The return of the BSC Beat, our 10-question, topic specific, interview format, and today we are talking Hellboy with Mark Chadbourn. Not Mignola? Nah, we are talking to Chadbourn because he has a Hellboy novel, The Ice Wolves, on tap. Chadbourn is an award winning Fantasy author of such novels as can be found in The Kingdom of the Serpent series- Jack of Ravens, The Burning Man and Destroyer of Worlds – as well as the “mytho-fantasy” trilogies The Age of Misrule and The Dark Age. Below find out where Chadbourn thinks Hellboy’s mythic lineage stems from & who he’s like to see write a Hellboy novel!
What is your experience with Hellboy? Do you recall when you first were exposed to the character, and can you identify a personal favorite arc?
I bought the first Hellboy comics off the racks as they came out back in the 90s. I’d admired Mike Mignola’s art before so I thought I’d give them a try. I was hooked pretty quickly by the myths, legends and folklore that Mike was tapping into – it’s been a long-standing area of interest for me.
My favourite stories are actually the standalones, rather than the longer arcs, which I know is unusual. The ones I particular like are ‘The Corpse’ and ‘The Wolves of St August’.
Hellboy is one of those one-in-a-million indie projects coming from comics that has not only succeeded throughout several mediums, but has been able to maintain a very high level of quality. What is it about the character or the person making decisions – I’m assuming Mignola – that you think allows for that combination of consistency and quality?
For me, it always comes down to creators. Mike has a very clear vision for his character, and maintains a high level of quality. He carefully manages the brand – selecting his collaborators, not flooding the market, taking his time to ensure only the best comes out. Mike is a brilliant craftsman who understands an attention to detail is vital, but he’s also a good businessman who keeps tight control over his own creation.
He’s helped by having a visually-distinctive, high concept character that is easily understood – you can sum Hellboy up in a line which translates well – and a character with a personality that is immediately likeable.
Related to the above, I think one of strengths of Hell Boy is the allowance for each iteration to be it’s own, and exist as a true adaptation. I have never read a Hellboy novel, is it the same, or do they have more of a firm basis in one of the other media’s variations?
The Hellboy in the novels is the Hellboy of the comics, which, as you point out, is different to the movie Hellboy. The novels are edited by people who have been involved with the comics line so the same standards are kept.
The aim is to keep Hellboy as the solid centre and then fling him into a story or environment that is purely the writer’s own.
What was the process that brought you to writing The Ice Wolves?
The editor of the Hellboy: Oddest Jobs anthology liked some of my fantasy novels and approached me to provide a short story. That tale, ‘Straight No Chaser’, following Hellboy on a tour of zombie blues and jazz clubs, was well-received, and I was asked if I’d like to write a novel. I don’t normally work on other people’s characters, but I liked Hellboy enough that I thought it would be fun. I pitched a story about werewolves and a haunted house, which Mike liked, and off I went.
Is Ice Wolves related to Tim Lebbon’s Fire Wolves?
The Fire Wolves and The Ice Wolves have slight thematic links, but beyond that they’re very different stories. For a start, the ‘wolves’ in each are completely dissimilar. However, Tim is a friend, and when we both realised we’d been signed to write Hellboy stories, we decided to add a few links that would reference the two tales .
Can you talk about The Ice Wolves at all?
Sure. All across the world, the werewolves have woken as one in their human hosts and have turned their eyes towards America. As they draw towards Boston in their hundreds, Hellboy has to work out what’s happening and how it is linked to an ancient prophecy, the Time of the Black Sun. The answers lie in the most haunted house in the US, on Beacon Hill. As a supernatural Arctic storm shuts the city down, Hellboy is trapped in the mansion with the army of werewolves on the outside, trying to crack an ancient puzzle.
You’re a writer with an interest and understanding of archetypes and their application. When viewing the character Hellboy, where do you trace the character back to, one that most I think just go back to a combination of mythology and pulp?
You can trace the archetype of Hellboy back to the oldest mythic tales. He’s a hero that straddles the world of human and god, say, like Hercules, or King Arthur who was delivered to the human world from the mystical Celtic Otherworld to be a great hero. There’s more of the myth in him, than pulp – yeah, he’s got a big gun, but that’s just his equivalent of the magic sword. And that mythic resonance is the thing that makes the character so successful and will ensure he is long-lasting.
You’ve written comics before. Is there an interest to do more? What would a Chadbourn Hellboy comic arc pitch sound like?
I love comics. More than anything, they convinced me to be a writer. I’ve always read extensively within the medium – I think now we can all see how influential they are across media – books, TV, film, games. So, there’s nothing I’d like more than to write comics. Having said that, I don’t think I’d like to pitch a Hellboy arc, because for me, in comics, he’s Mike’s character. I want to read a Mike Mignola Hellboy comic, not a Mark Chadbourn one.
Who is you favorite supporting character in Hellboy and why?
Kate Corrigan. She’s smart, resourceful and offers a very human perspective on Hellboy’s world. When she first encountered the supernatural it freaked her out as it would anybody.
You’ve written for TV, you’ve done comic work, you have several novels out. Who would you like to see a write Hellboy novel and why?
There are several that spring to mind. Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son, is carving out a reputation with his own brand of unsettling horror. Michael Moorcock, one of our greatest fantasy authors, who tapped into some of the same myths that Mike Mignola has used, but gave them a modern spin. M John Harrison, who has written both horror and fantasy, and has a unique perspective on fantastic worlds. And finally China Mieville, who creates great weird worlds and dreams up the kind of fantasy you don’t see anywhere else.
