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Mike Mignola’s now-iconic creation Hellboy has always been an unlikely success story, both on the comic book page and the movie screen. The character’s satanic look and wild occult battles belie the soft heart and sense of humor that are key elements in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” opening July 11.
A veteran comic-book artist for Marvel and DC, Mignola unveiled Hellboy as his own creation at Dark Horse Comics in 1994. Since then, he has headed up a growing empire of comics, books, animated DVDs, video games, toys and the spin-off comic “B.P.R.D.”
Mignola readily admits that the success of both the 2004 original film and the sequel has everything to do with director Guillermo del Toro, who came to the sequel off the huge international hit “Pan’s Labyrinth.” Mignola, who is credited as co-writer and executive producer on the film, spoke with Metromix from his Manhattan Beach studio about his creation’s return to the big screen and his future as a movie star and comic book hero.
You co-wrote the story for “The Golden Army” with del Toro, so what’s harder to write: a comic book or a movie?
For me, obviously, a movie would be harder to write because it’s not what I do. But the beauty of working with [Guillermo] is we basically threw ideas back and forth for just a couple of days and then he did all the hard stuff of turning it into an actual screenplay.
Can you tell me what an executive producer does? I’ve always wanted to know.
If you find out, let me know! I think it’s an honorary title. I get cc’d on a bunch of emails that I guess I wouldn’t ordinarily see. I do at least three months of preproduction with Guillermo and the other designers, trying to come up with the look of the [film]. And I visited the set a few times.
Do you have a cameo, like Stan Lee does in all the Marvel movies?
Guillermo and I both have a cameo in the first one. Nobody would ever recognize us. He’s dressed as a dragon and I’m dressed as a knight in a suit of armor with a helmet on. You’d really have to freeze-frame it and have CSI guys examining it to try to pick us out. But we’re in there.
Does the idea of becoming a director like Frank Miller ["Sin City"; "The Spirit"] appeal to you?
Having spent time around del Toro, watching him direct, I realize, A) it’s a job I would never want, and, B) if I did want to direct, I would have had to start thinking about it when I was 10 years old. It’s not something I could go, ‘Hey, that seems like a fun thing. Maybe I’ll try that.’ No thanks. It makes me appreciate being able to go home to my studio and do what I do myself.
Do you like the attention that comes with a movie, going to premieres, doing interviews, that sort of thing?
Yeah, it’s fun. I enjoy the film stuff, but I know what my real job is. I’m a comic book artist and, for the last few years, a comic book writer. I want to get back to writing and drawing my own stuff.
What does the future hold for a third Hellboy movie and the Hellboy comic book?
[Guillermo] has thrown out so many ideas for the third movie, you go, ‘Geez, if he puts everything into “Hellboy 3” that he says will be in “Hellboy 3,” it’ll be 36 hours long.’ The third film, being the end of (the film trilogy), is hard for me. The comic is going to go for 10 to 15 more years, so I don’t want to give him my ending. I want my ending to be a surprise.
What do you do to relax and get your mind off the sometimes very dark world of Hellboy?
I rarely get away from thinking about this stuff all the time but I’m having so much fun. I’m very fortunate to have created a job for myself that is entirely based on the stuff I enjoy, the films I enjoy and the books I read. Yeah, it feels sometimes like I do nothing but work, but I also often feel like I don’t work at all.
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