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Hellboy: The Creation and Origin Story of Mike Mignola’s Red Monster

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Mike Mignola was getting known for his work for Marvel and DC, but it was not what he especially desired to draw. What he wanted to do was stories about an occult detective and did it with Hellboy.

This was in 1993. Mignola had finished his now-celebrated comic adaptation of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula movie that helped him continue to explore themes and historical elements he was really into—like did his (DC Elseworlds) Gotham by Gaslight story just before. For his next work, he wanted to do a created-owned book and, at first, he intended to keep going in that same direction, inspired by stories written by William Hope Hodgson (Carnacki), Alice & Claude Askew (Aylmer Vance), H. Heron (Flaxman Low), A.M. Burrage (Francis Chard), and more. But after being confronted with the challenges of drawing Victorian-era stories, he kept his occult detective concept and chose another time period.

The idea of the big red monster was inspired by a drawing he made a couple of years earlier for a pamphlet to help promote the Great Salt Lake Comic-Con. It was not the Hellboy we know now, but a demonic monster with the word “Hell Boy” on his belt. That name was what the artist kept in mind as the design of the character evolved seriously and transformed into a more human creature—still, he was a red-skinned, cloven-hooved demon with a big gun.

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DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults, The Complete Reading List

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In 2017, DC Comics announced a new imprint to publish original one-shots, graphic novels, and a few reprints targeting young readers in the hope to attract an audience that wasn’t familiar with DC in the first place. The imprint was first named DC Ink, with Mera: Tidebreaker as the first title published.

But in a classic DC move, it didn’t take long for the company to relaunch. One year after the official launch of DC Ink, DC Comics made a few changes. It was mostly tied to a simple internal reorganization, shuttering previous imprint lines in favor of new imprint lines defined by age. DC Zoom was renamed DC Kids (ages 8-12) and Vertigo became DC Black Label (17+).

DC Ink was replaced by DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults with the goal to present DC characters with stories outside of the main continuity, directed at readers aged 13 and older. They explore a large array of characters, heroes, anti-heroes, and villains.

Below you’ll find a list of the stories published in the DC Comics Young Adult Graphic Novels line, with the Teen Titans, Batgirl, Poison Ivy, Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing and more…

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Conner Kent Reading Order (Superboy, Kon-El)

For a long time, Superboy designated simply the adventures of Kal-El primarily set in Smallville when he was a boy, teenager or young adult. This changed in 1993 when a second Superboy was introduced.

Created by writer Karl Kesel and artist Tom Grummett, our new Superboy was introduced in The Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993). For the first ten years, he was portrayed as a genetically-engineered metahuman clone created by Project Cadmus as a copy and closest genetic counterpart to Superman. His origins were retconned in 2003 in Teen Titans (vol. 3) #1 (September 2003) where he was established as a human/Kryptonian binary clone derived from Superman and Lex Luthor’s DNA.

Also, Superboy didn’t have a real name for more than five years (in real-time). He had to wait until Superboy (vol. 4) #59 (February 1999) where Superman invited him to the Fortress of Solitude and offered him the Kryptonian name of Kon-El. He will later take the civilian identity of Conner Kent (see Teen Titans Vol.3).

Blending Superman’s moral attributes with a young and rebellious personality, Kon-El is known for having to grapple with conflicting influences of his genetic heritage. He had to face many challenges, by himself or with his best friends, Tim Drake and Bart Allen, and the rest of the Young Justice/Teen Titans team.

To know more about Kon-El, let’s read some comics with this Superboy/Kon-El reading order!

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The Galactus Origin Story, The Creation of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s Devourer of Worlds

Appearing for the first time in 1966 in Fantastic Four #48, written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Jack Kirby (see our guide to the Fantastic Four series), Galactus was at first just another super-villain that was imagined to be bigger than the previous antagonists. In order to differentiate him from the others and avoid delivering a stereotypical bad guy, Lee and Kirby decided to go all in. The writer wanted him to be really evil, the artist went biblical. They wanted something new and created it.

Also known as the Devourer of Worlds, Galactus was at the heart of what is now called the Galactus Trilogy, Fantastic Four #48 to #50 (part of our best Marvel comic to read selection), and that was supposed to be the end of his story, but he became extremely popular and this prompt Lee and Kirby to bring him back (see Fantastic Four #120–123, #172–175, #208–213, or Thor #225–228). He became a mainstay in the Marvel Universe.

And in 1978, in the one-shot graphic novel The Silver Surfer: The Ultimate Cosmic Experience!, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reunited to tell an out-of-continuity origin story of Galactus and the Silver Surfer without the Fantastic Four! It would not be the last time the origins and motivations of the characters would be explored though.

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Sin City Reading Order, Frank Miller’s crime noir classic

Frank Miller's Sin City Reading Order

After deciding to stop working for DC Comics, Frank Miller went to Dark Horse Comics with two projects, the miniseries Give Me Liberty (a Martha Washington story drawn by Dave Gibbons) and Hard Boiled (drawn by Geof Darrow). In 1991, he was then already established at Dark Horse and was naturally part of the line-up of artists who contributed to the one-shot Dark Horse Presents 5th Anniversary Special. In this book, Miller wrote and drew what would become one of his most iconic comics, Sin City.

This crime noir saga would then continue in Dark Horse Presents issues #51 to 62. This would be later collected in paperbacks under the title “The Hard Goodbye.” With this, Miller won three Eisner Wards—Best Penciller/Inker, Black & White Publication, Best Writer/Artist, and Best Graphic Album: Reprint (Modern Material).

