creative lessons from mike mignola, creator of ‘hellboy’

Hellboy" creator Mike Mignola (left) and "Bone" creator Jeff Smith (right) in conversation during the 2019 Cartoon Crossroads Columbus. Photo by Justin McIntosh

As a huuuge “Hellboy” fan, I was so thrilled to hear its creator, Mike Mignola, talk about his influences Friday during the keynote event for Cartoon Crossroads Columbus. 

The hour-long conversation with “Bone” creator Jeff Smith was filled with insights into his creative process and inspirations, so, of course, I had to document them.

“Pinocchio” was an inspiration for “Hellboy”

In hindsight, it’s obvious. Of course, the guy who created “Hellboy” was heavily inspired as a kid by Victorian-era monsters like Dracula. 

Far less evident, though, is the impact the book “Pinocchio” had on Mike Mignola. 

But that’s because, Mignola deadpanned, no one’s actually read it.

What most people don’t know about “Pinocchio” (the book), he explained, was just how weird and sad it was. The whole plot is Pinocchio trying not to be a bad boy and thus kill his parents. 

One scene, in fact, has Pinocchio crying over a knocked-over tombstone whose epitaph blamed him for the corpse’s death. 

But what Mignola loved most about Pinocchio was how straight the story was played. It’s an approach he eventually adopted for “Hellboy.” 

The power of play

The first time Mignola drew Hellboy was a goof during a comic-book convention. 

He had mostly been known for drawing Batman and other mainstream characters but at one convention, someone wanted a drawing of something else. So Mignola drew a big, lunky demon with a giant belt buckle. 

The blank belt buckle seemed to be missing something, so he wrote the words “Hellboy” on them because it seemed the stupidest thing he could put there.

And it pleased him so much he kept playing around with the character until eventually, he decided to do his own comic.

Faced with how boring it’d be to repeatedly draw his main character as a human, he decided to go with this lunky demon instead. 

He simply enjoyed drawing the shapes that made up Hellboy more than a person and also knew that he’d only maintain his interest in the comic if he could do the dumbest things possible with the story but played it straight like Pinocchio. 

A half-demon, half-witch named Hellboy who investigated paranormal shit fit the bill.

Happy accidents

If Mignola’s comics are known for anything, it’s their unique sense of mood and atmosphere generated by his plotting, page design, and layouts. 

Those skills and decisions were mostly accidents. 

Statues and close-ups of other inanimate things like leaves and trees are hallmarks of Mignola comics. Mignola only started including them in his comics to fill spaces, then noticed what they did to the pace of the story and how they created mood and tension.



The board-game of “Mouse Trap” 

Mignola usually starts his stories with a loose idea of where he wants them to go but only writes scripts at the last step.

He draws each panel and page, inks them and saves room for a word bubble. Then when he’s done with everything, he goes back through and adds narration and speech. 

In this way, he said, his creative process is like playing a game of “Mouse Trap.” He starts drawing, which sets the game in motion, and then he has to figure out how to end it while the game’s going on. 

This method of “finding your way as you go along,” has been a boon for Mignola’s creative process because he keeps him from overthinking the story and plot and places most of his focus on playfully drawing what he most enjoys. 

Loss of confidence

After “Hellboy” exploded in popularity, Mignola, however, gained a rather serious case of writer’s block. Or rather, drawer’s block.

He simply couldn’t draw “Hellboy” anymore. 

So he brought on a collaborator in Duncan Fegredo. 

This came about mostly because Mignola felt he couldn’t trust his decisions with the character anymore and needed someone who could draw the book in his place. 

Mignola also had an idea for an epic story for Hellboy and knew he couldn’t plot out the story if he was also drawing the book. 

This continued for six years until eventually this epic story—”Hellboy in Hell”—renewed his desire to draw the character again.

This collaboration was huge for Mignola though. He found he could write even more ridiculous stories knowing he didn’t have to draw them and had someone who could draw anything.

Which is eventually how Hellboy got a girlfriend and rode in a car.

The only eureka moment

At the end of the Mignola’s conversation with Jeff Smith, they took a few minutes for audience questions. Someone asked if there was a moment when Mignola felt like, “a-ha!” I can do comics for a living. 

Mignola said there was never one particular moment; his career was a long, slow uphill climb with micro wins along the way for encouragement. 

But if pressed, he said the only eureka moment he had came after the third issue of “Hellboy.” 

It was the first time, he said, he felt like shackles fell off of him during the writing and drawing of the comic. It was also the most fun he’d ever had drawing and writing a comic. 

That comic was the one that received the most attention and encouragement from his peers, so he knew from that moment on, the key to his success was chasing joy in his art.