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Hellboy, an interview

posted by Matt Knicl at 10:49 pm.

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Hell Is Other Comics

Mike Mignola’s Hellboy is one of the strongest independent (not DC or Marvel) comic franchises in the past decade. And for good reason. While many of you may have seen the movie, Hellboy comics feature the same red-skinned son of demons, wise-cracking his way from supernatural mystery to supernatural mystery. Though the focus of comic miniseries, novels, short stories and one-shot issues, Hellboy’s world is full of heroes who have also gained their own spotlight, like the pulp adventurer Lobster Johnson, and Hellboy’s B.P.R.D. partners Liz Sherman and Abraham Sapien. Likewise, two straight-to DVD Hellboy movies have been released and the second Hellboy movie is due in theaters July 11th.

I was recently able to speak to Dark Horse Editor of Hellboy, Scott Allie, about the franchise.

Matt Knicl: How long have you edited Hellboy comics?

Scott Allie: Fourteen years.

Matt Knicl: What do you think the appeal of Hellboy is?

Scott: The quality of the writing and the art, and the mixture of wild fun stuff and smart, sophisticated mystery. It’s never too dry in its gothic horror, or two stupid in its pulp fiction fun, because of the balance it strikes. And for stories like this, I think people like distinctive looking characters, and from the red skin to the asymmetrical silhouette, I don’t think you can get a more distinctive character.

Matt: How do you go about editing a Hellboy story?

Scott: Lots of phone calls. Mike and I talk through every story on the phone for hours and hours, days and weeks, before pen is put to paper. I think that keeps the story real alive and fresh. And Mike gets to try story ideas out out loud, and if there’s silence on my end of the phone he knows he hasn’t really hooked me. It’s like an old-time oral storyteller perfecting his tale over time, before it gets cold and put onto paper.

Matt: Is there any favorite story or moment from Hellboy you have?

Scott: When he broke off his horns in Wake the Devil. And when he chose not to blow Roger up in Conqueror Worm, but instead coached him through his possession by the giant worm monster.

Matt: What was the consumer reaction to the comics when the first movie came out?

Scott: Sales spiked, and suddenly everyone knew who this weird character was. He is being mentioned on TV shows, and bookstores carried the books everywhere.

Matt: Do you expect a similar reaction in the marketplace?

Scott: Yeah, I expect more of the same this time. The movie is a great advertisement for the comic. If you have something good, all you need to do is get people to know about it. Movies help.

Matt: What is planned for the future of the Hellboy franchise?

Scott: Air fresheners, and breakfast cereals!
We have a lot of books coming out right now—we worked real hard the last year to beef up the schedule and take advantage of this big-budget commercial they’re making for us. But now we’re gonna cut back a little bit, reassess, decided what we want to do more of. We’re having a lot of fun—we’ve found a lot of collaborators that we absolutely love to work with, and we just want to do more work with them.

Matt: Are there going to be any more “Dark Horse Books of“?

Scott: Nah, I don’t think so.

Images courtesy Dark Horse
For more on Hellboy, visit the DarkHorse.com

Matt Knicl: My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.