout the stories of the B.P.R.D. and before.

We were first introduced to The Black Flame in the B.P.R.D. comic back in 2005. There he was referred to as a German supervillain who had died in the War.

In the present Landis Pope, CEO of the evil Zinco Corporation, was seeking to use arcane rituals to take The Black Flame's place and become the leader of the mutant frog monsters. Later comics gave us more sightings of the original Black Flame, an undead skeleton burning with an unquenchable fire, as he faced off against Lobster Johnson and Sledgehammer 44.

It was only after all of that that we got to see from where the Flame first came and how Raimund Diestel took up the mantle.

This miniseries has the feel of an old fashioned exotic adventure-horror story in the vein of Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom with shades of The Wicker Man. In 1920s Bangkok Sarah Jewell, an American occultist, hires Destiel, then a German Navy deserter and opium addict, as her guide to travel deep into the Siamese jungle.

They seek the bloodthirsty cult of the Temple Of The Black Flame who have been kidnapping young girls, but inevitably end up meeting more than they bargained for. Rise Of The Black Flame makes for a great dark adventure story, but if you've read a lot of other Hellboy universe comics it also really fleshes out one of Mignola's most compelling villains.