God Damn that looks AWESOME! That is all.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

(wait for it)

(waaaaaaaaaaaait for itttttttttt...)

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

ABE SAPIEN. As in ABRAHAM. It's aBe, not aPe.

Is Ape a new addition to the B.P.R.D?

Awesome, effin awesome.

I didn't like the first one much, but this just looks beautiful.

@Tim Faulkner: Yeah, in the Planet Of The Apes. Aperaham Lincoln founded the team.

Um, That villain looks vaguely familiar to Necron in Ralph Bakshi's (1986) Fire & Ice:

+ Watch video

Soooo, Helloby isn't sci-fi though is it?

@Cheap Shot:
And Elric of Melnibone.
So?

@JesusDeSaad: Yeah, I know I know. And I'm even staring at the new issue on my desk. Double frakkin typo.

@Seth L: I'd say it's Lovecraftian scifi, yeah. The Nazis use a mix of science and mumbo-jumbo to raise Hellboy. And they all fight with gadgets and guns.

This looks like an incredibly dark, dense movie. Like it could end up being Pan Labyrinth's action-packed, long-lost bastard brother it never knew and always wanted. Hmmnn, we shall see.

Oh, yes please! I loved the first movie and it just tickles me black and blue for Hellboy 2.

@Plague: Hell yeah, Dragonbone right? I09 needs to do a Top 10 Villanous Albinos list:

+ Watch video

@Seth L: They should just accept being a science fiction fantasy/fantasy site. It would allow for more material to cover and stop them from those incredibly delusional lists like "Films You Didn't Know Were Sci Fi" that they pull out of their asses to fill space.

Not sure what io9 is using as a source for a lot of their videos but they need work. This one's aspect ratio is off and the sound is brutal. Other videos have problems with framerate. I suggest you guys click through the link for a better quality version and an intro from Del Toro.

As for the movie, it looks great. Del Toro seems to like putting eyes on everything but the head. It's a shame David Hyde Pierce isn't voicing Abe this time around. I always thought it was weird he was uncredited for the first movie, espiecally considering how unique a voice he has. It adds a bit of sophistication to the character and is generally a better fit than the voice(actor) they seem to have for the sequel.

@Macloserboy (Who Is Finally On Facebook For You Bitches): Bingo bango bongo. Suck it up io9 and let the rest of the nerds in.

@Annalee Newitz:

But Hellboy is literally a demon from hell, and spirits and wizards figure heavilly?

Just seems like it lands more in the fantasy side of paranormal.

@Macloserboy (Who Is Finally On Facebook For You Bitches):
Remember when they covered Sci Fi books on here?
I just read more in Ent. Weekly last week on that than I have here in a month.

(yeah, I said it)

@Bluecell:
The videos on here have had this problem since day one.

Del Toro has always wanted Jones to do the voice for Abe. The studio forced DHP on him for the first one.
Though I didn't think he did a bad job. I'm just used to DJ now through the cartoons.

@Plague: Nice. I guess you missed the two book reviews we did yesterday.

Looks awesome/fun.

But dare I say it...

[comicbookguy]They totally fucked up the design of Johann. I like him much more as the balloon head he is in BPRD[/comicbookguy]

@Macloserboy (Who Is Finally On Facebook For You Bitches): No you should accept that we don't cover fantasy unless it has a big whopping dose of machines or tech in it. End of story.

@Bluecell: Hahaha you must be a plant from Yahoo. We got the video directly from Yahoo, whose video was very fuzzy and poor quality. And the "introduction" that you're talking about is literally just Guillermo saying "This is the trailer on Yahoo." It's true that he's a cutie and I like his accent on the word "Yahoo," but it's not much of an introduction!

@Macloserboy (Who Is Finally On Facebook For You Bitches): Actually part of our mission is to expand the definition of science fiction to include more "mainstream" stuff... so that list wasn't a space filler but a feature that I worked on for days because I felt it was important.

I actually don't believe we should cover anything with witches or demons in it... but I guess Hellboy, like a lot of comic book stuff, straddles the line. Just like Superman hangs around with supernatural characters all the time.

Monsters, monsters, monsters!!!

I was going to see this movie anyway but now this is on my calender as the only thing that I am going to do on that day. I am happy to hype this damn movie.

@Annalee Newitz:
I didn't know "The Making of Second Life" was sci fi. I thought it was an extended advertisement for a failed idea.

I guess I did miss the other one then. The Hugo awards?

@Plague: Hahaha. Yeah, I sort of hate Second Life too, but the book is actually good. The other one was the Hugo awards. I'm writing more book stuff tomorrow too. Never fear! I'm just digging into Karen Joy Fowler's new book, and will be interviewing her soon. Oops, did I just give spoilers for my own website? Yes.

@Plague: I'm planning on doing more book reviews. I just got done being on the Tiptree Awards jury, which meant I was reading a ton of fantasy books that I couldn't blog about on here. Also, I want to read a book properly when I review it, and not just skim so I can post a half-baked reaction. That takes some time -- versus watching a TV show, which takes 45 minutes.

