New Hellboy Series Finally Uncovers a Missing Chapter in Guillermo del Toro’s Film Saga

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Guillermo del Toro had planned a trilogy focusing on his teenage years, a period of his life he hadn’t yet explored in his films. Now, fans who want to know what the acclaimed director was like growing up can find out through a new comic book.

On May 20, 2026, Dark Horse Comics published the first issue of a comic that offers a fresh and self-aware look at the character’s early years.

This four-issue comic has a clever twist: the main character, a teenage demon who was born in the underworld but grew up on Earth after a strange accident, doesn’t actually fight villains. He simply tells the story as it unfolds.

The real star of Young Hellboy: Thrilling Sky Adventures #1 is Scarlett Santiago, a skilled pilot nicknamed The Sky Devil. She’s on the run from her enemies and unexpectedly finds a partner to help her. This story, called “The Devil’s Plateau,” is a tale young Hellboy reads to his dog, Mac, while they have breakfast at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense in 1947.

In a previous story, the demon surprisingly met one of his favorite comic book heroes. This new adventure is a four-part tale where the young demon and his adoptive father, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, find themselves stranded on a dangerous island filled with prehistoric creatures. Luckily, Scarlett Santiago arrives to help them.

I’m really excited about Young Hellboy: Thrilling Sky Adventures #1! It’s brought to us by Mike Mignola and Thomas Sniegoski, who’ve teamed up on other Young Hellboy stories, and even worked together on Frankenstein: New World over at Dark Horse. The art is fantastic, thanks to penciler Craig Rousseau (who co-created Perhapanauts!) and colorist Chris O’Halloran, with lettering by the always-great Clem Robins.

Guillermo del Toro Briefly Explored Hellboy’s Early Years

While the Young Hellboy comic series is relatively new, having launched around five years ago, many people already know the character as a young man thanks to the Ron Perlman film adaptation, which won an Academy Award.

The 2004 film starts by telling the story of Hellboy’s birth. It shows Nazis opening a portal during World War II and bringing him to Earth. Through narration by Professor Broom (played by John Hurt), we learn that a younger version of Broom (Kevin Trainor) then takes on the task of raising him.

In the opening scene of the 2008 film Hellboy II: The Golden Army, del Toro showed a tender moment between Hellboy and his adoptive father, Broom. The scene, set on Christmas Eve in 1955, features Broom telling young Hellboy a story about powerful, ancient creatures before tucking him into bed.

The Hellboy films did show glimpses of the main characters’ childhoods, but a key part of the story was left undeveloped, disappointing many fans. This was the famous prophecy that Hellboy would ultimately cause the end of the world – a plot point that was intended to be the focus of Guillermo del Toro’s planned third movie.

In an interview on The Joe Vulpis Show, Perlman discussed plans for a Hellboy sequel that would have shown his character raising twin children with his girlfriend, Liz Sherman (played by Selma Blair). Unfortunately, director Guillermo del Toro’s idea for the sequel needed more funding than the studio was willing to provide.

Unfortunately, Guillermo del Toro’s planned Hellboy series was never completed, leading to two separate, and often debated, reboot films. Perhaps Mike Mignola, the creator of Hellboy, will collaborate with del Toro to turn the unmade movie into a comic book. Considering del Toro was open to showing Hellboy’s childhood, it would be great to see the film fans were hoping for finally realized.

The first issue of Young Hellboy: Thrilling Sky Adventures is now available at comic book shops and on most digital comics platforms.

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2026-06-02 03:09