When did Hellboy become a comic?

Hellboy first appeared in a 1993 comic in San Diego Comic Con Comics. Mike Mignola originally created Hellboy as a drawing of a demon-like figure with the name “Hellboy” on his belt. He made the drawing for a comic convention and didn’t originally have any plans to go beyond the artwork in creating the character. Later, Mignola decided that he wanted to create his own comic book characters for his stories and used this earlier concept of Hellboy. He originally intended the character to part of a team of five other characters but was unable to decide on a name for the team.

He eventually was able to get it published in Dark Horse Comics, but he originally pitched it to DC Comics. DC Comics ended up not accepting the concept because they were uncomfortable with the inclusion of concepts such as Hell. Since then, Hellboy has become well-known as a benevolent demon with a tortured past.