On Saturday morning at San Diego, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, writer
Josh Dysart, and Dark Horse editor Scott Allie met with fans of the
character to hold a Q&A about upcoming projects involving Hellboy
and the B.P.R.D. Things started off quickly with an immediate plug of B.P.R.D.: 1947 —continuing
the history of the Bureau scripted by Josh Dysart with art by Eisner
Award winners Gabrial Ba and Fabio Moon. Mignola hints that ‘young
Hellboy’ will be making more of an appearance and that readers will be
able to see the environment and people who shaped Hellboy into the man
he becomes—eventually leading to his membership in the B.P.R.D. Dysart
adds, “The best scene in this new series takes place with young
Hellboy.
An audience member asked the panel about the origin of Lobster Johnson
and plans for the character. Mignola laughed, saying, “It’s…pretty
weird.” He went on to describe his feelings about definitive origin
stories and how he thinks his characters’ origins are “too weird” to
give to a reader in one dose. Scott Allie indicated that by mid-’09
there would be a Lobster Johnson mini. Mignola added that the Lobster
Johnson story would be a “Year One” type of story—but won’t totally
reveal his origin.
A question was asked about Agent Edward Gray to the delight of Mignola who revealed plans for two
mini-series written with John Arcudi in 2009; Mignola elaborated,
“We’ve penned the second mini-series—now I just have to take the time
to write the first one!” causing the audience to laugh. Again, the
first mini-series will be a “Year One” style story.
An audience member asked about how Josh and Mike had become acquainted. Josh laughed, “Thanks for asking me
a question,” and he told an anecdote about how a mutual acquaintance of
the two of them recommended that Mike contact Josh for collaboration.
They joked that initially, there were thoughts that the two wouldn’t
get along—as Mignola puts it, “Josh is very west coast and I am very
east coast,”; he went on to praise Dysart’s work and explained that,
because of their proximity, have established a great personal rapport
for working on projects by meeting in person to talk about the
direction of their work.
A couple of questions were asked in regards to the continuity
differences between the comic books and the movies. Speaking initially
on visual concepts, Mignola described the difference between working on
comics versus movies by saying, “In comics, usually ideas you find are
the initial and final concepts—in movies, things change constantly
where a lot more hands touch the concepts—so there’s like 90% of a
concept or design people may never see.” After, the panel discussed the
differences of the two mediums and their paths—and how completely
divergent the two projects have become—a good example being the use of
Roger the Homunculus in the sequel and how his role was reduced to
being a broken relic in the background of the second film. Mike
described Guillermo del Toro’s close connection to the material and
how, originally, the sequel was originally going to adapt ‘Almost
Colossus’ but changed direction so that del Toro could carry out the
continuity he created in the first film.
An audience member asked about futuristic Hellboy stories where he’s a
little older, with gray hair—to which Mignola said in mock sadness, “I
know that was aimed at me,” which caused a roar of laughter in the
room. He went on to explain that future stories involving the character
would divulge too much of what is coming in the near future of the line
of books. Mignola added, “[Hellboy] is turning a corner to which there
is no going back.”
Allie went on to describe a new eight issue Hellboy project entitled Wild Hunt
destined for shelves in December with Duncan Fregado providing artwork.
Allie eludes to the start of big changes with Hellboy by saying, “Wild Hunt will have huge ramifications.” Following Wild Hunt—the
third part of this epic story, ‘The Sounding Horn’ will take the
character farther down the impending dark path the three panelists
mention throughout the panel. Josh Dysart laughed and began teasing the
audience by telling them that he loves hearing Mignola’s plans for the
end of Hellboy.
A question was raised about the origins of the folklore and myths in
Mignola’s work. Mignola went on to talk about connections to
Appalachian folklore in the Crooked Man
story. Mignola noted that the upcoming Edward Gray projects will deal
with Native American folklore. Mignola joked, “I have a library at home
full of folklore—I just haven’t read all of it yet—so we’ll see what
else turns up!” The panel mentioned that, in the immediate future,
Hellboy will be coming in contact with English and Irish folklore
involving Faeries—with Mignola pointing out that, “things getting
really bleak when Hellboy reaches Norway.” Allie added that B.P.R.D.: 1947
will also be taking on a creepy 19th Century vibe—with Dysart compared
the new title to the ominous Hellboy: Darkness Calls, “…but with more
of a sense of immediacy.”
The panel shifted to talk about the aftermath of B.P.R.D.: The Killing Ground—in B.P.R.D.: The Warning
with Scott Allie describing it as a resolution of themes that becomes
“pretty apocalyptic”; with Mignola adding, “I really wanted to wreck
stretches of the planet Earth.” The audience pandered for clues but all
Allie would divulge was, “We’re going to start by losing a city.”
An audience member was curious about stories connecting to the death of
the Elf King—with Mignola indicating that something huge was taking
place between that particular death and the imprisonment of Hecate. He
stated, “With the kings and queens of the supernatural world out of the
way, it’s going to be very interesting to see who steps in and takes
their places in the vacuum of power,” and finally, “and to see how
comes out of that box,” which caused a hush to fall over the audience.
