Making a sourdough starter. Learning to knit. Re-organizing the long boxes. This is how many of us spent the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. For Mike Mignola, however, the time at home led to an incredibly productive period that produced quite literally hundreds of new sketches. Some of the best or favorite sketches are collected in Mike Mignola: The Quarantine Sketchbook. Many of the pieces in the book were auctioned off to benefit José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen, and the proceeds from the collection will also benefit the organization, which takes on the very real and very vital job of feeding people all over the world.
In addition to the sketchbook, which hits stores on Wednesday, Mignola is also the subject of a new feature-length documentary, Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters. The film, which hit Kickstarter today, speaks to comic creators like Vita Ayala, Fábio Moon, and Dave Stewart, as well as actor Doug Jones (Hellboy), Mythbusters host Adam Savage, and many more about Mignola’s career.
To celebrate both the sketchbook and the film, we had a chance to briefly catch up with Mignola via email. Check out the Kickstarter, and come back on Wednesday for a full write up of the sketchbook by our resident Mignola expert, Mark Tweedale. Read more about the film via its press release, presented after the interview.
Illustrated by Mike MignolaCover by Mike MignolaDuring the coronavirus quarantine, legendary Hellboy creator Mike Mignola posted original pencil sketches online and auctioned off the art to raise money for Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen. The sketches went viral and were the talk of the comics internet.
Now those sketches are published in print for the first time, with all profits going to the World Central Kitchen.
This new, oversized hardcover collection is a must have for Mignola readers and art fans alike. The book features an introduction by Mignola, alongside sketches of Hellboy, beloved and unexpected pop culture characters, macabre chess pieces, gothic vegetable creatures, strange vampires, and more.
* All profits go to charity (Jose Andrés World Central Kitchen).
* A collection of Mike Mignola’s self-quarantine sketches during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
When you were creating these sketches, what did your typical day look like? Were these drawn over morning coffee in one sitting, or would you take a walk, make some phone calls, and come back to finish the piece?
Mike Mignola: On days I was sketching, I was usually at it all day. Once I got myself going it was hard to stop, especially once I was settled into a particular subject. Most sketches went fast with very little planning. It was just a matter of looking up the reference and then jumping right into the sketch. For every drawing finished I probably threw out at least one (sometimes many) false starts, but still some days I’d do eight or ten decent drawings. For couple of solid months there I was addicted to doing them.
Is the book more or less presented chronologically? That’s to say, were all the Flintstones drawings, or the gallery of Spider-Man villains, all from the same period of time? Or, once a week or so, did you think, “It’s time to do an aquatic creature, it’s been awhile.”
MM: Not strictly chronological, but I did try to arrange the major groups together. The Marvel characters, for example, were done at different times but we grouped them all together in the book. Mostly with the book it was just a matter of coming up with something that looked good, something that showed a nice variety of subjects. We could have included a whole lot more vampires and Hellboys, but wanted to really highlight as much of the odder stuff as we had room for.
This may seem like a strange question, but what is the appeal of drawing cigarettes? I noticed a lot of characters were smoking, and I was wondering if it was anything beyond ‘it gives them something to be doing with their hands.”
MM: I have no particular love for cigarettes—I don’t smoke—but I just think they often look good dangling our of the corner of a mouth (old-fashioned tough-guy look) or in a guy’s hand. So often I would find characters with their hands in odd positions, and it just looked good to have them holding something. They especially look good in the hands of my floating skull guys wearing nice suits. Makes for sort of a nice film noir look.
Continued belowYou’re obviously not new to doing pinups, but did any of these images give you the desire to create something sequential from them? Sections like the giant cavemen or the Zoola variations seemed almost like character design for bigger projects.
MM: I did make up a Giant Caveman story but haven’t done anything with him. But I loved that guy as soon as I drew him, and instantly knew his world. It’s the same with Radio Spaceman, and there IS something in the works with him. I also LOVE Zoola, Queen of the Bat People, but I think maybe she works better as a character for pin-ups. Any kind of story with her starts to explain her, and I think she works better as a complete mystery. I do want to go back to her one of these days, and do more drawings and maybe some paintings. It was so much fun creating these few new characters — Radio Spaceman, Giant Caveman, Zoola. None of them were even a thought before I just started drawing them.
There are a number of creatures/characters that you return to here, whether its a classic ‘skull guy’ or Hellboy himself. Given no preconceived ideas or plans, how often do your sketches return to those tried and true designs?
MM: I don’t know how often, but I can always draw those guys. It’s just a matter of having no real work and wanting to just draw SOMETHING. With the floating skull guys I just usually need to see some old photo of a guy in a suit, and right away I want to give exaggerate the shape of the body, play with the folds in the clothing, and give the guy a floating skull head.
Given that you did hundreds of sketches over the course of the year, did you learn anything about your work? Is there a type of character or technique that you realized “oh hey, this is more fun than I realized” or “Man, drawing ____ is harder than I’d have thought?”
MM: I really loved how spontaneous the drawings were. In my “real” work, there is so much planning and sketching beforehand, but there was none of that with these. In most cases, I had little or no idea where these drawings were going when I started them. I drew them fast and with a black Prismacolor pencil, so I couldn’t really do any erasing. If the drawing went wrong (at least half the time they did), I just crumpled it up and started over. It was a lot more drawing from the gut and not the brain. It was exciting. It’s a little scary when you first start drawing like that, but once you get used to it, it’s exciting. I have to get back to it one of these days, as it’s so easy to lose that feeling when you don’t do it every day.
