11 Essential Storylines To Read If You're Just Getting Into Comics

2. Hellboy: Seed Of Destruction

There isn't a title out there as atmospheric or indeed addictive as Mike Mignola's Hellboy.

A series centred around the literal harbinger of the apocalypse, Hellboy (and its sister title, B.P.R.D.) has to be one of the most unique properties in the medium. The series, which only recently ended with the final volume of Hellboy in Hell, developed a massive fan following because of its brilliantly woven gothic elements, as well as the strength of the lead himself. Indeed, the dryness of the title character (something Ron Perlman conveyed perfectly onscreen, it must be said), grounds the universe so well, and lends the book a surreal edge that few others in the horror genre have managed to match.

Sure, there's plenty of material to get through, but the pulpy TPB format of Dark Horse's collections have cemented the series as being among the easiest to pick up and enjoy. The linear, quasi-chronological nature of the Hellboy mythos also invites readers to embark a journey fundamentally different to that of other comics in the medium, as, with the character, there's a definitive beginning and an end - you can see Hellboy's entire life from start to finish, and, given the dramatic payoff of the In Hell arc, it's a tremendously gratifying one to witness.

Horror fans will need little cause to check this book out, and, given how Neil Marshall's darker, more faithful adaptation of the series is fast approaching, now is as good a time as any to check it out.