Following Hellboy: The Crooked Man, Scott Allie told the audience about the release of Hellboy: In the Chapel of Moloch
in October — a one-shot which features Mignola’s return to penciling
Hellboy—who blurted, “I just needed to see if I could do it.” Allie
laughed and said, “Mike usually hates everything.” The two brought up
an anecdote about Hellboy: The Corpse and how Mignola
absolutely loved the work he was doing on the story until he looked at
it when it was finished; with Mignola laughed, “Well, I just hope that
this isn’t that bad.”
The panel was asked about how the aesthetic and vision of the Hellboy
universe is drawn together. Mignola elaborated, “I write things vaguely
and allow them to expand […] the breadth of time in between all of
these stories allows the space to tell particular stories based around
these initial concepts,” and then citing his own excitement for
upcoming stories written by Josh Dysart involving the Cold War and the
Soviet Union—which led to an audience member asking about the Black
Flame—to which Mignola countered, “I think we will.”
Mignola went on to discuss the fact that he’s happy to have the
concentrated effort of a few close collaborators because, “…I’m very
careful with who does what when it comes to maintaining quality.” Allie
also explained that John Arcudi has a lot of freedom in what he writes
within the universe—mentioning, “B.P.R.D.: War on Frogs
allowed John Arcudi to cut loose and do what he wants.” Mignola then
stated that it gave him great pleasure to work with both Dysart and
Arcudi, “I appreciate how much they have invested with these
characters.”
An audience member asked about The Hellboy Companion and
updates which elicited a chuckle from the panelists; Allie smirked,
“Maybe every 75 years—it was so much to compile but it’s become an
asset as a resource because of it’s ease of use,” as he described how
difficult it had become leafing through piles of Hellboy and B.P.R.D.
comics to find particular plot points. Dysart talked briefly about
compiling the data into one slick volume and Mignola spoke fondly about
being able to compile together notes and facts that would never become
evident in the normal flow of the comics—as enrichment material; he
said, “Everything is fleshed out to give a sense of arc to the
characters that isn’t just info you already had from the comics,” and
mentioned the fact that more is known about Agent Edward Grey in the
Companion than anywhere else.
One fan mentioned The Amazing Screw-On Head—which caused
another audience member to yell, “Where’s the action figure?!?” which
gathered a laugh from Mignola. He countered, “I wanted an action
figure,” but added, “I’m really happy with the way that particular book
turned out—so I leave it the way it is. I’d like to write more things
like that.” He described the plans to write a new book featuring the
character—but only if he had other “curious objects” to write about.
An audience member asked about the development of Abe Sapien’s origin
to which Mignola described a period of time in Prague, during the
filming of Hellboy , where he had been stricken with the flu for four days and left in his room delirious. “I was locked in my room—working on The Island—which
I dropped for a better version of the story.” He briefly reiterated his
feelings about origins stories by saying, “I don’t like the whole
‘mystery solved’ aspect of those types of stories—and I kept thinking
about that as I was struggling with my hotel window so I could chuck
myself into the parking lot from being as sick as I was.”
When asked about writing Mignola was humble; telling the audience
member that he had never set out to be a writer but, “if I wanted to
draw the kinds of stories I wanted to draw—I had to be the guy to write
them.” He talked about his initial pairing with John Byrne during Hellboy: Seed of Destruction—and how, over time, he grew more confident in his abilities and saw that he didn’t need Byrne’s aid.
When asked about their favorite Hellboy moments—Josh Dysart talked
about Abe Sapiens origin story; saying, “I told Mike—what the hell do
you need me for?” when I read this story. Scott Allie said, “I really
like when Kate sees the ghost in ‘The Wolves of St. August’ when the
creature says, ‘God hate me’—I still get chills…” Mignola mentioned a
scene where Johann says goodbye to Roger the Homunculus and says, “I
don’t know if you knew this—but I’m a big softy.”
Mignola was asked about the potential for a mapping the hierarchies of
heaven and hell in the Hellboy book. “When you show how something
works—you really demystify it. “It’s like, ‘Hey Look! God’s a robot!’ I
don’t want to do that,” he laughed. He added that he is considering
describing Hell but that big concepts are more manageable.
When asked about ‘the box’ and any connection to world myth or
folklore—the panelists laughed with Mignola saying, “Not unless there
is folklore out there about someone being cut up and in a box.” The
same member asked about Liz Sherman’s connection to her powers and if
her role would be increasing. Mignola responded, “I’d prefer that her
place in the story develop naturally—she wasn’t bitten by radioactive
fire and now she has powers,” to which the audience roared with
laughter.
When asked about new characters for B.P.R.D. as the panel ended,
Mignola said, “Well, there’s a mummy who lays in bed and plays with a
cat…” adding, “It’s possible—I have someone on the shelf that I’d like
to bring in but that’s always odd in my mind.” A moment later, he said,
“That’s the thing about Retro-B.P.R.D stories and the beauty of what
Josh does—he’s showing the first agents and what happens to a guy who
spends his time being an agent.” Dysart goes onto explain, “the
original B.P.R.D. is an ad hoc
field team—loosely organized at best and these upcoming stories will
show you what happens to guys like who become agents and how the career
changes them.”