Sin City was not the first crime story Frank Miller had written, his work on Daredevil attests to that, but this series was written, drawn, and lettered by him.

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Superman’s deaths : Exploring the Multiple Deaths of the Man of Steel in the comics

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It’s no secret that Superman is nearly indestructible, except when he’s in the presence of Kryptonite. But, like all other comic book characters, he is not immune to death. On the contrary, killing off Superman is a popular notion that has been explored several times over the years.

Readers are naturally intrigued by the stories dealing with Superman’s death. Because he is one of the most popular and powerful superheroes, his death has a significant emotional impact as well as a mythical meaning. Those storylines may also have high stakes and epic conflicts in order to create a spectacle based on what Superman means to the readers, his allies, and his foes.

Whatever attracts the readers towards Superman’s death, it is a subject that has been explored throughout the years, from forgettable tales to iconic stories.

Warning! As this article discussed how Superman died in several stories, it is full of spoilers. Tread carefully.

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Captain Britain Reading Order, Marvel UK’s Superhero

Captain Britain Reading Order

At the beginning of the 1970s, Marvel Comics expanded its business by opening a new branch in Great Britain: Marvel UK. At first, and for a few years, it was just a way to reprint American comics in a magazine format in order to establish the brand. It didn’t really work. It was then decided that a real line of British comics was needed. This led to writer Chris Claremont being asked to come up with a British character. With artist Herb Trimpe, they created Captain Britain who made his debut in Captain Britain Weekly #1 in 1976.

Brian Braddock was chosen by the sorcerer Merlyn himself to become a hero. Between the sword of might and the amulet of right, Captain Britain emerged as the United Kingdom’s greatest champion from the streets of London to the mystic realm of Otherworld.

In the beginning, the Captain Britain series was written by tourists, Americans who only visited the UK. This didn’t help the book speak to British readers. The first issues are nevertheless important for the introduction of memorable characters like psychic Elizabeth “Betsy” Braddock, Brian’s twin sister, and their older brother Jamie Braddock—The Queen also appeared! The sales didn’t go up so Captain Britain was buried in a Spider-Man reprint title after 39 issues. The two heroes “really” met though, as Brian Braddock made his debut on the American market in a issue of Marvel Team Up.

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Warlord of Mars/Dejah Thoris Reading order (Dynamite Comics)

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Created by Edgard Rice Burroughs in 1911, the Barsoom series — also called the John Carter of Mars series —  is one of the most influential science fiction and fantasy tales of the 20th Century. The story features John Carter, a veteran of the American Civil War who is transported to the planet Mars, known as Barsoom by its inhabitants where he lives dangerous adventures, falls in love with the princess of Mars and saves the world. Some classic tales!

John Carter has influenced characters like Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and Superman as well as other massive stories including Dune, Star Wars, and Avatar. He was also a popular character among many famous people like Carl Sagan, Michael Chrichton, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke.

This is then no surprise that John Carter found his way into the comic book format. In the past, John Carter has been adapted by companies like DC Comics (as John Carter featured in Tarzan and Weird Worlds), Marvel Comics (in John Carter Warlord of Mars), and Dark Horse (see Tarzan / John Carter: Warlords of Mars).

But the most important publisher is Dynamite (Red Sonja, Evil Dead)  which has released many series in the John Carter Universe since 2010. His main series Warlord of Mars ran from 2010 to 2014 and spawned several spin-offs, most notably Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris as the Princess of Mars is the breakout character of the comics. Several crossover stories have also been published, with other popular female characters from Dynamite but also with other franchises.

In 2012, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc., the family company in charge of handling everything associated with the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate, sued Dynamite Entertainment over trademark infringement. It never stops the publisher who released new comics during all that time. The matter was settled in 2014, and both parties worked together to relaunch the series as John Carter: Warlord of Mars.

The Warlord of Mars franchise is still expanding today, and to help you find your way, follow this Warlord of Mars/Dejah Thoris Reading order!

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Maya Lopez Reading Order (Echo, Ronin, Thunderbird)

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While Matt Murdock/Daredevil became blind following a childhood chemical accident, Maya Lopez was born blind. Her great ability to lip reading when she was young has delayed her diagnosis. Following her father’s death, a Native American of the Cheyenne Nation and a mob enforcer, Maya was taken care of by Wilson Fisk, the one and only Kingpin. She was sent to a boarding school for special children and discovered she has photographic reflexes – the capacity to memorize anything and copy the exact movements of anything. Her education was then pursued in a school for prodigies.

With a special relationship with Kingpin, this is no surprise that Maya made her debut in Daredevil #9 in December 1999. Created by David Mack and Joe Quesada, Maya was manipulated by Fisk who was using her to destroy Matt Murdock and feeding her lies about Daredevil. Maya took the codename Echo to fight Daredevil before discovering the truth and the Kingpin’s manipulations.

After those events, Maya took the road to find herself and this will lead her to take another alias: she was the first person to be Ronin (before Clint Barton), wearing a suit that conceals her identity, and later joined the Avengers. As Ronin and Echo, she participated in many missions, including a fight against the Hood and Secret Invasion.

Following in the footsteps of characters like Monica Rambeau or Hank Pym, Maya tends to change her alias following her circumstances. Recently, she took Thunderbird as a mantle after being chosen by the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix Force to be her new host. She was then gifted with new abilities including telepathy, flight, superhuman strength, and more.

Maya’s place in the Marvel Universe is clearly expanding, thanks to her introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She was introduced in the series Hawkeye (2021), portrayed by Alaqua Cox, and her own spin-off, Echo, is planned for 2023!

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