That Hellboy movie really misses out on bringing home an adaptation of The Wild Hunt. While it lacks del Toro’s sense of style; it does have the right kind of audio contrast. It’s an R-rated movie but the trailer features the lively and catchy Mony Mony song by Billy Idol. While the horror roots don’t seem to meld well with that song at first glance; Hellboy incorporates a lot of contrast. With the end of the world ready to go because of a cult, a witch’s army, and King Arthur’s sword; a healthy dose of humor and cheesiness makes this scenario easier to swallow. In fact Mike Mignola actually implements contrast as a formula for his work.
Welcome to Creator Highlights where I babble on about how comic creators bring out their unique traits on the pages; whether they’re artists, writers, or both. Disclaimer, while Mignola was not involved in sexual misconduct, he did inadvertently help keep it going.
Mike Mignola was always influenced by monsters after his exposure to Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the Victorian era. So too do the works of Jack Kirby, I wonder if Etrigan the Demon is one of those influences. Like many creators he starts small as an artist doing covers and inking (which he describes as bad); before becoming a fully fledged artist in Marvel and DC. In fact DC was Mignola’s debut of his use of Victorian influenced art style with Gotham by Gaslight. This thin lined, clunky shaped, and mostly black coloring helps illustrate a story that brought out a creepy atmosphere. With barely any illumination the bleak setting reaches across the entire story. Kind of a shame that those styles aren’t implemented with its animated adaptation.
Regardless, Mignola establishes himself in comics and later ventures into his creator-owned series, Hellboy. Mignola states on Reddit how Hellboy is everything he loved from his youth. Pulpy magazines, the works of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, fairy tales, and gothic Victorian stories. It certainly fills all of those niches and mixes them into a compelling and entertaining story. A demon fights paranormal activity with other paranormals; all the while fighting a couple of destinies where he destroys the world.
Those other paranormals are surely no extras. Mignola’s favorite character Abe Sapien actually steals the show for a number of years. Other regulars deal with their own issues and development. Pyromancer Liz Sherman, human psychic soul in a vacuum bag Johann Kraus, and the BPRD liaison Katherine Corrigan. Each character has their own arcs to not only get themselves under control; but learning to coexist with both the outside world and their own inner turmoils. Liz and Abe’s relationship even helps cement a tragic romance between the two; especially when Abe starts to see the deeper meaning in his transformation from human to a new species.
The Extra Normal
But why stop with the apocalyptic tales of Hellboy when Mignola could expand in other fields? He practically creates his own universe of stories including pulpy hero Lobster Johnson, Frankenstein’s Monster, and vampire hunter Lord Baltimore. He even builds up the stories of a few other characters that appear only for a short time. This shared universe is so big, Mignola had to release a timeline to properly display the events.
Other times he has rather humorous tales like the Amazing Screw-On Head one-shot. An animated pilot even receives Mignola’s artwork; and the viewers really like it especially the villain. Too bad the artwork blew away a lot of its budget; which sends plans for a full series down the drain.
His Batman works also seems to really stick around; especially since all of his artwork with all of his DC work published in DC Universe by Mike Mignola. The art really brings out the numerous feelings when written by regular collaborator John Byrne; and the feeling of mysticism from notable surreal fantasy writer Neil Gaiman.
One thing I always found common in his works wasn’t just this sense of foreboding or despair; but finding the light at the end of a dark tunnel. Some colors I alway see clashing are reds, blues, or anything on the opposite sides of their spectrums. Yet those contrasts don’t always result in happy endings. While the tasks can be achieved, sometimes the characters are scarred and left uncertain about what will come next. I feel like that even exists in just the concept art Mignola does too; such as Mr. Freeze’s appearance in Batman the Animated Series. The cold appearance and red lense goggles help display aggression to a seemingly unfeeling man; but also hides the fact the man is in grieving. The design helps define arguably one of the best episodes of that TV show.
Creative Edge and Struggles
Those same endings help defy expectations after much build up. When Hellboy actually ends up dead and in Hell; it doesn’t end up being a story about getting back to the living but finishing business without becoming a ghost. I always felt there was always one flaw with the series; how it always brings up constantly Hellboy’s destiny to be a destroyer. A video by Matt Wagner however reveals that’s the point though. Each time it happens, Hellboy weakens and falls closer to that destiny. At the end though, Mignola ends up putting that tired trope of destiny to rest; all by allowing Hellboy to finally be at peace through his own means. Or at least until Hellboy comes back to life via a friend’s sacrifice. Because of course he did, those Eldritch Monsters with the hard to pronounce names aren’t going to slay themselves.
Mike Mignola: The Influencer
Whether it is the color of Hellboy’s skin, Abe’s eyes, the bat symbol, or even anything that streaks against the black; Mignola’s art couples with how his writing about personal or outer conflicts tells stories that always feels uneasy. It helps define the characters, and brings out the most important symbols of that series. If any of his works ever implement other feelings like touch or music, I wonder how that would affect things.
Because of these series and art styles several writers and artists including Alan Moore compare Mignola to Jack Kirby. He is so well known, that Mignola serves as a consultant for several unrelated projects; including collaborations with fellow creature fan Guillermo del Toro in Blade II. If only the aesthetics matched the story like the Hellboy movies, also by del Toro.
But the ink’s not dry yet. Thanks for coming and as always remember to look between the panels.
