Examining Mike Mignola's Hellboy

The year was 1993. In comics, Superman had died, Batman's back was broken, Spider-man had clones, the X-men were becoming a convoluted mess, and dark and gritty ruled the day in titles like Spawn and Savage Dragon. It was in this climate that Hellboy was born. The lovable red demon became a household name and would eventually be the main part of Mike Mignola's Mignolaverse, a universe that, as of this writing, includes hundreds of comics and dozens of characters. Today, the Mignolaverse is the largest creator-owned comics universe, inspiring 3 live-action films, 2 animated films, toys, and even a video game or two.

But, where did it all begin? What inspired Mike Mignola to create Hellboy? Before this, he was an artist who was known for doing fill-in art jobs on major comics titles like Superman, as well as being a cover artist for various Batman comics. To hear him tell it, he got into comics to draw monsters and wanted to create something where he could just draw monsters all day, everyday, for forever. 

There was some initial hesitation on Mignola's part however, because, initially, he didn't believe that his concept was strong enough. Nor did he believe enough in his abilities to actually tell a story with his new creation. As a result, Mignola enlisted John Byrne to write and script the first Hellboy story, based on Mignola's own plot. This became the wonderful debut known as Seed of Destruction.

Hellboy's debut does everything an origin story should. It introduces the main character, gives a compelling backstory, introduces Rasputin (yes, that Rasputin), along with other supporting characters, and tells one hell of an adventure. Hellboy (who appears in 1944 during an American operation in Germany) loses his adoptive father, Professor Bruttenholm (pronounced "Broom"). He then goes to investigate a mystery at an old castle, along with Abe Sapien (a fish-man), Liz Sherman (a pyro-kinetic), and other members of the government agency, the B.P.R.D. (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense). Hellboy discovers his link to the Nazi occultists and must stop the resurrection of Rasputin as the ultimate evil to bring forth the return of Nazism.

Following Seed of Destruction, Mignola took over for 11 more stories (the main Hellboy canon) as writer/artist, publishing sporadically throughout the 90's and into the 2000's. Several now-legendary artists like Duncan Fegredo and Richard Corben sometimes helped with art chores. Throughout the stories, Hellboy encounters all kinds of monsters from folklore. He battles the Baba Yaga witch, corpses, demons, the troll witch, and others, until the Queen of Blood causes his death. Wow! From there, Hellboy enters Hell and has several adventures.  

Mignola moved on to scripting two spin-off series, B.P.R.D. that occasionally told stories of a young Hellboy and his relationship to the Bureau, and my favorite series, Lobster Johnson, Mignola's tribute to sci-fi/pulp crime fighters.

All in all, the Hellboy canon is incredible storytelling with varying quality in art. This is a gothic horror masterpiece that elevates the comics medium and has been compared to the best Jack Kirby characters. Mignola's art is very Kirby-esque at times. Fans of monster stories definitely need to check it out, if they haven't already.