@Annalee Newitz:
"The Jane Austen Book Club" Fowler?
Writes sci fi?

color me boggled.

@Charlie Jane Anders:
Oh, post the fantasy reviews.
We won't complain.

@Plague: She's a Nebula winning author, who co-founded the Tiptree awards.

@Plague: We don't cover fantasy, sorry.

I always wonder at the people who say "is this really sci fi?/why is this on here?" Wouldn't you just be happy that you're being informed versus not informed?

And the new Abe Sapien, while unquestionably huge loads of awesome, wasn't the first Abe spin-off. this was.

Also, check out Jason Shawn Alexander's figure paintings, they rule. Blood and Whisky

@Charlie Jane Anders: I don't think we necessarily want you to cover Fantasy, we more want you to just suck it up and admit that stuff like Hellboy isn't Sci-Fi.
It's ok, we wont be mad, we won't think less of you. Sometimes you need to step out of the space suit and into magical armor, we all do, we understand it. Man can not live on Soylent Green alone occasionally he must have some Lembas Bread.
It'll be better for everyone if you just come out and admit it, wade across the slipstream into transparency.

@Garrison Dean:
don't you mean "across the slipstream into the singularity"?

@Plague: Dude.. Singularity IS Sci-Fi. Get it right!!

@Garrison Dean:
Damn it.
You've got your sci fi in my fantasy!

I'd rather see coverage of scifi and comics AND fantasy, slipstream (YUCK), and horror -- at your personal discretion/whim -- without the genre contortions than have a strict mission that no one understands but is still violated on an almost daily basis accompanied by tortured rationalizations and angry Macloserboy comments.

Ugh. Aren't some of you out there in bloggy-land a wee tired of these "debates" of what piece belongs in what genre? To me Science Fiction is anything I like. That includes Hellboy, Star Wars, Borges, Nabokov, Scrabble, lasagna, and puppies.
And oh yeh, Hellboy II will be AaAaaaaAAwwwszsSomMme! I am in fact, already waiting in line.

@Tim Faulkner:
I sip your dunkin' donuts in aggreance.

@Grey_Area: Friend, if we got tired of nitpicking would we be commenters on io9?

@Grey_Area: Aren't you tired of only liking science fiction?

@Plague: I pet your scary, blurry doggy?

@Tiwa: Whee! More Abe Sapien for me.

BTW If the rest of you guys ever stop nitpicking, you're fired.

@Plague: Yeah I know, I have refrained from commenting on it in the past because I thought io9 just needed some time.

@Annalee Newitz: Yeah, the intro seemed like it was forced upon him.

Was anyone else reminded (by the Golden Army) of Tick-Tock from RETURN TO OZ?

So many haters ... so many critics ... ugh.

@dead_red_eyes: Who's hating? I think it looks like pretty much 100% awesome excitement on this board.

That don't make it sci fi. hee hee.

What's that Wraith dude doing on earth, kill him! NOW!

Im so going to watch this movie - loved the first one, I think I'll watch that now.

I, for one, don't think the site needs to narrow the coverage. This is clearly something that is popular, looks at the page views versus some other posts. This isn't a post about Narnia, and as Annalee said Helloby is full of Lovecraftian imagery. Cthulhu was essentially in the first one.

This sci-fi elitism is part of the problem with the sci-fi community.

@Annalee Newitz: Just admit it: io9 thinks fantasy is for sissies!

@Tim Faulkner: I honestly don't think we've violated our subject areas at all... Granted Hellboy is kind of close to the edge, but it's enough like Lovecraft and China Mieville that it squeaks through. I've actually never seen a Hellboy movie or read a Hellboy comic, so I'm relying on Annalee's opinion here.

In general, I would say one of our missions on this site is to expand the definition of science fiction -- but not usually in the direction of fantasy. We're much more about pointing to things in mainstream culture and literature, and showing how they're science fictional. And much less about trying to bring in unicorns and wizards. Sometimes those slip in as well, especially in the muddled world of comics. But that's not what I see our mission as. I'm only speaking for myself here, though.

@Tim Faulkner: Sissies that still live in there mom's basements.

@Cheap Shot: I completely forgot about that movie. I saw Fire and Ice in 3D when I was a kid.

@Garrison Dean: [slaps forehead] Oh yeah, I forgot.
@Tim Faulkner: Well i don't *always* like it, sometimes I'm just licking it.

OH MY GAD!!! This looks breathtakingly beautiful.

@Macloserboy (Who Is Finally On Facebook For You Bitches):
Amen, brudder.
Fanboys do not live on sci-fi alone.

@Charlie Jane Anders:
Thing is- and this is where some of us nitpick- I've not met a person who thinks Lovecraft and China Mieville are sci fi. They are fantasy, verging into horror in Howard's case.
All we are pointing out is that what you editors consider Sci fi is rather arbitrary, no matter how much you protest and hem and haw.
We just want a blog that can fulfill all our needs.
And we, the readers, think this can be it.
And I doubt that we'll shut up about it.