Similarly, when being interviewed for the new documentary, was there a period of your career that, at the time seemed to be a slog, that you look back on more fondly now? What era of your career now feels like the ‘good old days?’
MM: The only trouble I have talking about my career (almost forty years of it now) is that my memory is so bad. There are whole long stretches where I only remember bit and pieces. The bad stretches seem to leave more of an impression, or maybe they just make for better stories. But really, I’m happy to talk over all of it—at least as much as I remember.
The Feature-length Documentary MIKE MIGNOLA: DRAWING MONSTERS is Now on Kickstarter
(March 1, 2021) Hellboy has appeared in countless graphic novels and comic books, prose novels and short story collections, acclaimed role-playing games and videogames, three live action films and two animated features, and has inspired countless toys and collectibles. Now, award-winning Hellboy creator Mike Mignola is getting his turn in the spotlight in the all-new documentary MIKE MIGNOLA: DRAWING MONSTERS, which tells the definitive story of one of the most influential and important comic book creators of all time. This feature-length film includes never-before-seen interviews conducted with the legendary creator at his studio, drawing demonstrations, behind-the-scenes footage from comic book conventions, and interviews with some of the most influential people in entertainment, including Neil Gaiman (American Gods), Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar, Victor LaValle (The Ballad Of Black Tom), artist Tara McPherson, and comic book superstars like Vita Ayala, Duncan Fegredo, Fábio Moon, and Joe Quesada. MIKE MIGNOLA: DRAWING MONSTERS is now on Kickstarter for a month-long campaign that runs throughout March.
Continued belowAs one of the most successful independent comic book creators, Mignola has inspired generations of writers and artists. MIKE MIGNOLA: DRAWING MONSTERS provides an in-depth look at his legacy, from the beginning of his career working as an inker for Marvel Comics to his success with Hellboy. The film features never-before-told revelations from Neil Gaiman about the Mignolaverse and the production of Guillermo Del Toro’s Hellboy II, and an interview with Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar discussing Mignola’s influence on her creation.
The documentary features Mythbusters host Adam Savage, Hellboy film actor Doug Jones and actress Vanessa Eichhotlz, novelists Christopher Golden (of the bestselling Ben Walker novels) and Victor LaValle (The Ballad Of Black Tom), Dark Horse Publisher and founder Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Editor Katii O’Brien, Marvel EVP of Creative Development Joe Quesada, comic book writers Vita Ayala (The Wilds), Chris Roberson (Hellboy & The B.P.R.D.) and Thomas Sniegoski (Young Hellboy), and award-winning cartoonist Fábio Moon (Daytripper), as well as interviews and art demonstrations with painter Jason Shawn Alexander, Duncan Fegredo (Hellboy: The Wild Hunt), Michael Avon Oeming (B.P.R.D.: The Soul Of Venice), award-winning colorist Dave Stewart and, of course, Mignola himself.
MIKE MIGNOLA: DRAWING MONSTERS is being co-directed and produced by Jim Demonakos (founder, LightBox Expo and ECCC) and Kevin Hanna (Clockwork Girl), an American director noted for his work in feature film, animation, comic books, and television.
“There’s already eighty hours of footage in the can that we have shot over the last year and a half,” says Hanna. “This is an ambitious in-depth documentary to celebrate Mignola’s legacy in style.”
“We’re bringing the project to Kickstarter to secure the financing to shoot additional interviews, edit the film and score, and bring the film to market,” said Demonakos. “We want existing fans and curious readers alike to experience Mignola’s art and his incredible world of monsters and misfits.”
The Kickstarter campaign features tiers with the MIKE MIGNOLA: DRAWING MONSTERS film digitally or on Blu-Ray, as well as a Kickstarter exclusive t-shirt, original art, a commission from Mignola himself, the opportunity to receive an executive producer credit on the film, and an incredible Hellboy Portfolio Print Set that is exclusive to the Kickstarter campaign, featuring new 9″x12″ Hellboy prints by Mignola and Dave Stewart, Laurence Campbell, Duncan Fegredo, Alex Maleev, Fábio Moon, Mike Norton, Paolo Rivera, Craig Rousseau, Tim Sale, and Ben Stenbeck. All the artists involved have previously drawn interiors for various Mignolaverse books.
Filming will continue and is scheduled to be completed in the fall/winter of 2021, with the finished film debuting by spring of 2022. For more information follow MIKE MIGNOLA: DRAWING MONSTERS on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
The project can be supported here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jimdemonakos/hellboys-creator-mike-mignola-a-documentary-film?ref=chyrev
Praise for Mike Mignola:
“I think everyone young and old should check out Mike Mignola’s work… It’s about using comics as a medium to redefine what comics can be.”—Rebecca Sugar
“The Mignolaverse is just a remarkable success story. He wasn’t the only person who was trying to create a shared universe to rival the Marvel model, but he seems to be, I would say, maybe the only one who really succeeded.”—Professor Ben Saunders
“Mike’s heroes are flawed misfits… That’s why his universe resonates.”—Doug Jones
“You look at Mike and there’s not a line wasted. He’s such an astonishing artist.”—Neil Gaiman
To support the campaign, visit Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jimdemonakos/hellboys-creator-mike-mignola-a-documentary-film
