"Hellboy: The Wild Hunt" #7At Comic-Con international in San Diego last Saturday, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola sat down with editor Scott Allie of Dark Horse to discuss the Hellboy line and upcoming projects.
The panel opened with Mignola briefly noting the status of various projects:
- The first “Witchfinder” miniseries is currently in progress.
- “Hellboy: The Wild Hunt” will return, and go up to issue eight.
- A new Abe Sapien one-shot will be released in the Fall.
- Mignola & Richard Corben will team up again on a story.
- A “Hellboy: Bride of Hell” one-shot is in the works.
- “BPRD: Kingdom of Fear” is the next BPRD story after “BPRD: 1947” and will push everything into the “next phase.”
- “Baltimore: The Missing Ten Years” features Baltimore’s back-story set in a steampunk version of WWI. Mignola is working on this with Christopher golden and Ben Steinbeck.
The panel then opened to questions from Mignola’s fans.
A fan asked about the film in development based on Mignola’s “Baltimore: Or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire” novel with Christopher Golden. Mignola replied, “No news.”
In response to a question about the genesis of Mignola’s style, he answered, “Twenty-five years of trial and error.”
Another fan asked what was the latest with Lobster Johnson. Mignola replied that the novel “The Satan Factory,” with Thomas E. Sniegoski, came out last week, and that Guy Davis & John Arcudi will be producing “a series of series” next year depicting the beginning of Lobster Johnson’s career.
When asked if he ever felt constricted by back-story, Mignola answered that “Baltimore” was not actually part of Hellboy’s world, and that he’s very vague when he writes about the past in "Hellboy."
A fan asked whether there will be any future Hellboy animated projects, and Mignola replied that there were no plans for another animated project, and no plans for another movie.
When asked if he worked exclusively with pens, Mignola answered that he uses permanent ink markers for line work, and fills in blacks with a brush.
A fan asked if he preferred his work in black-and-white, or in color, and Mignola said he liked both. He also noted that he color-codes scenes.
When asked about this opinion on religion, Mignola answered that he loves mythology, but isn’t strongly religious.
Another fan asked how Mignola got involved with director Guillermo Del Toro. Mignola answered, “As with most Guillermo Del Toro stories, it involved a meal.”
When asked if he was scared by Del Toro’s changes to Hellboy in the films, Mignola said that he told Del Toro to “Do it your way. Make the changes you need. “ Mignola noted that his version still exists. However, he did bribe Del Toro to take the idea for a giant crib out of the script for the first film.
A fan asked when Hellboy would come back to the BPRD. Mignola replied, “Next question.”
Another fan asked if there would be any more team-ups like “Batman/Hellboy/Starman.” Mignola replied, “Nah.”
When asked what his favorite Hellboy story is, Mignola answered, “’Crooked Man,’ ‘Chapel of Moloch,’ and ‘The Corpse.’”
A fan asked if Mignola was drawing any new comics, and he replied that he wasn’t but in a month he would begin drawing new material set in “Screw-on Head’s” world, and that there would be three stories.
Another fan asked about the Batman Elseworld’s story “The Doom That Came to Gotham,” and Mignola replied that it was a weird project, and that there was originally another artist he was teamed up with who left so Mignola had to finish it himself.
When asked if the movie "Hellboy" now influences the comics, Mignola replied that he was very careful to keep them separate.
A fan asked if the villain Rasputin would return to “Hellboy.” Mignola said that he felt Rasputin “was still in play.”
Another fan asked about the back-story of the alien guardian from the “Hellboy” universe, and Mignola said he’s “kind of afraid of that element. It’s possibly like handling Plutonium.”
When asked about the end of the prophesized end of Hellboy’s world, Mignola said, “Keep reading.”
Finally, a fan asked why Mignola decided to turn the historical Rasputin into a Hellboy villain. Mignola replied that he liked Rasputin’s name and back-story, and likes the guessing game aspect for readers when they read the books and discover the references.
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Keywords: cci2009, hellboy, dark horse, mike mignola, scott allie