Sometimes I think Hellboy comics come from another reality. One where the Comics Code Authority and the moral panic around them never happened. A reality where Marvel didn’t have to pussyfoot around the horror genre and the Silver-Age had horror heroes instead of the angsty Fantastic Four and Hulk. Each volume of Hellboy feels like the best stories from a character with 60 years of history (well maybe a few exceptions). Now I’ve wanted to write about Hellboy for months, he’s even featured in the border to this blog but, what line do I take. Matt Draper already covered how the Hellboy saga is the story of a man rejecting his destiny only to find he has another choice. Instead, let's take a look at Mike Mignola’s pre-Hellboy stuff and see how he evolved into the creator of the series.
Rocket Racoon
Every bio for Mike Mignola begins with “starting off at Marvel as a bad inker”. But they never seem to point out his first pencilling jobs were The Rocket Racoon mini series (the first one later redubbed “Tales from Half-World”) and 3 issues of The Incredible Hulk (published around the same time). Some may think this was a prestigious job but no, at this point Rocket was a no name character who had only been in a couple issues of the Hulk.
The Artwork in the Rocket Racoon series less resembles Hellboy and more an episode of Ewoks. Although it does have giant worms (and they’re actually worms not giant caterpillars like the Conqueror Worm). The robot clowns do have a hint of the sinister to them, but nothing else I can really say on topic. Although MCU fans would probably be shocked to find out Rocket’s origin is that he’s a genetically engineered mental health care nurse.
The Phantom Stranger
Cursed characters get brought up a lot, The role of Superman is said to be cursed and Plastic Man is also said to be cursed because of Jack Cole’s suicide. But is there such a thing as a “blessed character”? If so I’d like to make the case for the Phantom Stranger, he’s a lesser known character for sure but Mike Mignola worked on a mini-series for him this early in his comics career and Alan Moore earlier wrote his issue of Secret Origin. Could this be a coincidence well yes most probably but it’s more fun to think about then all the dead Superman actors.
As for the artwork, it’s starting to look like the Mignola we’d all recognize, the characters are more angular than in Rocket Racoon. Also this wasn’t Mignola’s doing but this comic has some of the worst lettering I’ve ever seen in a comic post-Golden Age.
Probably more relevant is that Mignola drew his first (of 2) Namor short stories for Marvel Fanfare and these stories have the same feel as a Hellboy short. I should also mention Mike Mignola didn’t script a comic till the 2nd Hellboy mini series “Wake the Devil”.
World of Krypton
I wrote about these comics last year, but yes during the John Byrne era of Superman Mike Mignola was the Architect of the Planet Krypton. These stories are about as removed from his work on Hellboy as you can probably get with the exception of Action Comics 600. Which has a short about Man-Bat being afraid of Superman.
The more important thing about this era is that he forged a mentor/mentee relationship with John Byrne at this time and Byrne is credited with scripting the first published Hellboy series “Seed of Destruction”.
Superman 23, Cosmic Odyssey and Gotham by Gaslight
I’ve separated Superman 23 from the other comics because it isn’t Krypton based, it’s fleshing out the back story to the villainess The Silver Banshee. Her origins are all about celtic mythology, something that many Hellboy stories would also borrow from most notably the fan favourite the Corpse. The characters are also now starting to take on Mignola’s famous Jack Kirby inspired stocky look but this is probably better showcased in Cosmic Odyssey.
Alan Moore once described Mike Mignola's art as “German expressionism mixed with Jack Kirby”, and where better to show off your Kirby influence than a story that has his New Gods and his lesser known Etrigan the Demon. Etrigan in design almost looks like an early rough draft of Hellboy similar to Daredevil's yellow suit compared to his more iconic red suit. Cosmic Odyssey is a must read for any fan of either Mike Mignola or The New gods, also I think practicing drawing Darkseid is how Mignola came up with that granite look that his drawings tend to have.
