It’s 2017, and though a lot of Mike Mignola’s books wrapped up in 2016, there’s still much more to come this year. This week Mignolaversity is talking to various creators about what’s ahead. Today we’re talking to writer John Arcudi, “Garden of Bones” artist Stephen Green, and the ongoing “Lobster Johnson” artist Tonci Zonjic.
Even though the Lobster is the titular character in “Lobster Johnson,” he’s rarely the point of view character in the series. So I’m curious, when starting a new story, how do you find your viewpoint character?
John Arcudi: It’s determined by whomever the story revolves around or is generated from. Cindy Tynan is a frequent center of the story, but not always. In the case of “Garden of Bones,” I really, really like Harry and wanted to tell a story where he would ‘save the day,’ so to speak, so he was our center.
The series has an interesting structure, with Tonci Zonjic handling the larger arcs and guest artists handling the one-shots. What was it about Stephen Green’s work that made him right for “Garden of Bones”?
John: If you’ve seen any of the pages from the story—or any pages Stephen’s ever done—you know why we chose him. He’s a hell of an artist! I love his work so when this script was available at the same time he was… I mean, we’d be nuts not to get him on it.
Yeah, I’ve seen his work on this book. It looks fantastic.
Stephen Green: Getting to take LoJo for a spin was certainly an honor. Also, I’ve been a big fan of John’s for years, so finally getting to work alongside him made me quite happy. I’m glad I got to put another little stamp on the Mignolaverse.
Though “Lobster Johnson” is also set in the Hellboy Universe, it is a vastly different series to a series like “B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth,” which favored long-term story arcs and a more somber tone. What do you think makes good “Lobster Johnson” story?
John: One that does just enough thinking, and a lot more punching and shooting. We don’t want to lose that insane pulp feel that you can find in the old Spider pulps. That’s the charm of the character, of the era (as seen through the filter of poor quality paper in 10 cent magazines, that is). As long as I get to have fun with and develop characters like Harry, Cindy, Bill, Lester, etc. then the ass-kicking is all part of the equation.
Stephen: Lobster seems to be the elemental force that the other characters react to. I think Harry and Cindy have nuanced arcs, while Lobster remains tireless and steadfast.
Tonci Zonjic: I’d say fun, but there’s always pretty poignant stuff hidden in there when you get past the giant apes and goofy robots. (One notices once half a dozen of fun side characters get blown up.)
“Garden of Bones” deals with zombies, but not Romero-style zombies or the walkers of something like “The Walking Dead”. These are traditional zombies. Were there any particular guidelines you had to follow when working with these creatures? Stephen, did you look at any particular past Hellboy Universe stories to figure out the way you would approach the zombies visually?
Stephen: I mostly tried to make zombies that had the flavor and tone of the other Mignola zombies. A bit of Corben, Mike, and Harren’s approaches.
John: I know a little something about zombies and that all comes into the play in the story, especially in the climax.
In March “The Pirate’s Ghost” begins, which appears to return Wald into the fold after sitting on the sidelines since “The Burning Hand”. Not that he hasn’t been busy—with the help of Isog, he’s been digging into the Lobster’s past and I worry what the pair of them have uncovered.
Could it be this story may explore what the Lobster truly is?
John: Well, maybe, but also maybe not in the way you might mean.
Continued belowTonci, you’ve been coloring your own covers for a while now, but with “The Pirate’s Ghost” you’re coloring the interior art too. Does this change the way you approach the story at all?
Tonci: It does. I think of light as I draw it, so I can do many more things than when I only do the line work. It gives me finer control (penciling, for the most part is microscopic tweaks of expression, so color picks up from there) and I can also be more ruthless with the pages than a colorist would, altering the feel of it more radically. They really are half-finished before the color is there, so it’s a significant part of it. I’m not trying to ape Dave on it, but the difference shouldn’t be too jarring… no neon pinks (yet). You know what? I’m googling neon signs to see when they had them.
I couldn’t help but notice that the Steel Hawk and Bagha Yai both feature prominently on the cover of “The Pirate’s Ghost” #1 and both characters appeared in a flashback in “B.P.R.D.: The Black Goddess.”
The thing is, the Lobster’s career spans 1932 to 1939 and we’re already up to 1936. But in those last three years, the series delves into territory that’s already charted to an extent: the Lobster comes across Memnan Saa in June 1937, he hunts him in 1938, at some point the Lobster goes to Chicago, one by one all his crew members die except for Harry, and then in 1939 the Lobster is recruited to fight the Nazis and sent to meet his fate in Hunte Castle.
Once this story hits 1937, it’s on a path already laid out in other books. How do you deal with these restrictions? Are these challenges you welcome?
John: “Restrictions” may be too strong a word. I mean, we’re talking three years here. We have plenty of room if we want to tell some stories unconnected to the continuity established—and I think we do—but then again, having some signposts is also interesting. There’s still plenty of interesting stuff we can do with these characters—especially Harry!
Tonci: John and Mike and Scott have to figure all that out, and I get the easy part of drawing it!
“Lobster Johnson: Garden of Bones” comes next week, January 11. “Lobster Johnson: The Pirate’s Ghost” kicks off March 29 for a three-issue arc.
