For the first time in half a decade, Mike Mignola steps out of “semi-retirement” and back into the world of Hellboy as both writer and illustrator for a new, full-length comic book. Sir Edward Grey: Acheron is a one-shot story that unfolds in the gloomy depths of the underworld following the events of B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know.
It places Grey front and center as the ghost of the Victorian-era occult detective attempts to reason with Eligos, a demon who was disgraced by Satan himself after losing a battle to Anung Un Rama (aka Hellboy).
“The book's been on the shelf for a while, so it wasn’t quite five years — but it was still a bit of a challenge,” Mignola tells me over email. “I was a little rusty, but also, because it HAD been a few years I was chomping at the bit to get back at it. And it was fun. This one very much started with me coming up with an excuse to have two guys fly around and shoot magic at each other. Of course, it sort of evolved into something else. These things usually do.”
One might have expected Mignola to come back for some sort of full-throttle Hellboy adventure, but much like the ghost of Grey himself, the writer/illustrator had some unfinished business to attend to.
“I’ve always loved Sir Edward Grey, and I just wasn’t finished with him,” he explains. “So much of what I’m concentrating on these days is FINISHING (or trying to finish) what I started. Ed has had quite a story arc, from Witchfinder to this undead magician. I knew he wasn’t just going to spend eternity roaming around in Hell. He had to keep moving, so it was just a matter of figuring out where he was going to go.”
While technically a self-contained story, the Acheron one-shot does stealthily announce a brand-new run for Koshchei the Deathless in its final pages. Readers may remember that Koshchei was once a pawn of the Baba Yaga’s who was sent to Hell after failing to kill Hellboy.
“In Acheron, I stir some stuff up that Ed Grey can’t handle,” Mignola adds. “Fortunately, I stranded Koshchei there in Hell at the end of his first series. So really, it was just a matter of handing the problem off to Koshchei — even if he doesn’t want it. I seem to be writing characters these days who want to retire. I wonder what that’s about?”
The creator goes on to say that these books aren’t just about Grey and Koshchei, but “also about the evolution of Hell itself. Once things start changing in the Hellboy world (Earth gets burned up, etc.), they just keep changing,” he continues. “Everybody and everything changes. I’m just hoping that eventually everything changes to the point where I can say ‘Okay, there it is — NOW it’s done.’ We’ll see.”
And before you start making plans for summer 2022, consider vacationing inside a turnip with a special 20th anniversary edition of The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects (on sale June 2022). Named after the short comic involving a sentient robot working as a secret agent for President Abraham Lincoln, the collection returns with 40 pages of never-before-seen bonus content.
“The stories that make up that collection are still my favorite things I’ve done, and I’m happy to expand the collection a little,” admits Mignola. “There are a bunch of new drawings — just pieces I’ve done for fun (never before published) that felt like part of the Screw-On Head world. They are added as ‘Bonus Curiosities.’ But the big thing I’m adding is a story I never finished — Axorr, Slayer of Demons — my ‘unpublished curiosity.’ While I didn’t finish it, I am really happy with the 19 pages I did. It's a crazy thing with an exorcism gone wrong, a werewolf, a giant demonic octopus, and of course a skeleton warrior who turns into a heroic giant. It feels right at home collected here. And while I didn’t finish it, I have included the whole plot here so that readers can at least see the ending in their heads.”
A little over two years ago, I made the case for a Screw-On Head revival after a potential animated series (featuring the voices of Paul Giamatti and David Hyde Pierce no less) was not picked up in the mid-2000s. When asked if there is talk of another TV show or even a feature film, Mignola cryptically answers: “There is always talk.”
Elsewhere, filmmakers Jim Demonakos and Kevin Hanna are plugging away at Drawing Monsters, their feature-length documentary about Mignola’s prolific career. Since launching in March of this year, the film’s Kickstarter campaign has amassed over half a million dollars and attracted A-list talent willing to speak to the unparalleled creative genius that is “Mignolaverse.”
"In the last few months, we have traveled across the country to complete the majority of our final filming,” says Demonakos. “We were able to interview Guillermo Del Toro, Patton Oswalt, Tara McPherson, Jorge Gutierrez, Victor LaValle, Arthur Adams, Steve Purcell, and a number of others. In addition, we spoke with Mike's two brothers, Scott and Todd, as well as Mike's wife, Christine, and their daughter, Katie.”
"We are now deep in post-production, working with a top tier editor, and on top of that, Adam F. Goldberg (creator of ABC's The Goldbergs) has come on board as an executive producer,” adds Hanna. “We still have a ton of work ahead, but we're excited to get a lot of pieces lined up and continue towards the finish line."
For his part, Mignola is still in awe over the fact that anyone would want to document his life and tries not to think about it too hard. “It’s just such an odd thing,” he concludes. “Very cool, but the thought of it actually existing one of these days is just too strange to actually think about.”
Sir Edward Grey: Acheron is now on sale from Dark Horse Comics.
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