The one thing Mike Mignola’s art is known for is his deep black shadows, but none of the comics here really have them. Perhaps we shouldn’t credit them to him at all, because Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is where they debuted. For all we know inker for the book P Craig Russell spilt his ink pot on the page and Mignola decided he liked the look. The story of Gotham by Gaslight is possibly one of the best from Batman’s history (so of course The DC Animated film is nothing like it insisting on adding Victorian versions of as many Bat-Rogues as they can).
Also he drew the covers for “Batman a Death in the Family”
Triumph and Torment/ Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Triumph and Torment is actually my favourite Marvel comic storyline. Unfortunately for this article, it doesn’t really advance Mike Mignola’s style. You’d think Dr Doom tricking Dr Strange into helping him save his mothers soul from Hell would be more of an influence on Hellboy. But on a personal level I actually think Mignola’s Art is better in this book than in Hellboy. If only he hired Mark Badger to ink and colour his later work.
Mike Mignola’s actual favourite pre-Hellboy comic he worked on was Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Now the stories are actually an adaptation of Fritz Lieber’s work, rewritten to comics by Howard Chaykin. The Mignola collection is actually the 2nd time Chaykin worked on adapting these stories into comics, the first was in the 1970’s with Dennis O’Neil writing and Chaykin on Art. Now judging Mignola’s Art this one is a step towards Hellboy as the art is clearly evolving from Cosmic Odyssey. They’ve also taken on a more ethereal gargoyle like character possibly to get away from the homoerotic undertones that barbarian fiction has (even more so if it’s about 2 dudes who travel the world together).
Also check out some of the covers he did for X-men Classic (reprintings of stories from the Claremont era), they’re so Hellboy.
Wolverine Jungle Adventure, Batman Sanctum and X-Force 8
Both Wolverine Jungle Adventure and Batman Sanctum are Hellboy comics with the hero changed. I suppose that makes sense as DC’s editorial policy is if a story can have Batman in it, it will have Batman in it. Wolverine also shares some character traits with Hellboy, they both have a gruff exterior with a heart of gold, both are jaded and think they’ve seen everything, both are the main fighters in their team.
Sanctum is almost a rough draft of Box full of evil (sadly no monkey with a gun). Jungle Adventure is Wolverine and dinosaurs, Marvel editorial nixed the idea that it would reveal Apocalypse as the mastermind behind the Weapon X programme so it’s now just a fun disposable comic.
X-force 8 is crap, Mignola’s art is good and it has dinosaurs but all of X-Force sucks. Rob Liefeld shouldn’t write comics for other people to draw, I remember something he said in Stan Lee’s VHS series “Talking with the comic book greats” (bit of a stretch for Liefeld). “I have no interest in writing because what would come out of their mouths would be gibberish” if only he took his own advice. X-Force 8 is the last comic Mike Mignola has made for Marvel (he has returned to DC for some Batman stuff mostly).
What John Byrne did…
An often ignored fact about Hellboy is that he was co-created by John Byrne. John Byrne also scripted Seed of Destruction and the first two Hellboy shorts but he credits himself as “along for the ride”. But the John Byrne connection goes deeper, Darkhorse comics started a line of “creator owned comics” to compete with Image comics. For this venture they got the most A-list people they could, Frank Miller would make Martha Washington with Dave Gibbons and Big Guy and Rusty. Art Adams would create for Darkhorse Monkeyman and O’Brien and John Byrne now disgruntled with Marvel would make; The Torch of Liberty (Captain America knock off), The Next-Men (X-men but less powerful), Babe2 (She Hulk knock off) and Danger Unlimited (Fantastic Faux). John Byrne’s Darkhorse stuff is connected to Hellboy, The first story was a back-up in Next-Men 11, Abe Sapien guest starred in Babe2 and The Torch of Liberty witness the Birth of Hellboy in seed of Destruction (he was changed in the 2017 Hellboy movie with Lobster Johnson in the only good scene of the movie).
