Hellboy on dA!

I’ve loved Mike Mignola’s work for a VERY long time – longer than perhaps either of us would like to admit! Right from the first book I remember, Truimph & Torment, the Marvel Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom graphic novel of 1989, he was one of those love-at-first-sight artists – instantly iconic, instantly impressive, and always idiosyncratic. You can’t mistake a Mignola for anybody else, despite the many creators that have been influenced by him.

There are too many great Mignola books to call out – I believe I may have all his books, and there’s not one that isn’t worth owning – but for the sake of brevity there are three I’ll talk about that remain particular favourites.

FAFHRD and the GRAY MOUSER

Faithfully adapted from the famous stories by Fitz Lieber, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser from 1991, was a series of four prestige books produced by Marvel’s Epic line. The characters are so wonderfully realized, and the stories so charmingly acted throughout that you can’t help but be swept away. There’s also a kind of shorthand in the storytelling in Hellboy that seemed, to my eyes at least, to really have evolved out of these books. Design – always a factor in Mignola art – is a huge part of what makes them so special, and the world is fully evolved, the culture feels so tangible. Book four, in particular, has a cover that contains echoes of what was to come – including a character that looks remarkably like a certain Abe Sapien…

IRONWOLF: FIRES of the REVOLUTION

The next book that I absolutely adored was Ironwolf: Fires of the Revolution, written by Howard Chaykin and John Francis Moore. A tale of flying wooden ships, a vampire elite and lion men, it’s full of charm and derring-do. With an extreme economy of line Mignola can create an extraordinary breadth of expression, but he also really knows form and lighting, so everything is incredibly solid. It’s a stunning book. Track it down in hardback. You won’t regret it!

HELLBOY

When Hellboy came along – based on a convention drawing that triggered a thought process that resulted in the creation of the book – it was a genuine ‘event’. Within the industry, particularly amongst artists, Mignola was already revered – much more, I believed, than he ever personally knew! - and Hellboy didn’t disappoint. Mythology, folklore and crime procedurals collided in a manner that Mignola somehow made seem effortless. And at the heart of the book was the incredibly appealing Hellboy himself, stone-fisted and shorn of horns, you somehow found empathy with this good-hearted demon-spawn.

We’re delighted to be able to bring you Mignola’s Hellboy in Hell as a Motion Book on the Madefire app and dA, and we believe it’s a medium entirely suited to the big red lug! Read it right here, right now!: www.deviantart.com/art/Hellboy…